Here's part of the exchange between @IAGovernor and a reporter in which she characterized a question as "scare tactics" being laid out by the media in regards to the possibility of a teacher getting sick & dying from COVID-19. The full Q is included. pic.twitter.com/ag0ug1bQsr
BREAKING: Cherokee County schools quarantines second-grade class after student tests positive for COVID-19 https://t.co/CqIuuXunTs
— Kristal Dixon, the journalist who claps back (@KristalDixon) August 4, 2020
In its second day of the new school year, the Cherokee County School District shut down a second-grade classroom at Sixes Elementary School in Canton after a student tested postive for COVID-19
âDue to this exposure, the affected second-grade classroom will be temporarily closed, and the teacher and 20 other students in the class must quarantine for two weeks. The teacher, who is symptom-free, will teach the class online from home through our Canvas learning management system. The classroom will be deep-cleaned after school today,â
When (not if) we see a spike in cases and deaths in places where schools and universities reopened, how will the responsible government officials deflect their culpability?
"No one saw it coming?" (We did.) "We had no choice?" (You do.) "That's the price of freedom"? (It isn't.)
There is the perception among tRumpers that POC/seniors are primarily susceptible to this virus, despite evidence to the contrary. As long as they hold on to that belief, they don’t care…”It is what it is.”
This segment is still etched in my mind. 30 seconds was all it took for nine lives to be cut short in Dayton, Ohio one year agoâthe second of back-to-back mass shootings.
Our hearts and prayers are with the people of Lebanon, and the victims of the horrific explosion in Beirut. I urge both the Trump Administration and international community to immediately mobilize assistance to the thousands injured in the blast.
Good Evening, TODville Community.
It’s quite a Birthday Party, Lady NW…ObrigadađĽđśđĽđžđđđđŞđđ¤đđââď¸đââď¸đđšđ
It's been confirmed by multiple sources that this photo was taken yesterday. The carelessness and irresponsible behavior is astonishing. https://t.co/sdKyNRAOqH
— Christopher Bouzy (spoutible.com/cbouzy) (@cbouzy) August 4, 2020
My college roommate/BFF just told me she decided to home school her kids (ages 7 & 5) b/c school starts on 8/6 but her idiotic district in Germantown, TN STILL hasnât announced a coherent/virtual reopening plan. WTAF, Tennessee?! đ¤ˇđžââď¸ Procrastination for DT AINâT self-preservation.
— Propane Jane⢠đĽđŁ (@docrocktex26) August 4, 2020
NEW VIDEO: Close to 160,000 people have lost their lives. More than we lost in the Vietnam war. What does the "President" have to say about it?#ItIsWhatItIs Spread his shame. pic.twitter.com/6umdpUz5HP
— Really American đşđ¸ (@ReallyAmerican1) August 4, 2020
Happy birthday, @BarackObamaâđž As a gift to the GOAT, letâs all make sure weâre registered to vote!!!!!! (that rhythms)âđžđĽł pic.twitter.com/xM0Dr3OMzf
The stakes couldn't be higher this November, #CA50 has had to endure a public health & economic crisis without a Congressman this year. This endorsement raises the profile of a district that has long been forgotten by Washington.https://t.co/clOYoJvXY4
I can't stress enough how concerning this is. Millions of people are facing eviction now because Trump and Senate Republicans let the federal eviction moratorium expire.
It's more urgent than ever that we pass my RELIEF Act to help keep people housed. https://t.co/xFG6EvQNfu
On day one, Iâll send a bill to Congress creating a clear roadmap to citizenship for Dreamers and the 11 million undocumented people already strengthening our nation. Itâs long overdue. pic.twitter.com/ajO7uUb9po
Let's talk Trump's appointment of Postmaster General DeJoy and the elements of conspiracy to interfere in our upcoming elections… https://t.co/scCBacNAYk via @YouTube
Trump actually just said the mail system is fine to handle voting by mail in Florida but if voting by mail proceeds in Nevada the postal service will be overwhelmed and it will be a total disaster???
A friend who works for VA tells me that they are hearing that the slow down at the USPS is impacting veterans who get their prescriptions by mail. Reports are two week delays are occuring in critical meds. They love the troops and veterans! #TraitorTrump
The half hour I just spent getting schooled (in a good way) by @vanitaguptaCR on what this election may look like was incredibly eye-opening. We have to prepare for states to require days or weeks to certify their counts — and for how tense that period is going to be. https://t.co/wgdAfgidpW
On the media and Election Day: Secretaries of states all run their own elections, Gupta says, and they need to be given the time to count their ballots. The instinct and impulse to call breaking news is going to be a real challenge.
