2020 Presidential election

[ppulatie]

Have no idea. But he gotta be good to match me.

[ppulatie]

Looks like the Biden scandal heating up is costing him votes across the board in big numbers.

[ppulatie]

At 51 Senate seats now for Reps with 2 outstanding.

[ccp]

".At 51 Senate seats now for Reps with 2 outstanding."

I'll take it

http://www.iemoji.com/view/emoji/21/smileys-people/face-with-open-mouth-and-cold-sweat

[DougMacG]

Democrats will drop a bomb on Trump tomorrow.  (?)

There is no way these scandals and October surprises cut only one way.

Regret your early vote yet?

[ppulatie]

No regrets.

NYT is already writing about Trump and a Chinese bank account. Also attempting to start businesses in China, Ireland and the UK.  Pretty weak stuff.

[ccp]

https://www.newsmax.com/politics/debate-hunterbiden-emails/2020/10/19/id/992697/

lets see

partisan debate commission will be ready for this too

cut off the mike
avoid the issue. ; claim it was not agreed on to discuss ; claim it was all debunked etc.
or ask it early with ' 1 or 2 minute ' limit with Joe being ready with canned answer then interrupt Trump to get to a more palatable gotcha questions for the benefit of Joe

[DougMacG]

Biden uninterrupted is like having a Trump ad production session all scheduled and paid for.

[DougMacG]

From the point of view of the right, and of the xountry, Trump has been a hundred or thousand times better than we could have imagined when elected.

Biden has been less polarizing than Hillary but equally corrupt and less than half as smart.

Liberals fear Trump because he has been effective.  Hard to put that in a campaign ad.

When do those 3rd quarter GDP results come out?

The choice will clarify by election day, economic growth versus deep state corruption.

He needs to turn his last minute momentum to the House and Senate races.  Shocking the media analysts would be a clean sweep, and get two years to get this country back on track.

[G M]

He did far better than I imagined, all while facing endless coup attempts and being undercut at every turn.

From the point of view of the right, and of the xountry, Trump has been a hundred or thousand times better than we could have imagined when elected.

Biden has been less polarizing than Hillary byt equally corrupt and less than half as smart.

Liberals fear Trump because he has been effective.  Hard to put that in a campaign ad.

When do those 3rd quarter GDP results come out?

The choice will clarify by election day, economic growth versus deep state corruption.

He needs to turn his last minute momentum to the House and Senate races.  Shocking the media analysts would be a clean sweep, and get two years to get this country back on track.

[DougMacG]

https://www.bea.gov/news/schedule
Record GDP report: Oct 29.
Record Personal Income report Oct 30.
Election day Nov 3.

No wonder Dems want everyone to vote early.

[ppulatie]

Also want Dems to vote early before the Hunter stuff becomes mainstream.

[ccp]

https://www.newsmax.com/politics/heritage-immigration-biden-trump/2020/10/21/id/993114/

indeed only Trump and he only recently speaking about the wall has anyone at all spoken about it.

[ccp]

not in my opinion

if he was that good he would be re elected hands down

he made it about his personality and about himself

could never stick to a script

made enemies even when he did not have to

and brought level of debate down to that of a 3rd grader

sorry
but my opinion

[ccp]

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/how-trump-should-approach-the-final-debate/

[DougMacG]

