Biden won't need the money, but returning Louis CK's check calls to mind a comment from Kaus this week, paraphrasing-- Of course Biden's staff is going to be running the show day-to-day. The man himself almost certainly did not make the CK decision. (He has #MeToo-y matters of his own to worry about.) And given his advancing age, it's not even sinister that others will handle things.

So, Kaus asked— Who are these people? It's a good question for even small matters like this. Who's the office functionary who believes, as our culture is so deeply challenged by this crisis, that weird edge-cases like CK simply cannot be rehabilitated?

Many #MeToo types could never return to their 2017 positions in our culture, and they ought not. It's nonetheless difficult to imagine that woke-ness is going to have the same political currency after every other context of social exchange is so brutally rattled.

Just as an example— I got nuthin' against trans people. I've never met one (who I recognized as such) who wasn't notably kind, and courteous to me personally. And a couple in particular became friends I truly admire.

But after the nightmare summer which we're about to endure — with six weeks then remaining until election day — will Biden still affirm that "transgender equality is the civil rights issue of our time," as he announced precisely 90 days ago?

If you can forgive the French accent, shit is about to get desperately, savagely real. Soon, coalitions which might have been charmed by that rhetoric (presumably with legislation and policy in accordance) might not constitute a worthwhile fraction of the electorate.

There will be howling cries of pain from all corners, and everyone will be expecting government to ameliorate it.

(It will not.)

Oh.

Looks like Christopher Steele has no evidence to support the dossier. It's all been mysteriously 'wiped.' Looking a lot like a scam on the FBI, media, and the American political system. A lot of people were quite willing to be taken in.

https://twitter.com/ByronYork/status/1253479191624003588

(It will not.)

I have 100 quatloos that says government will make it worse.

Seen on a bumper sticker

If you think college is expensive now, wait till it's free.

Yes, large sticker, big pickup truck.

Seen on a bumper sticker

If you think college is expensive now, wait till it's free.

Yes, large sticker, big pickup truck.

Dammit.

Interesting, but Joey "The Finger" Biden won't suffer from his #MeToo problem.

In August '93, the month Tara Reade left Biden's office, a woman called the Larry King show saying her daughter had problems at a prominent senator's office but did not want to go to the press about it. The woman was Reade's late mother.

https://twitter.com/ryangrim/status/1253756644191809538

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-52363197

Sheltering in place with a psycho child doesn't sound very restful!

In the past couple of months, she says she has had to call the police twice to their home, most recently as she was barricaded in the bathroom while her son - a young adult - tried to break down the door with a knife. ... She says she believes her son when he told police that he never meant to hurt her, that he just wanted her to know how angry he was. But incidents of intimidation happen two or three times a week, she says.

We believe you, son! You were just "frustrated"!

Neil, who lives in the east of England, says the aggression from his son, Ben, was just "cute" aged four and became worrying when he was eight. Now he is living with a teenager and "suddenly it's quite dangerous" - with Ben increasingly reaching for knives or bottles.

Can't think of anything "cuter" than a violent 4-year-old! Ben sounds adorable!

I hope everyone in this story has their affairs in order.

Thank you, celebrities!

https://twitter.com/gretaleejackson/status/1253507484305637376

Oh.

Nearly all coronavirus patients who needed ventilators in New York's largest health system to help them breathe died, a study found.

Overall, about 20% of Covid-19 patients treated at Northwell Health died, and 88% of those placed on ventilators died, according to the study.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/22/health/coronavirus-ventilator-patients-die/index.html

Stupid sexy carbs:

https://twitter.com/po__kaki__to/status/1254062044157865984

Corona Virus Daily Thread #48 COVID-19 4/25/2020

And some accompanying Heavy Metal.

Where the fuck IS Biden? Why aren't I hearing about him doing something leadership-y during this crisis? Other rich people who don't have elected offices have managed to!

And ugh, Crid, wish you hadn't told us that about Biden's statement 90 days ago... I have nothing against transgender people either, but I still don't need random intact men in my changing spaces no matter what they call themselves or how they dress.

