Trump spent the day attacking political opponents and defending convicted felon Michael Flynn.

The Fed slashes rates to near zero, announces purchase of $700 billion of debt.  This is a correct move, IMHO.

Cuomo announces cut by half for NY restaurants and bars.

Italy’s death rate explodes, 368 yesterday.

Harris County working to expand testing.

Trump’s stream of lies from the beginning of the crisis.

France and Spain announce severe restrictions on citizens, close all stores but groceries and pharmacies.

Trump tests negative (supposedly) for the Coronavirus, halts travel from the UK and Ireland.

Italian Coronavirus cases jump by 20%.

The Alley Theatre has cancelled all performances with audiences and events through March 31.  However, they are going to livestream the new production of 1984.  Pretty cool.

The House passed a sweeping relief bill to help Americans cope with the crisis.  Trump careens from ditch to ditch like a drunk on Saturday night demonstrating he doesn’t have the slightest idea what he’s doing.

You knew it would happen.  Trump’s incompetent response to the COVID-19 outbreak is one of the few crises in the last three years that is not of his own making, and his sycophants have come to realize that he can’t lie or tweet his way out of this one.  The response?  Gen up the Noise Machine, WhatAbout Version.  One of the loudest blowhards in the Machine is PJ Media formerly called Pajamas Media, one of the biggest manure shovelers on the web.

The WhatAbout target this time?  Barack Obama, of course, and this time it was his response to the H1N1 flu outbreak in 2009, days after he had taken office.  H1N1 became apparent in January 2009 and being researched by the WHO then.  The first case of H1N1 was discovered on April 15, 2009, the WHO declared a medical emergency on April 25, and the CDC began releasing anti-viral drugs to fight the disease. Obama declared a US medical emergency on April 30.  He requested $1.9 billion then and as the pandemic grew, requested another $9 billion for response and vaccines.  In October of 2009 Obama did declare a national emergency, but only after multiple efforts to control the virus.  Today, H1N1 continues as a recurring flu virus and has killed an estimated 75,000 Americans since 2009.  It’s part of the annual flu vaccine today that many Americans still refuse to receive.

Let’s talk about how Republicans responded to the virus back in 2009 versus what they are saying now.  During the funding debates of 2009, Republicans opposed Obama’s request because, well, they’re Republicans.  Also, the noise machine cranked up led by Gleen Beck, Lou Dobbs, and Rush Limbaugh.  Glenn Beck, who at that time had a big show on Fox Noise said, “…you don’t know if this is going to cause neurological damage like it did in the 1970s,” adding that he would do “the exact opposite” of what the federal government recommended and might even attend a swine flu party to deliberately infect himself before the virus could mutate.  Rush Limbaugh said, “I am not going to take it [the H1N1 vaccine], precisely because you are now telling me I must. . . . I don’t want to take your vaccine. I don’t get flu shots.” He added that if “you have some idiot government official demanding, telling me I must take this vaccine, I’ll never take it.”  In Congress Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) commented, “We can’t let all of our spending and our reaction be media-driven in responding to a panic so that we don’t get Katrina-ed. . . . It’s important because what we are talking about as we discuss the appropriateness of spending $2 billion to produce a vaccine that may never be used—that is a very important decision that our country has to make.”  Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) added, “I don’t think we need to spend $1.5 billion on flu vaccine when . . . the research shows that it’s not going to be very virulent. . . . We are stealing our grandchildren’s future by borrowing and spending. . . . This hysteria over the flu is driving the media, and it’s driving the administration, driving the leadership here. We’ve got to stop that.”

The funding was passed, but after intense anti-vaxxer misinformation and loud Republican opposition, the distribution of the vaccine was greatly suppressed and even THAT was affected by party.  Democrats outnumbered Republicans by almost 50% in saying they would take the vaccine.

The Repubs are singing the same song this time, too, calling the outbreak of COVID-19 a hoax and supporting Trump’s idiotic and incoherent blabbering and tweeting about it.  Even as they try to cover for Trump, they’re attacking Obama for doing exactly the opposite of what he actually did.

Same song, different pandemic.

Trading has been halted on the NYSE with the market down another 1,700 points.  It’s clear that investors are not happy with Trump’s response.  Trump offered no specifics last night short of pulling up the drawbridge from Europe after the virus already got in.  He hinted at economic relief with no specifics.  His payroll tax cut, which is only a thinly disguised effort to kill Social Security and Medicare, was DOA on the Hill.  There was no discussion of increasing availability of test kits, no information on how local jurisdictions should respond, no words of wisdom on how individuals should prepare.

I’m convinced that Trump is intentionally slowing the distribution of kits because that would “make my numbers go up”.  He doesn’t want to know how many people have it, because he’s playing a global television gameshow and he’s determined to declare victory over whoever his fellow contestants are.

The Coronavirus doesn’t give a shit who Donald Trump is or that he’s president and a famous gameshow host.  It’s doing to do what it’s going to do.  All Trump’s happy talk is doing nothing but more damage.

25th Amendment anyone?

Latest I’ve got, but it’s coming hard and fast:

Tom Hanks and his wife test positive for COVID-19

NBA has suspended the NBA season.

Trump bans travel to the US from Europe, except the UK.

Trump’s effort to play down the pandemic has worked…on Republicans.

Brazilian official (accused of corruption, of course) has tested positive for COVID-19 after spending the weekend at Mara Lago.

Trump loyalists test positive for COVID-19, including Matt Gaetz, who stupidly wore a gas mask in Congress last week to mock the threat.  He wins Dumbass of the Week award.

Italy shuts down ALL stores except for pharmacies and grocery stores.

WHO declares the Coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic while calling out “alarming levels of inaction.”

Stocks fall into bear territory for the first time in 11 years in the face of Trump’s incoherent response to COVID-19 and Saudi-Russian oil price war.

Other than that, not a goddam thing happening right now.

Another Snopes report has confirmed another effort by Trump to erase the Obama administration, documenting how he undid regulations and uses of stiff fines to force senior care facilities to protect patients under their care.