May 6, 2020

McConnell, GOP move swiftly on Trump's judicial nominee, angering Democrats

Source: Washington Post

McConnell, GOP move swiftly on Trump’s judicial nominee, angering Democrats pressing for focus on coronavirus

The Senate Judiciary Committee is poised for a fierce partisan clash Wednesday over President Trump’s nominee to one of the most influential federal appeals courts, with political echoes of the fight two years ago over a Supreme Court choice.

With the strong blessing of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Republicans will push to elevate Judge Justin Walker to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit — a promotion that Democrats decry as too quick for the 37-year-old after just six months as a district judge in Kentucky.

Walker’s nomination received a surprise boost late Tuesday when the American Bar Association reversed its initial “Not Qualified” rating during his 2019 confirmation process for the post in the lower trial court, instead deeming him “Well Qualified” for this more prominent post.

The ABA said that its switch came from the differences between the courts, with the appellate court post placing less emphasis on trial experience and instead a “high degree of legal scholarship, academic talent, analytical and writing abilities, and overall excellence.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/mcconnell-gop-move-swiftly-on-trumps-judicial-nominee-angering-democrats-pressing-for-focus-on-coronavirus/2020/05/05/36efba66-8f10-11ea-a9c0-73b93422d691_story.html

May 6, 2020

The Trump campaign's egregious editing of a CNN clip

Regular readers know that The Fact Checker has been keeping close tabs on misleading or manipulated campaign videos. We have faulted both the Biden campaign and the Trump campaign for using snippets of quotes in misleading ways or out of context.

But this Trump ad, called “American Comeback,” is unusual because CNN has written a cease-and-desist letter to President Trump’s reelection campaign, saying that remarks of two of its stars have been edited to give a false impression. The network said it would refuse to air the ad. The campaign rejected the complaint, saying the ad was “demonstrably accurate.”

That’s wrong. This is yet another clear example of how campaign ad-makers twist quotes and images to leave a false impression. The ad suggests that Trump’s move to restrict travel by non-U.S. citizens from China is a key factor in the United States avoiding as many as 2 million deaths during the coronavirus outbreak.

Under the Fact Checker’s standards for manipulated video, we have three broad categories: Some video is taken out of context, other content is deceptively edited; in the worst instances, it is deliberately altered. This ad clearly qualifies as deceptive editing.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/05/06/trump-campaigns-egregious-editing-cnn-clip/

May 6, 2020

Colbert, Kimmel mock president for attacking late-night hosts amid pandemic

In the battle against the novel coronavirus, President Trump, who dubbed himself a “wartime president,” says he has largely been focused on fighting the deadly outbreak sweeping across the United States. But the urgent need to stop the “invisible enemy,” as Trump calls it, doesn’t mean the president has forgotten about his more visible foes.

That much was evident this week when Trump appeared to find time between handling the health crisis and attacking his political adversaries to go after another group of people who have often been the target of his ire: late-night hosts.

During an Oval Office sit-down with the New York Post on Monday, Trump slammed Seth Meyers and Stephen Colbert for being “nasty” and having “no talent.” He then continued his onslaught on Tuesday, firing off a tweet attacking Colbert, Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel over their ratings.

Kimmel and Colbert, two of Trump’s most vocal critics, wasted no time hitting back at the president.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/05/06/trump-colbert-kimmel-coronavirus/

May 4, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic is pushing America into a mental health crisis

Anxiety and depression are rising. The U.S. is ill-prepared, with some clinics already on the brink of collapse.

Three months into the coronavirus pandemic, America is on the verge of another health crisis, with daily doses of death, isolation and fear generating widespread psychological trauma.

Federal agencies and experts warn that a historic wave of mental health problems is approaching: depression, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide.

Just as the initial coronavirus outbreak caught hospitals unprepared, the country’s mental health system — vastly underfunded, fragmented and difficult to access before the pandemic — is even less prepared to handle this coming surge.

“That’s what is keeping me up at night,” said Susan Borja, who leads the traumatic stress research program at the National Institute of Mental Health. “I worry about the people the system just won’t absorb or won’t reach. I worry about the suffering that’s going to go untreated on such a large scale.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/05/04/mental-health-coronavirus/

Waking up to Trump every morning doesn't help, either.

May 4, 2020

For Disney, a Stricken Empire

The entertainment conglomerate’s vastness, once its strength, has posed a challenge during the pandemic.

It was once a prospering kingdom, the envy of all the land. But in crept an invisible menace.

It could be the story line for a classic Disney movie. Instead, Disney is living it — and happily ever after is nowhere in sight.

After a decade of spectacular growth, the entertainment conglomerate has been devastated by the coronavirus pandemic. Its 14 theme parks (annual attendance: 157 million) delivered record profits in 2019. They’re now padlocked. Its movie studios (there are eight) controlled a staggering 40 percent of the domestic box office last year. Now, they’re sitting at a near standstill.

“From great to good to bad to ugly,” Michael Nathanson, a leading media analyst, wrote in a report of Disney’s extreme reversal in fortunes. “Recession will cause further pain.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/04/business/media/coronavirus-disney.html

May 4, 2020

DOJ argues Virginia stay-at-home order interfered with church's free exercise of religion

The Department of Justice is siding with a Virginia church that filed a lawsuit against the state over Gov. Ralph Northam's (D) stay-at-home order restricting in-person religious services to no more than 10 people amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The Lighthouse Fellowship Church, a congregation in Chincoteague, Va., filed the suit after its pastor received a criminal citation for holding a church service with 16 people in attendance in early April. The church requested a temporary restraining order and an injunction to pause enforcement of the governor's policy.

