* “(Women) know the polar difference between Biden and Trump, who brags about assaulting women in his private life and whose public policies endanger women’s health and safety.”–Gloria Steinem.
* Andrew Yang’s proposal of giving every adult American $1,000 a month seems increasingly pragmatic, progressive and prescient as the economy careens into Great Depression territory.
* “Jane Castro.”–How Mayor Jane Castor was mistakenly introduced recently on Fox & Friends.
* Let’s hear it for “Queen,” of iconic, “We Are The Champions” fame. The group has customized (via mobile phones from group-member lockdowns) its 1977 classic into “You Are The Champions”–a fund-raising salute to those directly fighting the pandemic. The money will go to the WHO fund for health workers.
So where in the world was Kim Jong-un? He went seemingly missing for more than three weeks, including being a notable no-show at a ceremony for the birth anniversary of his grandfather, Kim Il-sung, who is North Korea’s founder. Autocrats love the limelight. Has he been ill? Or does he perversely enjoy global conjecture when he otherwise has no news to make? We do know this: Chances are better that he’s been shooting hoops with Dennis Rodman than binge watching “The Interview.”
* “Canadians need more than thoughts and prayers.”–Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in announcing that Canada–in the aftermath of the recent mass shooting that took 22 lives–is banning the use and trade of assault weapons.
* “We have been fighting with a brutal pandemic for 60 years against the economy of a very small country.”– José Ramón Cabañas, Cuban ambassador to the U.S.
* “America’s shambolic response to the crisis has put a huge dent in our global image as a competent, cutting-edge country.”–Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times.
* “The federal government has done a spectacular job.”–Donald Trump.
* “Really rocking again.”–What the U.S. will be doing by July, according to Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law-adviser.
* Halting financial support to the WHO in the middle of a global pandemic is an act of self-destruction. This life-saving UN organization is, in fact, our first line of defense.”–Robert Bruce Adolph, former UN chief security officer.
* “During this national health emergency, no one should be worried about losing their home.”–Mark Calabria, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, referring to forbearance plans for mortgage payments.
* “White middle and upper middle-class parents may avoid sending their kids to schools with large black and Hispanic populations, because they will begin to associate the virus with those communities–and by doing so, they could actually make those stereotypes more true.”–Kiera Butler, Mother Jones.
* “To suggest that every woman who alleges a sexual assault is as credible as the next is absurd.”–Maureen Dowd, New York Times.
* “This is one of the best performing counties, not just in the state of Florida, but probably in the country.”–Gov. Ron DeSantis, on how Hillsborough County has fared during the coronavirus outbreak.
* “This is truly a no-brainer.”–Florida Public Service Commissioner Julie Brown, on the commission’s unanimous approval of requests from four of the state’s major investor-owned utilities, including TECO, to reduce customer bills to aid with financial hardship from the pandemic.
* “We have really crushed that curve here in our community.”–Mayor Jane Castor.
* “That is a necessity. We can’t ignore that. That has to happen.”–Hillsborough County Commission Chairman Les Miller, on the need for higher impact fees on new home construction for water and sewer services.
* “The truth is none of us are experts in how to re-open a city following a global pandemic.”–St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman.
“A Republic, if you can keep it.”
* In the midst of a health crisis caused by respiratory disease, Trump rolls back pollution standards. It’s beyond ironic; it’s outrageously dangerous and negligent.
* Thanks to another reality-TV, Trump ad lib riff, the maker of Lysol actually has had to go public to underscore that its product should never be used internally. Of course it shouldn’t, but Trump’s recent bluster sounded a lot more like support for the possible injection and ingestion of disinfectants than mere “sarcasm.” It’s part of the Trump-plague, communications normal. Amid the uncertainties about COVID-19, there is at least this assurance: Come November, there will be an electoral disinfectant available for this presidential plague.
* Trump’s COVIDiocy press briefings underscore on a daily basis that he is the self-serving, mixed-messaging charlatan-in-chief who dearly misses his cult-follower rallies and craves pop-culture celebrity. May this exercise in self-serving infomercials be self-sabotaging.
* “Hey, Phil. I’m the president, and you’re fake news.”–Trump’s response to a challenging question about presidential rumor-mongering from Washington Post White House bureau chief Phil Rucker.
* All of Congress, including, of course, House and Senate Republicans, are in recess (until May 4) to avoid spreading the coronavirus. No, Nancy Pelosi is not on “vacation,” as asserted by President Donald Trump.
* Isn’t it, well, embarrassing that more Americans aren’t, well, embarrassed by having a reality TV alpha male simpleton with no filter for president? Has a political base, still quaffing the Kool Aid, if not the Clorox, ever been more deplorably duped?
* After flailing about in response to the coronavirus tanking the economy, the Trump campaign has had to do a less-than-nuanced, COVID pivot. The new MAGA message: “We built the greatest economy in the world; I’ll do it a second time.”
