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Unsanitized: The COVID-19 Report for Nov. 17, 2020

Republicans Boldly Decide to Stop Letting People Die

It's the usual American path of exhausting all possibilities before
doing the right thing

 

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds had been resisting any coronavirus
restrictions, but she relented on Monday. (Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo)

First Response

One of the reasons why I know nothing and you should close this
newsletter is that I was convinced that the election would turn out
badly for the Republicans because of their coronavirus performance. At
the least I figured late deciders would move to the Democrats, given the
generally crappy nature of 2020 weighing on their decision. It appears
now that the late vote moved to Trump, and Republicans paid no price for
backing him. In fact, in areas with the biggest COVID spikes,
Republicans made gains.

The GOP is proud of this performance
,
at least on political terms. It appears to have come down to the
residual CARES Act help covering just long enough to make people feel OK
about their economic position; emphasizing "personal responsibility"
to nationalize normal public health measures like mask mandates; and
smearing Democrats as poised to lock down the economy and ruin
people's lives. Key to the final point is delaying the passage of any
measure that would give people economic security. Warning about
lockdowns doesn't make any sense if people are covered with financial
support. (So much for Nancy Pelosi being the barrier to a stimulus
deal.)

I don't know if this swung undecided voters in the middle, but it
certainly played on ancient (and narrow
)
conservative notions of "freedom" and turned out the base. But it
concerned the hell out of me. If Republicans took validation in their
laissez-faire approach, then when the virus got really out of
control-like right now-they wouldn't do anything about it, and an
untold number of people would die for their political strategy.

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That's certainly how the Trump administration is proceeding, though
it's probably not because of ideology and more distractedness, sloth,
and incompetence. But my fears that Republicans all over the country
would get the go-ahead to abandon their populations in an hour of need
have subsided. With that, Republicans are showing the true cynicism of
their political strategy, as they're implementing precisely what they
savaged Democrats for preparing to do.

Predictably, the new wave of restrictions started on the Democratic
side. Chicago issued a stay-at-home advisory

last week, encouraging the cancellation of Thanksgiving plans. Oregon
and New Mexico ordered two-week lockdowns
;
there's a travel advisory

across the West Coast; New York, New Jersey and Virginia put in business
restrictions and curfews. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer imposed a
partial lockdown
,
and endured crackpot Trump adviser Scott Atlas telling residents to
"rise up
"
against her, even as the memory of a foiled kidnapping plot still
lingered.

But Maryland's Republican governor also reduced indoor dining capacity
.
Granted he's an East Coast moderate, but in the states where the virus
is truly raging, Republican leaders have some notion of protecting the
public, amazingly enough. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, who had been
resisting really any public health measures throughout the crisis, on
Monday instituted a mask mandate
, which is now
in effect in 37 states
,
including conservative ones like Utah, Arkansas, Alabama, West Virginia
and North Dakota. Doug Burgum, the governor of North Dakota, Doug
Burgum, said in an announcement

of a mask mandate and limits on gatherings: "Our situation has
changed, and we must change with it."

We Can't Do This Without You

It's sad that it took the virus being literally everywhere

to get through to some Republicans. The harms from their politically
expedient attitude are already baked in; there's a very real sense
that it's too late for many. And even at this late date, some are
resisting doing anything to protect people. South Dakota Governor Kristi
Noem, who appears to think she's going to run for president, has vowed
to resist

any enforcement of mask mandates or other restrictions from a Biden
administration. There's a sense that South Dakota will soon consist of
like three people shouting amid a sea of bodies "At least I know I'm
free!"

Let's not let Democrats completely off the hook. California Governor
Gavin Newsom just announced a bunch of new restrictions
,
but only after taking heat for personally attending a dinner with his
wife for a lobbyist friend at the ritzy French Laundry
.
State lawmakers are at a retreat in Maui

with other lobbyists. It would be hard to more deeply undermine moral
authority than the Golden State's political class. (Let's throw in
Nancy Pelosi's scheduling a gala dinner
in the
Capitol for freshman House members. It was eventually cancelled.)

There's a lot of lack of leadership to go around, in other words. And
part of it is the human condition of wanting contact and companionship.
The positive news on vaccines should offer hope that there's an end
date for all of this if we just stick it out a little longer. But
that's not quite how the human mind operates. While it's good that
America is taking the common path of exhausting all other possibilities
before doing the right thing, it comes only after the virus has managed
to burrow into every nook of the country. I'm satisfied that we've
turned the corner, but the corner has been upon us for weeks.

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Odds and Sods

We are sending a reporter to cover the Georgia Senate runoffs, and we
need your help to fund it. Our plan is to go deep into the movements and
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control of the Senate. Visit our ActBlue page
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I was on This is the Zero Hour with R.J. Eskow talking about the Day One
Agenda. Watch here
.

Also you can now visit dayoneagenda.org for
access to all of our articles on executive action in the next
administration. I have a new one today on how the coronavirus crisis
actually gives Joe Biden the opportunity

to issue everyone Medicare. (He won't, but it shows how creative his
team needs to be thinking.)

Days Without a Bailout Oversight Chair

235
.

Click here to help send our reporter to Georgia to cover the runoff
elections for U.S. Senate!

Today I Learned

* Even Sweden is bowing to reality
and
issuing more restrictions. (Financial Times)

* The delayed transition will absolutely impact effectiveness

in the fight against the virus, particularly vaccine delivery. (CNBC)

* A righteous move by Sherrod Brown

on the Senate floor, which I hope people understand was designed to
protect staff, who are voiceless and exposed. (HuffPost)

* The employment situation is worse than the headline numbers suggest
.
(Calculated Risk)

* Minnesota Democrats calling on the Republican Senate leader to resign

after neglecting to tell them about his positive test. (Minneapolis
Star-Tribune)

* Missouri lawmakers wanted to meet to give businesses a liability
release for COVID claims, but they all have COVID

so they can't. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

* At least mergers are roaring back
.
(Financial Times)

* The aforementioned Scott Atlas is encouraging big family gatherings
because for some "this is their last Thanksgiving
."
Well it will be! (Media Matters)

* NORAD cutting Santa trackers

due to coronavirus. (The Hill)

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