Professor @angelajdavisânationally recognized expert in criminal law & procedure with a focus on prosecutorial power & racism in the criminal justice systemâwas recently nominated & promoted to Distinguished Professor of Law effective Sept. 1. Learn more: https://t.co/kqesiMxQX5pic.twitter.com/QiSDDAPH23
— American University Washington College of Law (@AUWCL) August 4, 2020
– Sounds lost and confused during disastrous press conference – Totally botches Beirut explosion – Can't pronounce "Yosemite" – Trump needs medical attention – No one cares if he gets it – Trump is going to prison – It's still only 7:42pm
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms: "Trump shows us time & time again the one thing he believes in is himself. He doesn't care anything about the American people. He doesn't care anything about the history of this country. He doesn't care anything about the future of this country." pic.twitter.com/05xv00wpDJ
The Louisiana Supreme Court denied a request to review a LIFE sentence issued to a Black man convicted of trying to steal hedge clippers from a storage room in 1997. Chief Justice Bernette Johnson, the courtâs lone Black justice, was the sole dissent. https://t.co/YVpQkFBP7D
âMr. Bryantâs incarceration has cost Louisiana taxpayers approximately $518,667,â Johnson wrote. "… If he lives another 20 years, Louisiana taxpayers will have paid almost one million dollars to punish Mr. Bryant for his failed effort to steal a set of hedge clippers.â
A federal appeals court has blocked in three states the Trump administration's controversial "public charge" rule that critics say has a chilling effect on immigrants who may need to seek medical assistance https://t.co/Mp7kuhrdFl
It's unbelievable to hear my Senate Republican colleagues, most of whom are millionaires, complain that unemployed workers getting UI are making too much money.
I LOVE @JoeBidenâs pick for his running mate! Sheâs brilliant. Sheâs experienced. Sheâs rigorous. Sheâs devoted to the American people. AND she believes in the rule of law and our Constitution! Whoever it is…
I am proud of these players. Thank you for connecting the dots between social justice & voting. @ReverendWarnock is one of the bright stars vying to for U.S. Senate in Georgia – heâs got this. https://t.co/w6nAFG0p6K
Dream and Mercury players are wearing âVote Warnockâ shirts to their game today.
Raphael Warnock is running against Kelly Loeffler for Senate. Loeffler is a co-owner of the Dream and said she opposes the Black Lives Matter movement.
While the rest of the world is distracted by Corona virus and our own internal fights, Russia is quietly taking over the world. These developments will haunt us for decades to come. https://t.co/RVmTvAoE3I
P.S.
Saw Jupiter just now resting atop mountain hard by…with red area clearly visible.
Wow is it ever massive, like a long double planet! A few years ago out walking dog at night, it seemed as though there was a giant space station hanging there in the clouds over us.
Last time I checked you get to decide who you want to fuck with and who you donât. Thatâs not canceling. Thatâs called choice. https://t.co/8mV7JRmpn1
Joe Biden over coming a life long stuttering struggle to become a world leader make him more human. Making fun of it makes you a monster. pic.twitter.com/UrxtoWZLfI
It's 90 days to the election. Go & check your registration status & make sure you're listed as an active voter. You can do this by googling "check registration to vote in _____(name of your state)." Under the Motor Voter Act, you can't be moved off the rolls at this point.
It's 90 days to the election. Go & check your registration status & make sure you're listed as an active voter. You can do this by googling "check registration to vote in _____(name of your state)." Under the Motor Voter Act, you can't be moved off the rolls at this point.
SHOUT OUT to Barack Obama for no particular reason other than his leadership, intelligence, dignity & humor. I also miss having a President who looks comfortable wielding a lightsaber. đ pic.twitter.com/4kfkBQH312
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is expected to take the reins of the National Governors Association on Wednesday during a meeting held virtually because of the disease.https://t.co/zWsd4o3hR6
Senator Booker to Hayes:
âFor him (Trump) to be attacking it, trying to delegitimize it is a real stress test for our democracy…using the gears of our government” to undermine the Census, Post Office, mail-in voting…
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA90nQa3dnI)
–Trump suddenly OK with mail-in voting in Florida because senior GOP citizens.