not in my opinion

if he was that good he would be re elected hands down

he made it about his personality and about himself

could never stick to a script

made enemies even when he did not have to

and brought level of debate down to that of a 3rd grader

sorry
but my opinion

300 great judges appointed and confirmed
ISIS Caliphate defeated
Doubled the growth rate of the economy
Got NATO to pay their own defense
Lowered emissions more than all 'Paris Accord' signatories
Lowest US CO2 emissions in 67 years
Lowest black and Hispanic unemployment in history
Removed the Obamacare mandate penalty
Built key sections of the wall
Illegal border crossings way down
Ended a bad Iran deal
Moved US embassy to Jerusalem
Middle East Peace deals
New North American trade agreement
The great regulatory rollback
Ended 'Net neutrality' misnomer
Fracking, energy independence, oil and gas exports, affordable energy
Called out the danger that is Communist China
Brought down China's tariffs on US goods
Trump signs TAIPEI Act to support Taiwan’s international relations
Stopped the world takeover Huawei
Brought back US manufacturing
US Military rebuild
Stopped Little Rocket man
Lowered the highest business tax rates in the world
Lowered income inequality
VA reform, crisis solved
MS13 deportations
Kept Guantanamo open
Shift of US alliance from Pak to India
Blocked hostile China takeover of Qualcomm
Ended forced technology transfers to China
Blocked flights out of China (coronavirus)
The difference between black and white and unemployment at an all time low
Record wage growth
Highest Median household income in history
Brought investment back to the US
Took down Al Baghdadi, Soleimani
Cut foreign aid, to Palestinians, to Pakistan
Issued permits for pipelines
Lifted 8 million people out of poverty
42 percent improvement in wage growth
smallest ever pay gap between men and women
8 million no longer need food stamps
Hospital pricing transparency rules

Not one of these would have happened under Biden, Obama, Harris, HRC.

[DougMacG]

50 cent doesn't want to be 20 cent.
https://fox8.com/news/i-dont-want-to-be-20-cent-rapper-50-cent-endorses-trump-for-president/

Jason Whitlock on Tucker:
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/10/21/jason_whitlock_a_facade_that_black_men_cant_relate_to_trump.html

[DougMacG]

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/10/20/bidens_7_economic_deadly_sins_144489.html
...
No. 1: The most significant tax increase in the history of America.

Biden would raise taxes by some $4 trillion over the next decade.

The plan clobbers small businesses with a maximum corporate income tax rate from 21% now to 28%. The capital gains tax would skyrocket from 24% to 40% for those making more than $1 million per year, thus threatening to tank the stock market and reduce every family's retirement savings in America.

No. 2: The end of right-to-work laws in America.

Biden's plan forces millions of workers to join a union and pay union dues, whether they want to or not. Today, 27 states, including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Texas, have right-to-work laws that give workers the right to choose to join the union. The National Right to Work Association warns that these state laws are effectively repealed under the Biden plan. Big Labor bosses could snatch away thousands of dollars right out of workers' paychecks without their consent.

No. 3: The end of U.S. energy independence.

Under Trump, America has become energy independent for the first time in at least 50 years. Biden insists he won't ban fracking, but his radical energy agenda requires zero fossil fuels by 2035, which means hundreds of high-paying jobs lost in states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio and Texas. Saudi oil sheikhs and Russia will love that plan, but it sure isn't good for America.

No. 4: Higher death taxes.

The death tax is one of the most unfair taxes because the public already pays a lifetime of income taxes, payroll taxes, sales taxes, gas taxes and property taxes. The Biden tax scheme of taxing 45% of a family farm, ranch or family-owned business could require these legacy businesses to break up to pay the taxes. That's un-American.

No. 5: Say hello again to the corrupt Paris climate treaty.

Trump wisely pulled the United States out because almost none of the countries has come close to meeting their pollution targets. They want America to pay all the bills, which Biden seems willing to do. We are already reducing carbon emissions more than virtually any other nation. China and India are adding multiple times as much pollution into the atmosphere as America is.

No. 6: A $400 billion blue-state bailout.

Biden wants states that have already balanced their budgets, such as Arizona, Tennessee and Florida, to bail out bankrupt blue states such as California, Illinois, New Jersey and New York. That isn't fair. It only rewards bad behavior and government lockdowns imposed by incompetent Democratic mayors and governors.

No. 7: A $15-an-hour minimum wage.

This will destroy millions of jobs for young people and low-skilled workers. It will severely damage poorer states with lower costs of living, such as Mississippi, Arkansas and South Carolina. Can you think of a worse time to saddle small businesses and restaurants with higher costs when so many firms are already facing bankruptcy due to the virus?

Is it any wonder that socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders and radical leftist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have enthusiastically embraced the Biden plan? Some economists, myself included, worry that we could be looking at a second Great Depression with the Biden policies. Something to think about over the next two weeks.

