Day: March 2, 2020

Joe Biden versus Bernie Sanders?

benfell

Joe Biden

It’s all happening faster than I expected. I had expected Super Tuesday (tomorrow) to provide the final impetus to push some so-called “moderate” candidates out of the race. Instead, they’re dropping out and endorsing Joe Biden now and it appears that Biden, after all, will be the anti-Bernie Sanders.[1] Of that camp, only Michael Bloomberg, who runs pretty much on money and hubris alone, and whom I’ve already discussed,[2] remains. Chris Cillizza predicts that unless he does very well tomorrow (unlikely), he, too, will come under extreme pressure to withdraw and support Biden.[3] There is, of course, the matter of Elizabeth Warren but she, too, might well endorse Biden.[4] I can’t imagine Biden prevailing except through entirely predictable Democratic National Committee chicanery,[5] in which case, he’ll surely lose the general election.

Chris Cillizza, “The Stop Sanders movement has gone public,” CNN, March 2, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/02/politics/bernie-sanders-joe-biden-super-tuesday/index.html

Seema Mehta, “Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar endorsing Joe Biden,” Los Angeles Times, March 2, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-03-02/joe-biden-endorsements-harry-reid-klobuchar

  1. [1]Seema Mehta, “Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar endorsing Joe Biden,” Los Angeles Times, March 2, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-03-02/joe-biden-endorsements-harry-reid-klobuchar↩
  2. [2]David Benfell, “A billionaire likely loser,” Irregular Bullshit, February 16, 2020, https://disunitedstates.com/2020/02/16/a-billionaire-likely-loser/↩
  3. [3]Chris Cillizza, “The Stop Sanders movement has gone public,” CNN, March 2, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/02/politics/bernie-sanders-joe-biden-super-tuesday/index.html↩
  4. [4]Nathan J. Robinson, “Thinking About The Democratic Primary,” Current Affairs, January 15, 2020, https://www.currentaffairs.org/2020/01/thinking-about-the-democratic-primary↩
  5. [5]David Benfell, “Bernie Sanders’ supporters have reason to be rude,” Not Housebroken, February 27, 2020, https://disunitedstates.org/2020/02/26/bernie-sanders-supporters-have-reason-to-be-rude/↩

Fucking up coronavirus

benfell

Coronavirus

Let’s just say the authorities are really fucking up coronavirus. Badly.

The following tweet probably—only probably—reflects a misunderstanding, but the truth isn’t a whole lot better:

From what I can see, there are shortages of testing kits around the world, which would seem to account for the alleged refusal to use the World Health Organization test. Some of the first testing kits made for the U.S. were defective but this appears to have been fixed and apparently there is a workaround so the defective kits can be used. There is a huge problem in that testing capacity is being built up slowly; the incubation period may vary up to over a month, but is generally presumed to be up to 14 days; and therefore we don’t really have any idea at all how many people have been exposed or even have the disease, which would seem to just about entirely undermine any claims downplaying the magnitude of the problem,[1] including that from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

While there is still much to learn about the unfolding situations in California, Oregon and Washington, preliminary information raises the level of concern about the immediate threat for COVID-19 for certain communities in the United States. The potential public health threat posed by COVID-19 is very high, to the United States and globally.

At this time, however, most people in the United States will have little immediate risk of exposure to this virus. This virus is NOT currently spreading widely in the United States. However, it is important to note that current global circumstances suggest it is likely that this virus will cause a pandemic. This is a rapidly evolving situation and the risk assessment will be updated as needed.[2]

I don’t have the evidence to support the malign intent indicated in the tweet near the beginning of this post. That said, elites need to understand very clearly that the guidance they are providing appears unsupported by the available data, that they are profoundly distrusted on both the Left and the right, and that charging thousands of dollars for a test only exacerbates that distrust. This is no way to handle an epidemic, let alone one that may become a pandemic.

They’re fucking up and they need to stop it. Now.

Jon Cohen, “The United States badly bungled coronavirus testing—but things may soon improve,” Science, February 28, 2020, doi: 10.1126/science.abb5152

Alexander Freund, “How long is the coronavirus incubation period?” Deutschewelle, February 28, 2020, https://www.dw.com/en/how-long-is-the-coronavirus-incubation-period/a-52569944

Julia Belluz and Brian Resnick, “The coronavirus diagnostic testing snafu, explained,” Vox, February 29, 2020, https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2020/2/28/21155917/preparing-for-coronavirus-in-the-us-cdc-diagnostic-testing

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Summary,” February 29, 2020, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/summary.html

  1. [1]Julia Belluz and Brian Resnick, “The coronavirus diagnostic testing snafu, explained,” Vox, February 29, 2020, https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2020/2/28/21155917/preparing-for-coronavirus-in-the-us-cdc-diagnostic-testing; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Summary,” February 29, 2020, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/summary.html; Jon Cohen, “The United States badly bungled coronavirus testing—but things may soon improve,” Science, February 28, 2020, doi: 10.1126/science.abb5152; Alexander Freund, “How long is the coronavirus incubation period?” Deutschewelle, February 28, 2020, https://www.dw.com/en/how-long-is-the-coronavirus-incubation-period/a-52569944↩
  2. [2]Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Summary,” February 29, 2020, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/summary.html↩