On Reidout,
Joy talks to Anand Giridharadas (The.Ink publisher) and Kurt Burdella (Lincoln Project):
Burdella:
âFrom republicans what weâve seen is this ridiculous posture that $600 a week is too much to give people who have lost their jobs because of Coronavirus. It is not a negotiation. Itâs a hostage crisis. Theyâre taking the welfare of the American people hostage, and trying to convince Democrats that $200 a week is a living wage in this country, that they can get by while theyâre out of work, while not getting a pay check, when they have no sources of income. All the while this Coronavirus pandemic rages on because of the Trump administrationâs incompetence, and the republican partyâs enabling of that incompetence has put us all in jeopardy. So I think that we are waiting to see whether Republicans are going to wake up to the reality. The American people want them not just at the negotiating table. They want them to make a deal and to give them the resources they need to get through this pandemic.â
Reid:
âThereâs a sense that itâs not happening to âourâ peopleâŚreporting that Kushnerâs attitude to the coronavirus was well âthese arenât our peopleâ. And that once it started hitting red states they went âOh our people – we should pay attention.â Youâre seeing the unemployment rate spiking among African Americans, disproportionately hitting black, brown, indigenous folks as is Cornovarius. But an âour people onlyâ strategy canât work in a place where ‘our people’ and âtheir peopleâ are mixed in these states!â
Giridharadas:
âThe pandemic turned out to be not a great equalizer.
It turned out to be a magnifier of the divides of this countryâŚand it turned out to be an accelerant of some of the great mega trends. So we can talk about unemployment crisis and unemployment relief, and whether a deal can be made, but I think we have to take an historical view, where for 40 years the project of the Republican Party pre-Trump, before he was even a republican, has been to defund, defang, and delegitimize the state in any way possible.And to leave people to their own defenses.
And the darker your skin was, the more defenseless you should be left. And so as with so many things in the pandemic, it is like a truth serum for the reality of this country. But it is not a departure. And even Trump as loathsome as he isâŚI mean what is really novel about Trump is that he is semi-literate, and the ways in which he operates like a fascist. But on this kind of thing? He is a republican taking the idea of austerity to its logical bitter end.â
Dr. Jill Biden just did an interview on Fox News, and it was phenomenal. They tried to ask some garbage questions, but Dr. Biden laughed them all off. We'd be lucky to have Dr. Biden as our next First Lady.
Instead of traveling to the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Joe Biden will accept the nomination remotely from Delaware.https://t.co/SSJP4dcloF
As presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden hones in on his pick for a running mate, former National Security Adviser, UN Ambassador & author of "Tough Love" Susan Rice discusses being among the VP contenders & her qualifications for the role.@AmbassadorRice joins us with more. pic.twitter.com/6QfqpQeijv
Rachel Maddow:
âWe have the worst coronavirus epidemic on Earth.
Keeping Americans safe therefore means that as many Americans as possible need to not crowd together in polling places in November or any other time. People instead should vote by mail. And so of course the president has discouraged people from voting by mail. Heâs backed efforts to make it harder to vote by mail. Heâs been constantly promoting this lie that mail voting is rife with fraud. Heâs now put in a new Postmaster General who is deliberately slowing down the mail at the Postal Service, which means of course that maybe ballots wonât be delivered on time. I mean as strategies go, itâs unsubtle. If youâre a president who thinks you might not be able to win more votes in an election, you just create as much smoke and mirrors around that election as you can,
use the control that you have of the government to make the election less fair, and then maybe youâll be able to hold on to power somehow, by claiming the election is tainted even if you lose.â
Maddow:
“But if you were an administration or political party that was starting to worry that that plan might not work.
If you wanted to try to lock in a certain amount of political power for yourself for years to come regardless of what happens in November, well then the first thing you would probably think of to try to do that would be to mess with the CensusâŚ.the count thatâs done this year will be used to determine Americaâs political representation for years to comeâŚitâs all based on how many people live where, and the fact that they get counted.”
Maddow:
“Well now the Census Bureau has suddenly announced that itâs cutting its count short.
It will potentially miss millions of people who have historically been the hardest to reach. Those people tend to be poor people, people of color, immigrants, people who tend to live in blue cities and blue states.
So a flawed Census count could help republicans increase their representation in Congress simply by not counting millions of people who tend to live in Democratic districts, which is a neat trick! Just to be safe, the Census Bureau has also announced that instead of submitting their final numbers to the White House next April, when Joe Biden could potentially could be president, they will submit them earlier than they had planned to do. They now say theyâll submit those numbers on December 31st, so no matter how flawed the count, it will be Donald Trump who is still there in the Oval Office to sign off on their work, even if his election plans donât work out.â
âBut Iâm here with the solution.â
Senator Amy Klobuchar to Maddow:
âMore shenanigans are announced with the Census, and I will say theyâve tried and failed several times. Remember the citizenship question? When they tried to put that and the court pushed back on that.