* In case you missed it because it was buried in the COVID-dominated news cycle, the Senate Intelligence Committee, chaired by North Carolina Republican Richard Burr, UNANIMOUSLY endorsed the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia did, indeed, conduct a sweeping and unprecedented campaign to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. And, yes, that assuredly included Russia wanting to boost the prospects of Donald Trump.
#AloneTogether
* According to the WHO, roughly half of coronavirus-related deaths in Europe are occurring in long-term care facilities.
* The WHO also reports that there are 70 COVID vaccines in development—three of which are in clinical trials.
* The U.S., with barely 4 percent of the world’s population, has nearly a third of the world’s coronavirus cases.
* The U.S. has 142 COVID cases per 100,000 people. South Korea has 20 cases per 100,000 people. Sure, there are variables. Among them: quickly scaling up testing and tracing, which allows a government to identify and slow the spread of the disease before it spirals out of control. No hoax pushback also helps.
* NASA Update: The (stay-at-home-impacted) air from Boston to Washington is its cleanest since a NASA satellite started measuring nitrogen dioxide–a traditional air pollutant–in 2005.
* “We’ll go anywhere the science takes us and nowhere the science doesn’t.” Would that America’s president had said that. But the direct, common sense rhetoric was that of Dr. Thom Mayer, the medical adviser of the NFL’s players’ union.
* Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) is allowing salons and gyms to reopen. Hair styling, a massage, some bench presses. No problem.
* According to Zoom, it now has more than 300 million daily participants. Prior to the pandemic, it was about 10 million.
* Among the anti-quarantine protest (“Fire Fauci,” “Flatten the Fear,” “Shut Down the Shut-Down”) signs that resonate with defiant partisanship: “Give me liberty or give me COVID-19.” American society–and Patrick Henry–deserve better.
* A best-case scenario right now for Joe Biden is for Trump to keep doubling down on his off-the-cuff, misleading messaging via daily press briefings that alarms the scientific community and worries non-Trump-base viewers. The Biden campaign’s hope is that the former vice president will be impressively juxtaposed to Trump bombast and incoming ridicule with something akin to well-scripted, gaffe-free, digital-age fireside chats from his Delaware residence.
* “The best politics for Joe Biden will be the (vice presidential) selection of a woman who will be, and be seen as, qualified to be president of the United States.”–Richard Moe, former chief of staff to Vice President Walter Mondale.
* “(Biden) will get the overwhelming majority of the black vote, the question is turnout.”–Civil rights activist and talk show host Al Sharpton.
* Speaking of turnout, the Biden campaign remains concerned that they haven’t been seeing signs of a big turnout by Latino voters, who are critical for winning key swing states such as Florida, Pennsylvania and Arizona.
* A key part of the pre-COVID-response, DeSantis honeymoon was the un-Scott-like appointment of Florida’s first chief resiliency officer, Julia Nesheiwot. The climate-change vulnerable Sunshine State was stepping up its existential game. Now, within six months, she’s gone, leaving a report in her wake that’s more sobering than encouraging.
“Florida’s coastal communities and regions do not have time to waste,” warns the report. “Communities are overwhelmed and need one place to turn for guidance. Florida needs a statewide strategy.”
It still does. Only sans Nesheiwot, who had vowed to push for scientific analysis, more funding and an advisory council to advocate for best practices and planning standards for sea-level rise. She now leaves behind an uncertain future for her recommendations. Resiliency–as well as gubernatorial commitment–has never mattered more.
* “We’re in uncharted waters, and nobody knows what’s effective.” —Gov. Ron DeSantis. Not exactly. Some bodies, whether in Tallahassee or Washington, know more than others.
* The at-home version of SNL scored well with Tom Hanks and Brad Pitt (as Dr. Anthony Fauci) taking care of the first two cold openings. But they couldn’t salvage anything else. Lame.
* How much is America missing the solace of sports in this time of crisis and anxiety? The NFL reports that an average of 15.6 million people watched the first round of its annual draft. That was more than 25 percent higher than the record set in 2014.
Recruiting corporations can be a dicey deal. The more sought-out ones want serious, economic incentives and can pit competing cities against one another. And they may or may not measure up as a community team player.
Then there’s Amgen, a biotech heavyweight that came here in 2017 after choosing Tampa over more than 200 other American cities for its new hub. Its choice was not swayed by any state or local incentives. It received none. Location, logistics, workforce and support of the business community and academic institutions carried the bottom-line day, and Amgen built out 130,000 square feet of offices near International Plaza. Now it has announced a $10 million expansion to add another 33,000 square feet.
Moreover, the Amgen Foundation has committed up to $12.5 million to support U.S. and global COVID-19 relief efforts, including more than $300,000 for Tampa Bay. Some corporate relos–and some “win-win” scenarios–are better than others.