[ccp]

Doug replied :

300 great judges appointed and confirmed
ISIS Caliphate defeated
Doubled the growth rate of the economy
Got NATO to pay their own defense
Lowered emissions more than all 'Paris Accord' signatories
Lowest US CO2 emissions in 67 years
Lowest black and Hispanic unemployment in history
Removed the Obamacare mandate penalty
Built key sections of the wall
Illegal border crossings way down
Ended a bad Iran deal
Moved US embassy to Jerusalem
Middle East Peace deals
New North American trade agreement
The great regulatory rollback
Ended 'Net neutrality' misnomer
Fracking, energy independence, oil and gas exports, affordable energy
Called out the danger that is Communist China
Brought down China's tariffs on US goods
Trump signs TAIPEI Act to support Taiwan’s international relations
Stopped the world takeover Huawei
Brought back US manufacturing
US Military rebuild
Stopped Little Rocket man
Lowered the highest business tax rates in the world
Lowered income inequality
VA reform, crisis solved
MS13 deportations
Kept Guantanamo open
Shift of US alliance from Pak to India
Blocked hostile China takeover of Qualcomm
Ended forced technology transfers to China
Blocked flights out of China (coronavirus)
The difference between black and white and unemployment at an all time low
Record wage growth
Highest Median household income in history
Brought investment back to the US
Took down Al Baghdadi, Soleimani
Cut foreign aid, to Palestinians, to Pakistan
Issued permits for pipelines
Lifted 8 million people out of poverty
42 percent improvement in wage growth
smallest ever pay gap between men and women
8 million no longer need food stamps
Hospital pricing transparency rules

Not one of these would have happened under Biden, Obama, Harris, HRC.

yes but he also will probably not be re elected
we will not retain the House and will likely lose seats in the Senate

The dems will get WH keep Congress and maybe take the Senate and reverse in very short order everything Trump did
and then some with court packing two new states which are as dem as kalifornia

I hope I am wrong but this is what we are looking at

and immigration flood gates will be opened
and we will be a one party country

best hope we hold the Senate

[DougMacG]

The thought occurs:

If you were in control of all events and decisions made and wanted Democrats to blow this election, how would you script what has happened any differently?

Democrats picked Joe Biden, the dimmest bulb on the tree.  All he had was a little bit of integrity and that is now shot.  He was caught lying to the American people on a treason level corruption charge.  Yes he was involved with his son's business dealings.

The Dem party is split.  Neither the radical left not the centrists trust him and no one is excited for him to win.

Right when the candidate was supposed to reach to the middle, he picks for running mate the most leftward member of the Senate.  His most important decision ever, since advising no go to Obama on the Osama bin Laden raid.

Coming into the final debate of monumental importance, he shut his campaign down for 5 days.  Remember when John McCain did that for the good of the nation?  How did that work out?
https://www.usnews.com/news/campaign-2008/articles/2008/09/24/mccain-suspends-campaign-shocks-republicans

The last big news before the final vote will be the latest economic news - best quarterly growth ever.

Nothing motivates conservatives like a Supreme Court pick - and RBG dies with 45 days to go.  Trump held his best and strongest for just this occasion - and glides through the process unscathed, wows even the Democrats who have to either vote no or kill themselves.

Back up to the summer.  Unrest by Leftists in leftist run cites goes violent and the reaction of the left is to de-fund police, right up until it polls badly, but by then the mass departure of officers leaves the citizens unguarded while crime rates spike.

Democrats are left with the hollow claim that all coronavirus deaths are Trump's fault.  But projections were for 2 million dead, 200,000 if we did "everything perfectly".  We are 200k.

Great candidate for Senate in NC to finally take back control, military man who is still sleeping with his military buddies' wives.  Fully exposed.

Then there is the Hunter hard drive.  They ignored the treason, the corruption and back channel crime, the crack cocaine but they couldn't ignore the underage girls.  We learn they hold 10% for the "big guy" and we learn the "big guy" was then VP Joe Biden.