Then recently the president has talked about not counting all people, but just counting citizens. And of course that is not what the laws saysâŚAnd what theyâre trying to do here of course is lock in the Trump numbers on the Census, when in fact we have one of the lowest numbers as Vanita pointed out, in the history of people responding. People still have to respond. (I did it today Rachel, it took five minutes. Because I was afraid youâd ask me if I did it. Itâs really simple to do, so everyone should go do it when your show is over.) But we need this time. And you donât just tell all these people running the Census âGuess what, we pulled it back a monthâ.
Senator Klobuchar:
“But Iâm here with the solution. The Heroes Act that passed the House, itâs been sitting on Mitch McConnellâs desk for over two months, that weâre valiantly working every day to get passed in the Senate – it actually contains an extension that would extend it four more months because of the pandemic.
So we can get people especially on our tribal reservations, people of color, people who have historically been hurt, who havenât been counted, to be able to be counted. And thatâs what I think we should do.
Is to negotiate and get that provision in a final bill.â
Maddow:
âIt feels like such a profoundly cynical and partisan thing to deliberately undercount the hardest people to count. And to deliberately move their own goalposts! It was the Trump Administration who said they needed more time to get this done rather than cutting it short, so they can get these numbers to President Trump instead of a potential President Biden. Thatâs what it looks like from the outside. Do you feel like your Republican colleagues get that this is the wrong thing to do in terms of the Census? Just in terms of this being an effort with integrity?â
Senator Klobuchar:
âYou know how they havenât stood up. Time and time again they donât stand up.
And theyâve had one day to hear this, so Iâll be talking to them about it tomorrow. But I think beyond that, you have started to see some cracks when it comes to say, voting. And that youâve just seen as you were just talking about with the vote by mail. Trump is on one side, but youâve got republican governors, republican secretaries of state, Roy Blunt whoâs been working with me on this, pushing to say âhey, no matter what Donald Trump says on his twitter feed people are going to vote by mailâ. Theyâre doing it at rates of 60 to 70% in the state of Maryland. In the GOP primary over 95% of the people voted by mail. It is happening before our eyes. So we need to make sure the states have the resources that they need, and thatâs what weâre also pushing for right now. And itâs not just vote by mail. The president doesnât want to do vote by mail even though heâs done it himself in the comfort of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, while people in Milwaukee stood in the rain in homemade masks and in garbage bags, just trying to exercise their right to vote. Hey – some of this money is going to go big time to training poll workers so people arenât vulnerable, to sanitizing poll places, to making sure polling locations are open early so that people are able to vote when thereâs less people congregating. We have to help the states on this. The republicans know it. And thatâs what Iâm really focused on right now in addition to the Census issue.â
Maddow:
âLet me ask if you share some of the concerns that have been voiced about whatâs happening at the Postal Service. Obviously the president has installed a new Postmaster General. I wasnât speaking hyperbolically. He has actually instituted policies that have deliberately slowed down the mail process, which has alarmed a lot of people inside that agency. Are you worried that the president is messing with the Postal Service in a way that could materially affect our ability to successfully vote by mail nationwide?â
Senator Klobuchar:
âCompletely. And let me make the case again to my republican colleagues, which we will be making.
Four of us, including Senator Schumer and Senator Gary Peters actually sent a letter to the Postmaster General asking a bunch of questions about this. Because yes this is going to be about ballot. But itâs also about peopleâs medications. During the pandemic, more and more people are getting their lifesaving medications by mail. If they mess with stuff like this, they are literally going to mess with peopleâs lives. I know as a result of this that Senator Schumer and Speaker Pelosi, I believe are going to be meeting with him and asking these questions. Because as we work again on this very important Heroes Act, we have got to make sure that thereâs also funding for the Postal Service. Because itâs not just the funding thatâs an issue. Itâs the rules heâs put in place that has resulted in people getting delays in all of their mail.
Not just their ballots. All of their mail.
Everyone in the US needs to know this! Scientists across the country & around the world are working/collaborating & pooling what they know & applying it to make sense out of Covid/how to treat it. Science is silently moving @warp speed to help us. We can help by trying to be safe
Are the trump goons happy yet?
The Moms and babes who were made to lay down face down on the tarmac in handcuffs…
What was the temperature that day? We all know that tarmac gets scary hot.
Were there any burns?
Little ones separated and handcuffed in a hot vehicle?
Dear Moms, please sue for this gross atrocity on you and your innocent trusting little ones.
—Defang, re-imagine, and redestribute ‘police’ resources.
Natalie Dean:
“Iâd Need Evidence Before Iâd Get a Covid-19 Vaccine. It Doesnât Exist Yet.” (NYT)
“Scientists need to show us the data. And thatâs exactly what theyâre working on.”
