Tag: Corona virus
Stevenson’s army, December 20
WaPo has a long review of the administration’s mishandling of the pandemic.
What jumps out at me is how amateurish and crony-coddling Kushner’s efforts were and how Scott Atlas dominated and derailed the Task Force.
NYT has leaked Chinese emails [reprinted in Chinese with English translations] showing efforts to censor news about the coronavirus.
Trump disputes Pompeo on Russian role in cyber hacks.
WSJ says administration wants to split NSA and Cyber Command
RollCall analysts says GOP has moved farther right in recent decades than Democrats moved left.
Politico asks, Is Trump cracking?
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
Share this, I'll really appreciate it:
Stevenson’s army, December 16
Military families need food assistance.
Iraq’s economy is collapsing.
White House meddled in CDC.
Somalia breaks relations with Kenya.
John Bolton criticizes Trump action on Morocco.
A reporter tries to tell what will happen to nuclear “football” if Trump skips inauguration.
The hawkish FDD has its policy recommendations.
Analogy of the day: writers call for “Goldwater-Nichols for emerging technology.”
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
Share this, I'll really appreciate it:
Rationality triumphs for now, but irrationality remains
Today two events mark the return of rationality to America on two fronts:
- The Electoral College vote for Joe Biden to President;
- The first vaccinations against Covid-19.
It’s ironic of course that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were developed in record time by companies run mainly by immigrants, while Donald Trump was President. He claimed the epidemic was a hoax and would go away. He has tried to block as much immigration as he could.
The only hoax was his epidemic claim. The vaccine is real.
On the electoral front, Trump has lost more than four dozen legal cases filed to overturn the election results. He intends to continue the fight in court. Why shouldn’t he? It is filling his coffers with donations and ensuring that he remains in control of the Republican Party. Never mind that his defiance of the outcome hurts his country and confidence in its electoral system.
If, as many Republicans fear, the President’s claims of electoral fraud reduce Republican turnout in the January 5 Senate run-offs in Georgia, that would be a good thing. Democrats will be voting in record numbers, if they are allowed to do so. Republicans are still trying to limit absentee voting by mail and the number of drop boxes for submission of ballots.
If the Republicans win only one of the two seats in question, Mitch McConnell will continue to have the majority in the Senate and therefore the capability of stymying Biden’s legislative agenda. He is doing that even now, as Republicans and Democrats are negotiating a further Covid-19 stimulus package intended to relieve not only financial pressure on individuals but also on states. McConnell will hope to be able to stick Biden with the blame for the second dip of the Covid-19 recession, even though it has likely begun during the Trump Administration.
Biden’s win in the Electoral College should not obscure the deep and abiding irrationality of its continued use. It was invented to protect slave states. It risks electing a president with as big a loss in the popular vote as Trump suffered: more than 7 million votes. Biden’s win is due to a margin of 40,000 that put him over the top in the closest call states. But fixing this anomaly requires either a constitutional amendment, which is virtually impossible, or approval of the “compact” that would pledge a majority of the Electoral College votes to the winner of the popular vote. That isn’t likely either.
Irrationality will persist also in the world of vaccines. A lot of people are saying they won’t take it. I am not one who ignores the risk: none of the vaccines has been tested more than a few months. There are no data to demonstrate there are no long-term effects. But given the benefits of vaccination and the eventual “herd immunity,” it makes a lot more sense to run the risks than not to do so. But I expect many of the racists who are claiming that the election was stolen will also want to refuse vaccinations. But that is not what the White House that failed to prepare or respond adequately to the epidemic is doing. Its staff, not mentioned in CDC’s priorities, is among the very first getting vaccinated.
So yes, for today rationality triumphs. But the deep irrationality not only of the Electoral College but also of the White House who supported a failed president abides.
Share this, I'll really appreciate it:
Stevenson’s army, December 14
The Electoral College members meet and vote today in the various states. Early voting starts in Georgia. Congress is moving toward a two-pronged Covid relief bill.
Russia achieved a major hack of Treasury and Commerce.
Congress fears US nuclear command, control and communications is vulnerable
The president now has 10 days to decide whether to veto the NDAA. In a puzzling statement, he says the bill favors China.. [Maybe he hasn’t read the sections on the Pacific Deterrence Initiative and other China sections.]
CFR has summary of new ideas for better crisis management at NSC.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
Share this, I'll really appreciate it:
Stevenson’s army, December 1
The Hill has some data, though not all seats have been determined.
Glimmers of bipartisanship over stimulus.
Supreme Court tentative on census question.
DOD IG says UAE is aiding Russian military in LIbya.
NBC 4 reports on burrowing into civil service.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
Share this, I'll really appreciate it:
Eighteen good things to be thankful for
It’s Thanksgiving in the US, when usually we gather in extended families, quarrel vociferously, and eat and drink far too much. No gathering this year due to the corona virus, but lots of good things to be thankful for:
- A peaceful election with a clear result and a decent man as winner.
- The recommitment of my country to democracy, the rule of law, and human rights.
- All the poll workers and election boards that prepared well and executed to virtual perfection.
- The courts that have dismissed frivolous lawsuits, in defiance of the President.
- The voters who turned out (or in the case of mailed ballots turned in) in record numbers to make their will known.
- The media who didn’t fall for lies and Russian-, Chinese- or Iranian-sponsored memes.
- The health care workers who have tried so hard to keep us safe and cure us when we get ill.
- No serious symptoms among a few infected colleagues.
- Whoever published the genome of the corona virus, thus enabling quick work to develop a vaccine.
- The scientists who labor to invent vaccines and develop treatments for Covid-19.
- The millions of essential workers who have been delivering our food and mail, picking up our trash, guarding our workplaces, running the internet, and doing all the rest that makes staying home and social distancing possible.
- My students and fellow professors, who have risen to the challenge of remote learning with willing spirits.
- My colleagues all over the globe, who are hosting meetings and engaging across borders as never before.
- Health institutions worldwide that have refused to cave even under enormous strain.
- The political leaders who have shown that vigorous, early action can limit spread of the virus.
- Fellow citizens who wear masks and keep their distance.
- A city that has taken the epidemic seriously and continues to do so.
- Two wonderful sons, two equally wonderful daughters-in-law, three fantastic grandchildren, and a wife who also loves them all.
I’ll stop there, as 18 is also a good number signifying “life” in Hebrew. May all my readers be as fortunate as I am in this unsettled and risky world!
RSS - Posts