Last but not least for Dems is to hold the House, but it turns out Speaker Nancy Pelosi has a 50% worse net disapproval than Trump and the key new suburban representatives have voting records 100% identical to hers.  Their biggest achievement was to impeach Trump - for trying to get the corruption from their own party investigated. New documents now prove what they falsely called debunked.

5 days of debate prep don't change any one of these facts.  But economic reports coming out next week prove Trump biggest claim true.  The V-shaped recovery is a Super-V.

For Biden and Democrats on election day, what could possibly go wrong?

[ccp]

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/10/22/ann-coulter-stumper-should-trump-mention-his-most-popular-issue/

it seems Republicans have run away from this issue altogether

that means the illegals have won

[ppulatie]

Trump still holding at 286 EV with 40 EV open for taking.

Early turn out by mail and in person voting is all of a sudden swinging towards Trump in party affiliation.

Florida
Nevada
Ohio
and other states are showing Reps to be greatly motivated while Dems not so much.

Right now, have the Senate worst case going 51 Reps and 49 Dems.  Best case could be 54 Reps.  McSally looks like she will hang on.  Collins will probably lose.

[DougMacG]

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/10/22/ann-coulter-stumper-should-trump-mention-his-most-popular-issue/

it seems Republicans have run away from this issue altogether

that means the illegals have won

He's building the wall, stopped the caravans in their tracks, reduced the flow, deported the criminals, enforcing immigration laws, prosecuted those caught crossing and pushed travel bans to their limits.  If this is a voter's first issue, only issue, Coulter aside, who are they going to vote for?
https://www.dhs.gov/stopping-illegal-immigration-and-securing-border

[DougMacG]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JROYihW671E&feature=emb_logo     1 minute ad.

And if I don't agree with them, will they hurt me?  - Fair question.

Stop the Radical Left.

[ppulatie]

Florida 

In-person early voting totals after day 3.

Republicans
    483,443

Democlowns
     392,530

[ppulatie]

GAWD!

An email group that both CD and I are involved in  is going nuts for about 4 days. Damned female liberal attorney in Seattle will not accept anything positive about Trump or negative about Biden. Claims he is innocent of everything and Trump is guilty of everything.

She is being challenged by about 10 of us, but our information is not any good because it has not been "verified."

Total insanity

[ccp]

".And if I don't agree with them, will they hurt me?  - Fair question."

did you see my post on. Robert Reich?

America's version of this man:

Nikolai Yezhov

--------------------------------------------------

yes they are hurting us when we don't agree

go to out houses threaten our jobs go after us on social media
chase us in the streets

[ccp]

".He's building the wall, stopped the caravans in their tracks, reduced the flow, deported the criminals, enforcing immigration laws, prosecuted those caught crossing and pushed travel bans to their limits.  If this is a voter's first issue, only issue, Coulter aside, who are they going to vote for?
https://www.dhs.gov/stopping-illegal-immigration-and-securing-border"

OK

so why run from this?
except at rallies

[DougMacG]

".He's building the wall, stopped the caravans in their tracks, reduced the flow, deported the criminals, enforcing immigration laws, prosecuted those caught crossing and pushed travel bans to their limits.  If this is a voter's first issue, only issue, Coulter aside, who are they going to vote for?
https://www.dhs.gov/stopping-illegal-immigration-and-securing-border"

OK

so why run from this?
except at rallies

Maybe he's being block headed.  Maybe they know what needs to be emphasized to win.

There is a narrow band of middle undecided on who to vote for and maybe an even narrower band of conservatives undecided on whether to vote at all.

It could be that the border enforcement people are also motivated by his court appointments or some other issue.

If he wins, his targeting of people and issues was brilliant.  If he loses it was stupid. The difference might be a tenth of a percent in 3 states.

[DougMacG]

]BY JOHN HINDERAKER
NICE JOB BY TRUMP
Tonight’s debate went well for President Trump, I thought. The moderator was pro-Biden; she didn’t ask him any hard questions and avoided the subjects where he is most vulnerable. But that was a given. She was considerably better than Chris Wallace, and better than most.