“In a May survey, 49 percent of the Americans polled said they plan to get a coronavirus vaccine when one is available, 20 percent do not, and 31 percent indicated that they were not sure. The World Health Organization considers âvaccine hesitancyâ a major threat to global health, and poor uptake would jeopardize the impact of a coronavirus vaccine.”
(https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/03/opinion/coronavirus-vaccine-efficacy-trials.html)
–Dean spoke to Nicole Wallace on Monday on Maddow.
–Wow so cool to see and hear from a woman biostatistician.
“The World Health Organization says a vaccine should be at minimum 50 percent effective, averaged across age groups…This benchmark is crucial because a weak vaccine might be worse than no vaccine at all.” (Natalie Dean)
Eight years ago, a white supremacist targeted a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, WI â ultimately taking seven lives in an unspeakable act of terror. To truly honor those we lost, it's up to all of us to stand up to bigotry in our lives, give hate no safe harbor, and reduce gun violence.
The truth of the matter is, Donald Trump inherited a growing economy from President Obama and me. And just like everything else he inherited in his life, he squandered it. pic.twitter.com/EPxDx4ecoU
Gregorich:
âWe could not even keep 3 teachers who doing everything, the masks and wiping down everything,
we could not keep them safe…multi-generational families. It doesn’t make sense to me at all as many times as I play it out, I just don’t understand what others are missing that think that it would be safe.’
Hayes: “A large percentage of kids in your district need lunch…you have an underprivileged community that you’re serving.”
Gregorich:
“I don’t know how teaching with the teachers scared to death, in front of plexiglass, and the kids spread out six feet and they’re scared…and I think if we’re now providing quality distance learning, that means…
we think that with the training and that’s how kids are going to be learning in the future so Iâm trying to find the silver lining thereâŚthis is something that we to do to keep our families safe. I can’t lose another teacher, staff member, grandma or grandpa. That’s what worries me most.â
State Senator Pat Spearman:
“I’m the 3rd generation to be born free”.
“I am only the 2nd generation to have in law the right to vote.
That’s sacred to me.
That’s sacred to me.”
Speaking to Nicole Wallace: “Nevada State Senator Pat Spearman explains a new law in Nevada making it easier to vote, including vote by mail, and the challenges of overcoming obstinate Republican opposition in advancing such legislation.”
The Obama Diary 
Happy 59th Birthday, Mr. President! We love you now and always.
That was lovely. đ˘
Thank you NW for doing all that you do.
https://twitter.com/Our4thEstate/status/1290768683099230208
What an idiot.
Two week until the start of school and I haven’t heard or received anything from my son’s school.
WOW, that is very weird. Doesn’t sound like they have their shit together, which UGH.
Day 2…. Second Grade
In its second day of the new school year, the Cherokee County School District shut down a second-grade classroom at Sixes Elementary School in Canton after a student tested postive for COVID-19
âDue to this exposure, the affected second-grade classroom will be temporarily closed, and the teacher and 20 other students in the class must quarantine for two weeks. The teacher, who is symptom-free, will teach the class online from home through our Canvas learning management system. The classroom will be deep-cleaned after school today,â
There is the perception among tRumpers that POC/seniors are primarily susceptible to this virus, despite evidence to the contrary. As long as they hold on to that belief, they don’t care…”It is what it is.”
He forgot a lot of his supporters are seniors. Stupid.
Exactly
Hey Nerdy girl, you pulled out the best of the best for this bday parrrty đđĽłđ
She DID that! đđž
đĽ°
đ
â¤
đ
Boom
Right? Why indeed.
Well, hereâs the answer.đđž
Wow…they call themselves DEMS that is a first…….
Heads up!!
This ad is perfection!
Beirut! đđžđ
This is My Vice President.
Good Evening, TODville Community.
It’s quite a Birthday Party, Lady NW…ObrigadađĽđśđĽđžđđđđŞđđ¤đđââď¸đââď¸đđšđ
Bunch of young white #Covidiots!
https://twitter.com/akkitwts/status/1290648623009730567?s=20
Thread…
Next podcast is coming tomorrow.
That is Duncan Hunters seat. Ruby red district. Daryl Issa is the repug running for the seat. I really don’t think it will flip to a Dem.
Be prepared. It may take days or weeks before we know the winner of the election in November.
https://twitter.com/kieselaymon/status/1290744527792287744?s=21
https://twitter.com/sifill_ldf/status/1290779989735071749?s=21
Look at this shit! đ¤Ź
Thank you, Nerdy. Love this post.