Where the fuck IS Biden? ~ NicoleK at April 26, 2020 1:53 AM

Notice that not even the late night show and daily gab-fests, a group usually hostile to Trump, are having Biden on right now. He's almost completely disappeared.

I get the feeling the Biden campaign's strategy is for him to stay out of the limelight and watch Trump get overwhelmed by the crisis, counting on Biden's being not-Trump and voters voting against Trump to carry him into the White House.

While there will be a large contingent of anybody-but-Trump voters, counting on them to put him over the top seems foolhardy, despite what the polls say today.

On the other hand, if Biden is truly as mentally addled as his critics allege, staying out of the limelight and avoiding gaffes may be his campaign's only viable strategy.

His campaign may also be counting on fear to dampen turnout, with the anybody-but-Trump voters being heavily prevalent among the few motivated enough to brave the virus and cast a ballot.

Right now, despite his years in politics, Biden is basically a blank slate. He's the not-Trump, everything people wish the 2016 winner were or could have been. Even anybody-but-Trump Republicans can view him as a moderate and pin their hopes on Joe.

Once he's back in the limelight, however, he risks becoming gaffe-pro-Joe again. The polls showing him easily beating Trump should not be taken as predictive at this point.

Why aren't I hearing about him doing something leadership-y during this crisis? Other rich people who don't have elected offices have managed to! ~ NicoleK at April 26, 2020 1:53 AM

Those "other rich people" are used to running businesses and managing money-making enterprises. They understand the value of publicity, charity, and branding. Biden has been a political operative all his life, accustomed to gaining influence and making money by using his political position. The idea that making money may require an investment of his own time and capital is foreign to him.

I have nothing against transgender people either, but I still don't need random intact men in my changing spaces no matter what they call themselves or how they dress. ~ NicoleK at April 26, 2020 1:53 AM

And therein lies the rub.

I think most people might find cross-dressers weird and abnormal, but most of them can live with a little weird and abnormal. It's the insistence on openly invading our most personal and private spaces that generates the vicious hostility.

The idea that making money may require an investment of his own time and capital is foreign to him. ~ Conan the Grammarian at April 26, 2020 7:07 AM

I probably shouldn't have likened it to making money. Mind you, a presidential campaign is not about making money, but it is about raising a profile, about getting people to buy into the candidate, both monetarily and emotionally. Presidential candidates work on building a brand for public consumption.

The lessons Joe should have garnered from his earlier presidential campaigns went unlearned. Those campaigns flamed out quickly as Biden failed to catch on as a candidate.

As VP for eight years, he did not work on raising his profile with the public, counting on Obama's profile to carry his own. Pence is running down a similar path, being too much the loyal sidekick and not enough the potential successor.

Personality-wise, I don't think Biden gravitates toward being a natural leader. I think he's a solid consigliere but not the godfather.

Perhaps if he'd immediately run to succeed Obama, his deficiencies in inspiring the troops to storm the gates of Hell would not have mattered. Instead, he now has to pin his hopes on people voting against Trump more than on them voting for him.

Yes, I think he's counting on this disaster continuing until the fall, at which point even the most brilliant President would have a hard time looking good. Of course, if life is normal by then, this will backfire spectacularly.

I mean WTF democrats... WHY?

Tulsi Gabbard was in the military AND is a doctor.

Andrew Yang was a lawyer (has good knowledge of the law) AND a business man, and hasn't been accused of sexual misconduct.

Pete Buttigieg had a very unfortunate name for a gay guy, but was a vet, had youth and charisma, and some experience governing.

... there were decent choices.

Tulsi Gabbard was in the military AND is a doctor.

Actually, Gabbard served in a field medical unit in the Hawaii National Guard while deployed to Iraq, but was not a doctor. She was also a platoon leader in the Military Police when she was later deployed to Kuwait. Her college degree is in Business Administration.

Doctor or not, she was still a better choice than Biden.

Thanks for that correction.

My point still stands. Biden sucks. There were so many good choices. How'd it come down to Biden, Bernie and maybe Warren?