Unlike the first debate, President Trump stayed calm and in control. His answers were generally sharp and he got in plenty of shots against Joe Biden. Biden didn’t do too badly, probably reflecting the fact that he rested up for several days before the event. But he faded noticeably as the evening wore on.

Maybe the most significant moment was when Biden admitted (no surprise to anyone who has paid attention) that his administration would phase out oil and gas production–not exactly a winning platform.

Trump also came back repeatedly to the theme that Biden is full of promises, but what did he accomplish when he was in Washington for 47 years and Vice President for 8? Biden could only respond by implicitly throwing Barack Obama under the bus. And there were plenty of references to Biden’s longstanding corruption, which Biden could answer only with blanket denials.

One striking thing about Biden is how often he lies. He apparently feels secure in the knowledge that all press “fact checkers” are members of his party; otherwise he might hesitate to tell such bald-face whoppers. No doubt he will, for now, get away with his offenses against truth. But I think his chances of winning the election grew a little dimmer tonight.

John H. Hinderaker

[ccp]

and immigration was brought up last night 

[DougMacG]

https://pjmedia.com/election/tyler-o-neil/2020/10/23/debate-recap-trump-was-in-command-while-biden-told-a-bunch-of-whoppers-n1079330

In one of the most egregious moments, Biden attempted to blame Trump for every single death from COVID-19.
—-------
One of the whoppers, PolitiFacts Lue of the year 2013 repeated,

“Not one single person on private insurance would lose their insurance under my plan, nor did they under Obamacare. They did not lose their insurance unless they chose something else,” Biden said during the debate.

   - Umm Joe, I lost mine.
—-------------
“You mean the laptop is now another Russia! Russia! Russia! hoax?” Trump asked, flabbergasted. “Is this where you’re going? The laptop is Russia! Russia! Russia!? You’ve got to be kidding. Here we go again with Russia.”

The Hunter Biden scandal is not going away. Ironically, Biden was the first one to bring it up, and he fell into trap after trap on the issue.

[ccp]

naturally the "academics" who are for sure Trump haters

make up their stories :

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/who-won-trump-biden-debate-experts-grade-candidates-n1244481

[DougMacG]

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/matt-margolis/2020/10/22/joe-biden-doesnt-remember-vowing-to-ban-fracking-heres-the-video-n1079337

I was for it before I was against it before I was for it before I was against it.  Why do you keep asking me this when I've already answered it?  Abraham Lincoln was racist by the way.

[DougMacG]

Biden said all the illegals show up for their hearing.  Trump said none of them do.  Or something like that.  Someone else on the internet can research the exact words and known numbers and we'll add it to this topic.  The right answer is that almost none of them do and Biden is lying through his false teeth.

[DougMacG]

Rasmussen Florida
Trump 49, Biden 46
https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2020/florida_trump_49_biden_46

One Biden-winning theory was that if Biden takes Florida, the rest of the map gets very difficult to impossible for Trump.

We will see.

[ccp]

"Biden said all the illegals show up for their hearing.  Trump said none of them do.  Or something like that.  Someone else on the internet can research the exact words and known numbers and we'll add it to this topic.  The right answer is that almost none of them do and Biden is lying through his false teeth."

I noticed this too
my recollection is at most 10% show up, not "all".

of course they do NOT show up . 

msm will totally ignore this lie
as always. cover for all  lyin' democrats.

I liked the way Trump turned around the attempt by the moderator and Joe to make our hearts sag at the image of the children in cages
and how mean and heartless the orange man is
bullshit, when he kept pointing out ObamJoe  were the ones who built the "cages"

[ppulatie]

Based upon Biden's no more oil comment, have just moved PA into the Trump column.

Now 306 EV for Trump

[Crafty_Dog]

OTOH the PA Supreme Court ruled that Board of Elections may not  disqualify mail in ballots when signatures do not match.

[G M]

OTOH the PA Supreme Court ruled that Board of Elections may not  disqualify mail in ballots when signatures do not match.

Of course, Silver Alert Joe will need every bogus ballot to be counted.

[ppulatie]

Expect this to be challenged in SCOTUS after Barrett is confirmed. Then overturn PA SC.