Happy Birthday President Obama and Meghan Markle.
Good Evening, TOD! â¤ď¸
Yay Mark Kelly!
Alright Allies! đđž
https://twitter.com/kingkeraun/status/1290428862870913024?s=21
Well done, Ken Olin! đ
THIS!!!
https://twitter.com/jenniehaake/status/1290793185355001856?s=21
Belated birthday wishes to our President Obama!!!
Best wishes for some beautiful big sky time, twinkly stars, with family tonight.
P.S.
Saw Jupiter just now resting atop mountain hard by…with red area clearly visible.
Wow is it ever massive, like a long double planet! A few years ago out walking dog at night, it seemed as though there was a giant space station hanging there in the clouds over us.
https://twitter.com/pivyak/status/1290004534157221890?s=20
Time for awakening to reality is shrinking one dangerous minute after another ….
https://twitter.com/Our4thEstate/status/1290877610428268544
https://twitter.com/Our4thEstate/status/1290879806209318912
Perhaps Mr Browder will be the “Paul Revere” we so desperately need!!
Goodnight TOD.
BTW, couldn’t agree MORE:
https://twitter.com/knightopia/status/1290850845265989638?s=20
Morning everyone
The new podcast!!!
https://twitter.com/chemoelectric/status/1291010711611740162
Senator Booker to Hayes:
âFor him (Trump) to be attacking it, trying to delegitimize it is a real stress test for our democracy…using the gears of our government” to undermine the Census, Post Office, mail-in voting…
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA90nQa3dnI)
–Trump suddenly OK with mail-in voting in Florida because senior GOP citizens.
Good Morning, TODbots.
On Reidout,
Joy talks to Anand Giridharadas (The.Ink publisher) and Kurt Burdella (Lincoln Project):
Burdella:
âFrom republicans what weâve seen is this ridiculous posture that $600 a week is too much to give people who have lost their jobs because of Coronavirus. It is not a negotiation. Itâs a hostage crisis. Theyâre taking the welfare of the American people hostage, and trying to convince Democrats that $200 a week is a living wage in this country, that they can get by while theyâre out of work, while not getting a pay check, when they have no sources of income. All the while this Coronavirus pandemic rages on because of the Trump administrationâs incompetence, and the republican partyâs enabling of that incompetence has put us all in jeopardy. So I think that we are waiting to see whether Republicans are going to wake up to the reality. The American people want them not just at the negotiating table. They want them to make a deal and to give them the resources they need to get through this pandemic.â
Reid:
âThereâs a sense that itâs not happening to âourâ peopleâŚreporting that Kushnerâs attitude to the coronavirus was well âthese arenât our peopleâ. And that once it started hitting red states they went âOh our people – we should pay attention.â Youâre seeing the unemployment rate spiking among African Americans, disproportionately hitting black, brown, indigenous folks as is Cornovarius. But an âour people onlyâ strategy canât work in a place where ‘our people’ and âtheir peopleâ are mixed in these states!â
Giridharadas:
âThe pandemic turned out to be not a great equalizer.
It turned out to be a magnifier of the divides of this countryâŚand it turned out to be an accelerant of some of the great mega trends. So we can talk about unemployment crisis and unemployment relief, and whether a deal can be made, but I think we have to take an historical view, where for 40 years the project of the Republican Party pre-Trump, before he was even a republican, has been to defund, defang, and delegitimize the state in any way possible.And to leave people to their own defenses.
And the darker your skin was, the more defenseless you should be left. And so as with so many things in the pandemic, it is like a truth serum for the reality of this country. But it is not a departure. And even Trump as loathsome as he isâŚI mean what is really novel about Trump is that he is semi-literate, and the ways in which he operates like a fascist. But on this kind of thing? He is a republican taking the idea of austerity to its logical bitter end.â
“Where is Trump âMaster Dealmakerâ during coronavirus relief talks?”
“Federal unemployment benefits related to the coronavirus expired last Friday. So that begs the question, whereâs the âMaster Dealmakerâ Donald Trump? Congress and the White House are at a stalemate on how to ease the economic pain for millions of Americans.”
(https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/watch/where-is-trump-master-dealmaker-during-coronavirus-relief-talks-89549893757)
Rachel Maddow:
âWe have the worst coronavirus epidemic on Earth.
