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Unsanitized: The COVID-19 Report for Oct. 6, 2020

Ron Johnson's Moon Suit

Plus, the uncertainty of the movie business, and a Trump update

 

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) (Jeffrey Grandy/Creative Commons)

First Response

**** The Senate stands in recess, as Democrats
consented to a two-week adjournment, delaying the fight over the
confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to October 19. This tightens the
calendar for Republicans, as I noted yesterday
,
but four days confirmation hearings, a key signal that the nomination is
proceeding, will go on next week (Democrats had no power to stop them,
because the situation on the floor does not affect the ability for
committees to hold hearings).

What matters is what happens after that. Under the current situation,
Republicans don't even have enough votes to affirmatively report a
Barrett nomination out of committee, let alone on the Senate floor, as
Sarah Binder explained
.
She does assume that Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins will keep to their
word and vote No on the nomination rather than just not voting. She also
assumes that she's dealing with normal people who have normal
consciences to not put the colleagues they've worked alongside for
years at risk of death.

In other words, she didn't plan on Ron Johnson. Wisconsin's two-term
Senator told a talk radio station

in his home state: "If we have to go in and vote, I've already told
leadership I'll go in a moon suit... I would certainly try to find a
way, making sure that everybody was safe... where there's a will there's
a way."

Is this completely insane? Absolutely. Are you surprised by it? Then you
don't know Ron Johnson.

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**** Prior to this, Republican officials were
actively discussing putting COVID-stricken Senators up in the Senate
gallery, far from the floor, and having them shout "Aye!" when their
name is called in the roll. That's what we're dealing with. If you
have 51 Republicans willing to almost literally kill to get Barrett onto
the Court, then there isn't a whole lot anyone can do about it.

But even in that case, there are options. Right now Graham plans to
report out the nomination on October 22, which is interesting and
perhaps a mistake. My understanding is that Democrats have the ability
to and will ask for a one-week delay in the Judiciary Committee vote on
Barrett. If Graham waits to report it out until midweek, that one-week
delay takes us to October 29, giving Republicans a really brief window
to get the nomination done before Election Day. Among the havoc that the
minority party can wield are endless War Powers and Congressional Review
Act resolutions that take precedence. McConnell might be able to parry
those if they have to last a week, but for two days? Maybe not.

The thing is that Graham needs all of his colleagues in person to vote
on the nomination to get it out of committee, including Sens. Thom
Tillis (R-NC) and Mike Lee (R-UT). They may need until October 22. Maybe
not everyone in the caucus is like Ron Johnson.

Democrats need to strategize. They don't need to tell me or anyone
else about it right now, because the element of surprise will be
critical. But after October 19 that goes away, and they must show their
cards. The clock is ticking.

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That's Entertainment

The release of Dune, the long-awaited effort to make a better movie than
David Lynch's 1984 abomination, was expected this winter but has now
been moved to October 2021
. The
Batman with Robert Pattinson will now release in 2022
.
This came on the heels of No Time to Die, a James Bond picture, also
getting pushed back
to next
year.

Set aside for the moment that Hollywood doesn't have a single original
idea, and all the films discussed above are remakes or rehashes. I'm
wondering where the studios think these films will be screened. The No
Time to Die announcement led Regal Cinemas, the second-largest theater
chain with 500 outlets and thousands of screens, to indefinitely suspend
operations
.
This has had a bounce-back effect; if there aren't enough screens to
put a film in wide release, studios get wary about getting a return on
their investment. There are a couple movies scheduled for November and
December, but essentially only one tentpole, Tenet, has been released in
any wide fashion to cinemas since the pandemic broke. And that didn't
do very well; just $45 million in five weeks.

Nearly half of all theaters have not reopened
.
Box office receipts fell last week. There will be no movie industry
until there's a vaccine; people don't want to sit in crowded,
darkened theaters right now. Production delays due to COVID have also
threatened the industry, with films potentially unable to make even
their delayed release dates. Insurance has become a sticking point, as
insurers are loath to issue it to film sets because they don't want to
cover COVID-related shutdowns.

How long can theaters wait for a new movie, while paying rent or other
fixed costs? What will be left in the aftermath and will studios find it
more cost-effective to just beam movies into homes? Will cinema as a
communal experience just end?

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The President Is a Sick Man, Continued

Just briefly on this. Donald Trump left Walter Reed hospital

yesterday, took his mask off and gasped for air on the second-floor
balcony of the White House, and is now hard at work freaking every West
Wing staffer the hell out
.
He's not confining himself to the residence but is working in a
separate office, despite being still contagious and still probably
pretty sick-"not out of the woods," his doctor confirmed
yesterday. Trump is also still tweeting at people not to be afraid of
coronavirus or let it take over their lives. Meanwhile the White House
cannot be bothered to track down everyone

at the Barrett nomination super-spreader event and find out their health
status.

When news of Trump's diagnosis broke, I had a fleeting impulse of
thinking that now he might take things seriously and get his supporters
to take the virus seriously as well. That was as dumb a thought as all
the pundits who praise Trump's "new tone" and "presidential"
demeanor when he reads off a teleprompter without stumbling for a few
minutes. He's learned nothing

and he never will learn anything.

Days Without a Bailout Oversight Chair

194
.

We Can't Do This Without You

Today I Learned

* The White House blocked new guidelines

that would have delayed authorization of a vaccine until after the
election. (New York Times)

* Stimulus paradoxically hurts the big banks
,
because they have to take on more capital to offset increased deposits.
(Wall Street Journal)

* CDC finally admits

that COVID-19 spreads through the air. (Talking Points Memo)

* Kamala Harris and Mike Pence will be separated by plexiglass

at tomorrow night's debate. (Axios)

* Alex Pareene

on the "wartime sneak attack" nonsense from Marco Rubio. (The New
Republic)

* The pandemic shows that it's time to overhaul the agriculture
industry
.
(KCUR Kansas City)

* When assessing the jobs situation, we look at unemployment but
aren't factoring in pay cuts
.
(Bloomberg)

* Orthodox Jewish New York is again a hot spot
.
(New York Times)

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