[DougMacG]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/dnyuz.com/2020/10/23/rasmussen-poll-says-46-of-black-voters-approve-of-president-trump/amp/

The game is changing.

[DougMacG]

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/trump-won-the-debate-but-won-bigly-the-post-debate/

[DougMacG]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/president-trump-vice-president-pence-60-minutes-interview-lesley-stahl-2020-10-25/

[Crafty_Dog]

An astute friend writes what you see below-- he is free of course to take credit if he wishes:
=======================================================================


In all of your reading, did you learn that effective Jan 1, 2020, the USA imposed travel restrictions and a travel advisory on all people traveling to China from the USA and entering into the USA with visa stamps on their passports from China in the 30 days prior to entry?  Those advisories led to the discovery of the first patient who likely spread the virus into the Kirkland WA nursing home.

 

The federal government knew of the potentially harmful effects of the virus in late January from the videos smuggled out of China, the discovery of Patient Zero in Kirkland by the State of Washington health authorities, and the spread of the virus on the cruise ship(s) in late January.  Those things plus the receipt of the virus RNA from China prompted the administration to create task force in very late January.  A few days after the task force was created, the US increased the restrictions to a full ban on travel to and from China.  They brought home all those US citizens and legal residents who were living or working in China.

 

So, yes, in late January, we knew that the virus could cause serious health issues in certain people who got it, but since we only got the RNA from China on about Jan 24th, we did not yet know the risk of spreading and the likely infection fatality rate.

 

As I informed my readers back on January 22nd, Wuhan is the size of NYC and it is home to China’s fiber optics industry in a big enterprise zone that is located there.  If you recall, the first two weeks of earnings season in late January were fraught with analyst questions about the existence of any negative impacts from the virus in China.  Even Apple gave normal guidance for its Q1-CY 2020 (its Q2-FY 2020).  Then, around Feb 4th, things began to change.  Lumentum, the spin off from the old JDS Uniphase, warned that its fiscal quarter ending in March would have negative revenue impacts from China.  A cascade started and reached a crescendo when Apple pulled its revenue guidance.

 

The link between Wuhan and northern Italy and Germany became clearer when you realized that there is a series of optical equipment factories and labs in northern Italy all the way to Trieste that are connected to Wuhan.  Lumentum has 7 facilities in that area – many of which were acquired from Oclaro (for Gilder folks, the company that ended up buying Avanex – “don’t let it get away.”).  Also, in the same area, many clothing and accessory factories employed Chinese workers of which about 50,000 came from Hubei Province.  A lot of these people went home for lunar new year and returned to northern Italy in early to mid-February.  About 10-14 days later, we began reading about the mounting cases in Lombardy emergency rooms and the sudden surge in deaths there.  Americans, including many students on overseas college trips and study programs brought the virus back home to the USA by mid-March when they started being brought home.  By that time, it was too late to stop the virus here.

 

It’s very easy in September-October to say six months after the fact that you would have done things differently in February and March.  Except nobody on the Dem side of the aisle said any such thing; and, they also knew the potential lethality of the virus because it was out there publicly in the media.  The CDC and Fauci said nothing other than right now there was nothing to fear.  Two weeks later, there was something to fear – for a certain segment of the population.  Fauci said masks were not necessary, but social distancing was necessary.  So was frequent hand washing and avoiding large crowds.  And you can post facto rationalize his statements into your own narrative if it makes you feel better, but the truth is that our infectious disease experts were caught by surprise by a virus that attacked our population asymmetrically compared to past experiences.  Their mechanisms for responding to a novel virus were slow and cumbersome given the speed in which we needed to respond.  And, IMO, from about March 20-29th, the experts had panicked because they realized that their traditional methods would not be enough to stop the virus.  So, they went full CYA to Trump with the IHME model estimate of 2.2 million dead and asked for extra help.  Trump responded well.  He mobilized the federal government resources as fast as possible and he cut through the bureaucratic red tape quickly.