Keeping Americans safe therefore means that as many Americans as possible need to not crowd together in polling places in November or any other time. People instead should vote by mail. And so of course the president has discouraged people from voting by mail. Heâs backed efforts to make it harder to vote by mail. Heâs been constantly promoting this lie that mail voting is rife with fraud. Heâs now put in a new Postmaster General who is deliberately slowing down the mail at the Postal Service, which means of course that maybe ballots wonât be delivered on time. I mean as strategies go, itâs unsubtle. If youâre a president who thinks you might not be able to win more votes in an election, you just create as much smoke and mirrors around that election as you can,
use the control that you have of the government to make the election less fair, and then maybe youâll be able to hold on to power somehow, by claiming the election is tainted even if you lose.â
Maddow:
“But if you were an administration or political party that was starting to worry that that plan might not work.
If you wanted to try to lock in a certain amount of political power for yourself for years to come regardless of what happens in November, well then the first thing you would probably think of to try to do that would be to mess with the CensusâŚ.the count thatâs done this year will be used to determine Americaâs political representation for years to comeâŚitâs all based on how many people live where, and the fact that they get counted.”
Maddow:
“Well now the Census Bureau has suddenly announced that itâs cutting its count short.
It will potentially miss millions of people who have historically been the hardest to reach. Those people tend to be poor people, people of color, immigrants, people who tend to live in blue cities and blue states.
So a flawed Census count could help republicans increase their representation in Congress simply by not counting millions of people who tend to live in Democratic districts, which is a neat trick! Just to be safe, the Census Bureau has also announced that instead of submitting their final numbers to the White House next April, when Joe Biden could potentially could be president, they will submit them earlier than they had planned to do. They now say theyâll submit those numbers on December 31st, so no matter how flawed the count, it will be Donald Trump who is still there in the Oval Office to sign off on their work, even if his election plans donât work out.â
âBut Iâm here with the solution.â
Senator Amy Klobuchar to Maddow:
âMore shenanigans are announced with the Census, and I will say theyâve tried and failed several times. Remember the citizenship question? When they tried to put that and the court pushed back on that.
Then recently the president has talked about not counting all people, but just counting citizens. And of course that is not what the laws saysâŚAnd what theyâre trying to do here of course is lock in the Trump numbers on the Census, when in fact we have one of the lowest numbers as Vanita pointed out, in the history of people responding. People still have to respond. (I did it today Rachel, it took five minutes. Because I was afraid youâd ask me if I did it. Itâs really simple to do, so everyone should go do it when your show is over.) But we need this time. And you donât just tell all these people running the Census âGuess what, we pulled it back a monthâ.
Senator Klobuchar:
“But Iâm here with the solution. The Heroes Act that passed the House, itâs been sitting on Mitch McConnellâs desk for over two months, that weâre valiantly working every day to get passed in the Senate – it actually contains an extension that would extend it four more months because of the pandemic.
So we can get people especially on our tribal reservations, people of color, people who have historically been hurt, who havenât been counted, to be able to be counted. And thatâs what I think we should do.
Is to negotiate and get that provision in a final bill.â
Maddow:
âIt feels like such a profoundly cynical and partisan thing to deliberately undercount the hardest people to count. And to deliberately move their own goalposts! It was the Trump Administration who said they needed more time to get this done rather than cutting it short, so they can get these numbers to President Trump instead of a potential President Biden. Thatâs what it looks like from the outside. Do you feel like your Republican colleagues get that this is the wrong thing to do in terms of the Census? Just in terms of this being an effort with integrity?â
Senator Klobuchar:
âYou know how they havenât stood up. Time and time again they donât stand up.
And theyâve had one day to hear this, so Iâll be talking to them about it tomorrow. But I think beyond that, you have started to see some cracks when it comes to say, voting. And that youâve just seen as you were just talking about with the vote by mail. Trump is on one side, but youâve got republican governors, republican secretaries of state, Roy Blunt whoâs been working with me on this, pushing to say âhey, no matter what Donald Trump says on his twitter feed people are going to vote by mailâ. Theyâre doing it at rates of 60 to 70% in the state of Maryland. In the GOP primary over 95% of the people voted by mail. It is happening before our eyes. So we need to make sure the states have the resources that they need, and thatâs what weâre also pushing for right now. And itâs not just vote by mail. The president doesnât want to do vote by mail even though heâs done it himself in the comfort of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, while people in Milwaukee stood in the rain in homemade masks and in garbage bags, just trying to exercise their right to vote. Hey – some of this money is going to go big time to training poll workers so people arenât vulnerable, to sanitizing poll places, to making sure polling locations are open early so that people are able to vote when thereâs less people congregating. We have to help the states on this. The republicans know it. And thatâs what Iâm really focused on right now in addition to the Census issue.â
Maddow:
âLet me ask if you share some of the concerns that have been voiced about whatâs happening at the Postal Service. Obviously the president has installed a new Postmaster General. I wasnât speaking hyperbolically. He has actually instituted policies that have deliberately slowed down the mail process, which has alarmed a lot of people inside that agency. Are you worried that the president is messing with the Postal Service in a way that could materially affect our ability to successfully vote by mail nationwide?â
Senator Klobuchar:
âCompletely. And let me make the case again to my republican colleagues, which we will be making.