On Sunday, lawyers from the Justice Department filed a statement of interest supporting the church's action. The department argued that the church had a "strong case" because Northam's executive order allowed other venues, such as liquor stores and law offices, to hold gatherings with more than 10 people.

"Permitting similar opportunities for in-person gatherings of more than 10 individuals, while at the same time prohibiting churches from gathering in groups of more than 10 — even with social distancing measures and other precautions — has impermissibly interfered with the church’s free exercise of religion,” the Justice Department said in the filing.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/495915-justice-dept-argues-virginia-stay-at-home-order-interfered-with

May 4, 2020

The Cloud Forming Over America's Spies

A retired C.I.A. officer sees danger ahead for the independence and political impartiality of the 17 U.S. intelligence agencies if Trump’s choice for director of national intelligence is confirmed.

The appointment in February of Richard Grenell, a political operative and Donald Trump loyalist, as acting director of national intelligence after the renomination of former Congressman John Ratcliffe to permanently fill the position once he is confirmed, has many current and former intelligence professionals deeply concerned.

I am among them, if only because we cannot trust the judgments of a president who so often overrides the wisdom of professional intelligence analysts, prosecutors and medical authorities, even during a calamity.

Last week, for example, on the same day that the office of the director of national intelligence (D.N.I. for short) released a public statement affirming the scientific community’s consensus that “the Covid-19 virus was not man-made or genetically modified,” The New York Times reported that the Trump administration was pressing intelligence officials to look for evidence to prove otherwise — perhaps that it originated in a Chinese laboratory. Not coincidentally, acting director Grenell, a prolific Twitter user, failed to sign his own intelligence community’s official position.

I take solace in my confidence that Mr. Trump will learn, even after the Senate confirms Mr. Ratcliffe and the president replaces still more professionals with less capable political loyalists, that gagging the intelligence community will be far more difficult than hushing the Justice Department or overriding the wisdom of our medical institutions.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/04/opinion/trump-grenell-ratcliffe.html

May 4, 2020

Masks Become a Flash Point in the Virus Culture Wars

As people resume going out in public in the middle of a pandemic, to wear or not to wear a face mask has become a personal statement and sometimes a political one.

As the nation edges away from lockdown and people once again share public spaces in the middle of a pandemic, wearing a face mask — or refusing to — has become a flash point in a moment when civic rules are being rewritten, seemingly on the fly.

The result has been dirty looks, angry words, raw emotions and, at times, confrontations that have escalated into violence.

In Flint, Mich., a security guard at a Family Dollar store was fatally shot on Friday afternoon after an altercation that the guard’s wife told The New York Times had occurred over a customer refusing to wear a face covering, which is required in Michigan in any enclosed public space.

Police officials declined to comment on details of the case but are still looking for the suspect, who fled. The family of the victim held a vigil on Sunday night with cars lining up around the store where the shooting took place. A news conference was planned for Monday.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/03/us/coronavirus-masks-protests.html

May 4, 2020

After the Virus: California Liberals Say Returning to Normal Won't Be Enough

In a matter of weeks, California let thousands of people out of prisons and found shelter for many who had been living on the streets, but how far the progressive wing can push the state remains a question.

Housing for the homeless. Criminal justice reform. Addressing the digital divide for schoolchildren in rural areas.

Propelled by the urgency of the coronavirus crisis, and despite severe economic headwinds, liberal Californians see this moment as an opening to push through an agenda that addresses some of the state’s most intractable and long-debated problems.

Already, thousands of people have been let out of the state’s jails and prisons, cash bail has been eliminated for most crimes, thousands of homeless people now have roofs over their heads, and children in rural and poor areas of the state are being sent tens of thousands of laptop computers for distance learning — temporary measures to confront the pandemic that leaders are hoping will become durable solutions to longstanding problems of inequity.

While many in the country talk about returning to normal, a common refrain is emerging among California’s powerful political left wing and many liberal leaders across America: Normal wasn’t working.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/04/us/coronavirus-california-liberals.html

May 4, 2020

Historic financial decline hits doctors, dentists and hospitals, threatening overall economy

Even as the novel coronavirus pandemic draws attention and resources to the nation’s doctors and hospitals, the health-care industry is suffering a historic collapse in business that is emerging as one of the most powerful forces hurting the U.S. economy and a threat to a potential recovery.

The widespread economic shutdown deployed to reduce transmission of the coronavirus hit hospitals and health-care providers with particular force as they prepared to face the pandemic.

Most elective surgeries nationwide were postponed beginning in mid-March. Dentists offices were closed. Physicians stopped seeing all but the sickest patients in their offices. Stay-at-home orders didn’t just prevent people from dining in restaurants — they led people to avoid medical services, too, amid concerns about the virus’s disease, covid-19. More than 200 hospitals, including Children’s National Hospital in Washington, have furloughed workers, according to a tally by Becker’s Hospital Review.

The result was that health-care spending declined at an annualized rate of 18 percent in the first three months of the year, according to Commerce Department data released last week, the largest reduction since the government started keeping records in 1959.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/05/04/financial-distress-among-doctors-hospitals-despite-covid-19-weighs-heavily-economy/