 

If we ever get to a point where we can review the facts objectively and dispassionately, on balance, Trump will be the major reason why we were able to mitigate a potentially worse outcome.  That is not possible now because so many people are polarized for him or against him based upon his personality.  Quite frankly, I am proud of how everyone pulled together back in March and April and solved the ventilator problem, solved a lot of the PPE problem, worked on ramping testing, and stood aside and let the health care pro’s in the field treat their patients as they presented with symptoms.

 

To use a Bidenism:  “Here’s the deal.  The experts told us to hunker down until March 31st and we did.  Then, the experts told us to hunker another 30 days and we did. All to slow the spread so there would be enough hospital capacity.  Then, the experts changed the rules and told us we needed to remain hunkered down until there is a vaccine.  But then they said it was all right to protest certain issues in large groups.  Then, they said we couldn’t buy gardening supplies, but we could buy booze and pot.  And we couldn’t go to our summer homes and spend lots of time outside.  And then they said we had to eat outside, but not inside a restaurants.  But we could gather in crowds in supermarkets if we walked one way in aisles.  By June, it became clear that “the experts” had their own agendas.  And they really didn’t know much more than us about avoiding the virus.  After all, it’s now over 7 months after we started to slow the spread and they say nothing we did worked.  But it’s our fault – not theirs.  Less than 3% of the population has tested positive out of over 80 million tests performed.  And we’re approaching the 250th day to slow the spread.  C’mon man.  We still need to listen to the experts because they know best.”

 

[G M]

https://dailycaller.com/2020/04/28/democrats-no-ban-act-coronavirus-china/

An astute friend writes what you see below-- he is free of course to take credit if he wishes:
=======================================================================


In all of your reading, did you learn that effective Jan 1, 2020, the USA imposed travel restrictions and a travel advisory on all people traveling to China from the USA and entering into the USA with visa stamps on their passports from China in the 30 days prior to entry?  Those advisories led to the discovery of the first patient who likely spread the virus into the Kirkland WA nursing home.

 

The federal government knew of the potentially harmful effects of the virus in late January from the videos smuggled out of China, the discovery of Patient Zero in Kirkland by the State of Washington health authorities, and the spread of the virus on the cruise ship(s) in late January.  Those things plus the receipt of the virus RNA from China prompted the administration to create task force in very late January.  A few days after the task force was created, the US increased the restrictions to a full ban on travel to and from China.  They brought home all those US citizens and legal residents who were living or working in China.

 

So, yes, in late January, we knew that the virus could cause serious health issues in certain people who got it, but since we only got the RNA from China on about Jan 24th, we did not yet know the risk of spreading and the likely infection fatality rate.

 

As I informed my readers back on January 22nd, Wuhan is the size of NYC and it is home to China’s fiber optics industry in a big enterprise zone that is located there.  If you recall, the first two weeks of earnings season in late January were fraught with analyst questions about the existence of any negative impacts from the virus in China.  Even Apple gave normal guidance for its Q1-CY 2020 (its Q2-FY 2020).  Then, around Feb 4th, things began to change.  Lumentum, the spin off from the old JDS Uniphase, warned that its fiscal quarter ending in March would have negative revenue impacts from China.  A cascade started and reached a crescendo when Apple pulled its revenue guidance.

 

The link between Wuhan and northern Italy and Germany became clearer when you realized that there is a series of optical equipment factories and labs in northern Italy all the way to Trieste that are connected to Wuhan.  Lumentum has 7 facilities in that area – many of which were acquired from Oclaro (for Gilder folks, the company that ended up buying Avanex – “don’t let it get away.”).  Also, in the same area, many clothing and accessory factories employed Chinese workers of which about 50,000 came from Hubei Province.  A lot of these people went home for lunar new year and returned to northern Italy in early to mid-February.  About 10-14 days later, we began reading about the mounting cases in Lombardy emergency rooms and the sudden surge in deaths there.  Americans, including many students on overseas college trips and study programs brought the virus back home to the USA by mid-March when they started being brought home.  By that time, it was too late to stop the virus here.