Four of us, including Senator Schumer and Senator Gary Peters actually sent a letter to the Postmaster General asking a bunch of questions about this. Because yes this is going to be about ballot. But itâs also about peopleâs medications. During the pandemic, more and more people are getting their lifesaving medications by mail. If they mess with stuff like this, they are literally going to mess with peopleâs lives. I know as a result of this that Senator Schumer and Speaker Pelosi, I believe are going to be meeting with him and asking these questions. Because as we work again on this very important Heroes Act, we have got to make sure that thereâs also funding for the Postal Service. Because itâs not just the funding thatâs an issue. Itâs the rules heâs put in place that has resulted in people getting delays in all of their mail.
Not just their ballots. All of their mail.
“But itâs also about peopleâs medications.
During the pandemic, more and more people are getting their lifesaving medications by mail.”
Are the trump goons happy yet?
The Moms and babes who were made to lay down face down on the tarmac in handcuffs…
What was the temperature that day? We all know that tarmac gets scary hot.
Were there any burns?
Little ones separated and handcuffed in a hot vehicle?
Dear Moms, please sue for this gross atrocity on you and your innocent trusting little ones.
—Defang, re-imagine, and redestribute ‘police’ resources.
https://twitter.com/Nelba_MG/status/1290491880619180038?s=19
https://www.gq.com/story/rolex-explorers-club
Natalie Dean:
“Iâd Need Evidence Before Iâd Get a Covid-19 Vaccine. It Doesnât Exist Yet.” (NYT)
“Scientists need to show us the data. And thatâs exactly what theyâre working on.”
“In a May survey, 49 percent of the Americans polled said they plan to get a coronavirus vaccine when one is available, 20 percent do not, and 31 percent indicated that they were not sure. The World Health Organization considers âvaccine hesitancyâ a major threat to global health, and poor uptake would jeopardize the impact of a coronavirus vaccine.”
(https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/03/opinion/coronavirus-vaccine-efficacy-trials.html)
–Dean spoke to Nicole Wallace on Monday on Maddow.
–Wow so cool to see and hear from a woman biostatistician.
“The World Health Organization says a vaccine should be at minimum 50 percent effective, averaged across age groups…This benchmark is crucial because a weak vaccine might be worse than no vaccine at all.” (Natalie Dean)
https://twitter.com/TitusNation/status/1291069818645303296?s=19
Another tragic anniversary
âI Cannot Lose Another Teacherâ:
District Superintendent Jeff Gregorich tells Hayes.
https://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/-i-cannot-lose-another-teacher-ariz-superintendent-terrified-over-school-reopening-89506885922
—District Superintendent Gregorich said opening his school district in 2 weeks on August 17th âis a fantasyâ.
Gregorich:
âWe could not even keep 3 teachers who doing everything, the masks and wiping down everything,
we could not keep them safe…multi-generational families. It doesn’t make sense to me at all as many times as I play it out, I just don’t understand what others are missing that think that it would be safe.’
Hayes: “A large percentage of kids in your district need lunch…you have an underprivileged community that you’re serving.”
Gregorich:
“I don’t know how teaching with the teachers scared to death, in front of plexiglass, and the kids spread out six feet and they’re scared…and I think if we’re now providing quality distance learning, that means…
we think that with the training and that’s how kids are going to be learning in the future so Iâm trying to find the silver lining thereâŚthis is something that we to do to keep our families safe. I can’t lose another teacher, staff member, grandma or grandpa. That’s what worries me most.â
“I’m sorry, but it’s a Fantasy” (Washington Post) op-ed by Jeff Gregorich
Future-Senator Mark Kelly of AZ
Every trick in the book from these crooks
https://twitter.com/amberforiowa/status/1291076947485827079?s=21
No paywall on this one
Suppressed
https://twitter.com/marceelias/status/1290874163855609857?s=20
New post.
State Senator Pat Spearman:
“I’m the 3rd generation to be born free”.
“I am only the 2nd generation to have in law the right to vote.
That’s sacred to me.
That’s sacred to me.”
Speaking to Nicole Wallace: “Nevada State Senator Pat Spearman explains a new law in Nevada making it easier to vote, including vote by mail, and the challenges of overcoming obstinate Republican opposition in advancing such legislation.”