 

It’s very easy in September-October to say six months after the fact that you would have done things differently in February and March.  Except nobody on the Dem side of the aisle said any such thing; and, they also knew the potential lethality of the virus because it was out there publicly in the media.  The CDC and Fauci said nothing other than right now there was nothing to fear.  Two weeks later, there was something to fear – for a certain segment of the population.  Fauci said masks were not necessary, but social distancing was necessary.  So was frequent hand washing and avoiding large crowds.  And you can post facto rationalize his statements into your own narrative if it makes you feel better, but the truth is that our infectious disease experts were caught by surprise by a virus that attacked our population asymmetrically compared to past experiences.  Their mechanisms for responding to a novel virus were slow and cumbersome given the speed in which we needed to respond.  And, IMO, from about March 20-29th, the experts had panicked because they realized that their traditional methods would not be enough to stop the virus.  So, they went full CYA to Trump with the IHME model estimate of 2.2 million dead and asked for extra help.  Trump responded well.  He mobilized the federal government resources as fast as possible and he cut through the bureaucratic red tape quickly.

 

If we ever get to a point where we can review the facts objectively and dispassionately, on balance, Trump will be the major reason why we were able to mitigate a potentially worse outcome.  That is not possible now because so many people are polarized for him or against him based upon his personality.  Quite frankly, I am proud of how everyone pulled together back in March and April and solved the ventilator problem, solved a lot of the PPE problem, worked on ramping testing, and stood aside and let the health care pro’s in the field treat their patients as they presented with symptoms.

 

To use a Bidenism:  “Here’s the deal.  The experts told us to hunker down until March 31st and we did.  Then, the experts told us to hunker another 30 days and we did. All to slow the spread so there would be enough hospital capacity.  Then, the experts changed the rules and told us we needed to remain hunkered down until there is a vaccine.  But then they said it was all right to protest certain issues in large groups.  Then, they said we couldn’t buy gardening supplies, but we could buy booze and pot.  And we couldn’t go to our summer homes and spend lots of time outside.  And then they said we had to eat outside, but not inside a restaurants.  But we could gather in crowds in supermarkets if we walked one way in aisles.  By June, it became clear that “the experts” had their own agendas.  And they really didn’t know much more than us about avoiding the virus.  After all, it’s now over 7 months after we started to slow the spread and they say nothing we did worked.  But it’s our fault – not theirs.  Less than 3% of the population has tested positive out of over 80 million tests performed.  And we’re approaching the 250th day to slow the spread.  C’mon man.  We still need to listen to the experts because they know best.”

[DougMacG]

Young voters ages 18 – 30 are heavily for Joe Biden, by a 2 to 1 margin or more. But there are questions as to how strongly they will turn out. Young voters tend to turn out somewhat weakly, except when a candidate excites them, as Obama did in 2008. Is there much excitement for Biden among youth? Hatred of Trump may be sufficient, but this is a large unknown variable. Add to this the displacement of students from their campus environment where some may be registered and where get-out-the-vote efforts are more easily organized in normal times, and I can easily see a light turnout from young voters.
   - Steve Hayward, Powerlineblog.com

[DougMacG]

Europe’s COVID second wave spike shows the futility of lockdowns and mask mandates, as well as the phoniness of the Dems’ criticism of Trump.
   - Thomas Lifson, American Thinker

[DougMacG]

The final debate has turned this into a national referendum on banning fracking, ending oil and gas, the end od low gas prices and energy independence.

The politics of this was tested in blue state, firmer swing state Colorado in the Democrat turnout year of 2018.  Prop 112 put reasonable / unreasonable restrictions on fracking near residential areas.  The effect would be harmful to energy prices and to jobs.  Voters said no.

https://www-denverpost-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.denverpost.com/2018/11/06/colorado-proposition-112-results/amp/?amp_js_v=a6&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQFKAGwASA%3D#aoh=16037199536427&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.denverpost.com%2F2018%2F11%2F06%2Fcolorado-proposition-112-results%2F

[DougMacG]

Google searches for “can I change my vote” spiked on Sunday in the wake of the release of sex tapes that purportedly belong to Hunter Biden.   - Gateway Pundit