More results have trickled in. At last look, 538 had 71% of the votes. Their prediction jibes with that of the NY Times Upshot: Sanders will probably have more total votes (both first and second round) and Buttigieg will probably get more delegates. Why? Sort of an Electoral Pre-School effect:
So far, Sen. An urban areas and college towns, which punch a bit below their weight in terms of delegates.
I wouldn't spend much more time delving into the details of the Iowa Way - After what one wag described as an explosive shower of radioactive clowns I doubt these caucuses will be first in the nation again.
Retweeted by the President. Link goes to article with embedded video.
Posted by: MissMarple2 | February 05, 2020 at 11:01 PM
Jonathan Turley's criticism of Speaker Pelosi during the State of the Union address last night was both appropriate and well stated. The problem that I have with this and similar articles he's written of late is that he seems to feel compelled to balance his criticism of Democrat behavior with an unequal critique of something the opposition has done. An example is his attack on the President's decision to honor Rush Limbaugh with the Medal of Freedom during the actual State of the Union address. I thought that was it a cheap shot unworthy of Professor Turley.
It was President Reagan, I believe, who first used the State of the Union address as a forum to highlight people of accomplishment or particular significance. It has since become a tradition, and a welcome one, for Presidents to invite special guests to that event for acknowledgement.
Rush Limbaugh has been a noted commentator on the national political landscape for decades. While he wasn't the first, he has been an innovator in the talk radio phenomenon that has swept the nation. Given his recent diagnosis, it was altogether appropriate that the President honor him in an address before the nation. For Turley to cite this as a 'flaw' to balance out his criticism of the wholly inappropriate behavior of the House Speaker was unnecessary and offensive.
Posted by: Barbara | February 05, 2020 at 11:02 PM
Bayesian predates that, or not. Heh. Maybe Some algebra? How’s your Boolean?
Posted by: Melinda | February 05, 2020 at 11:02 PM
These people dont even know the total number of delegates per county, and then their calculations are still wrong,
Posted by: Narciso | February 05, 2020 at 11:08 PM
Melinda,
When I saw "rounding errors" followed by PAGES of math work sheets, and the person posted that coincidentally more seemed to be for Buttigieg (who had paid for some of the program and also seems to have worked for the CIA), I grew highly suspicious, which is why I linked those tweets here.
I can't solve all of the math but I know when something is fishy!
Posted by: MissMarple2 | February 05, 2020 at 11:08 PM
JMH —
Sorry that I was not more clear. Yes, Daddy Bush made a huge mistake backtracking on his read my lips” pledge. He certainly lost MY vote as a result. I was just giving an example of past efforts to appeal to voters on the other side. I did not mean to suggest that Trump should do the same. I am merely saying that he is not doing much of anything like that.
I think “triggering the progs” and “stoking the base” are pretty much the same thing. I think that you and I are saying pretty much the same thing. His target audience is not people who voted for Rodham last time.
He is seeking to maximize the turnout of his committed followers more than he is trying to woo undecideds.
Posted by: Theo | February 05, 2020 at 11:09 PM
Hell they dont know how many attendees per county.
Posted by: Narciso | February 05, 2020 at 11:10 PM
¶ 1 — s/b Speaker Pelosi's behavior
Posted by: Barbara | February 05, 2020 at 11:11 PM
Iowa has updated. 95% in. Yeah, Iowa is rigged.
First statewide alignment (whatever that is): Bernie up 4999 votes over Butty.
Final alignment: Bernie up 1499. Wut?
Butty gets 16 more delegates than Bernie. Double wut?
If I’m a Bernie Bro, I burn it all down now.
https://twitter.com/catargetbot/status/1225268945994670080?s=21
Posted by: Another Bob | February 05, 2020 at 11:11 PM
Heading to bed. I was up until after midnight last night and I need sleep!
Besides, who knows what that noon statement will have tomorrow!
Nytol!
Posted by: MissMarple2 | February 05, 2020 at 11:13 PM
Of course, this outcome is meaningless in the general scheme of things.
Posted by: Another Bob | February 05, 2020 at 11:13 PM
JMHanes,
I have the Johns Hopkins page in a tab and refreshed it to see the number of infections jump from 20,000+ to 28,000+ today. A 40% leap in one day. A little disturbing unless it's an indication that the medical community is catching up with a backlog.
Posted by: jim nj | February 05, 2020 at 11:15 PM
Perfectly said
Julie Kelly
@julie_kelly2
·
This by @ConradMBlackis delicious. “It was a gratuitously politically self-destructive act, for no apparent purpose, except to get something off his chest that he could no longer withhold: his hatred of Donald Trump.”
https://www.amgreatness.com/2020/02/05/romneys-discreditable-dishonest-vote/
Posted by: lurkersusie | February 05, 2020 at 11:18 PM
They are even wromg on the totsl attendees which 207,
Posted by: Narciso | February 05, 2020 at 11:20 PM
Romney seems to have a form of battered wife syndrome. The left and MSM beat him bloody but he always slinks back for their approval and praise.
A real personality disorder.
Posted by: caro | February 05, 2020 at 11:22 PM
Holy crap! Is this “The Message”?
https://twitter.com/petebuttigieg/status/1225135191330521090?s=21
Trayvon Martin would have been 25 today.
How many 25th birthdays have been stolen from us by white supremacy, gun violence, prejudice, and fear?
#BlackLivesMatter
Posted by: Melinda | February 05, 2020 at 11:24 PM
These numbers are absolutely blinkered even before the rounding, this is vekakte.
Posted by: Narciso | February 05, 2020 at 11:30 PM
In the last example they cant even count the number of attendees, then they use common core long division.
Posted by: Narciso | February 05, 2020 at 11:32 PM
narc, look up Boolean.
It will solve all your math questions.
Posted by: Melinda | February 05, 2020 at 11:36 PM
Mayor Petey's black problems aren't going to disappear with some obvious pandering over Saint Traytable.
Posted by: Captain Hate | February 05, 2020 at 11:39 PM
Theo:
No, we are not by any stretch of the imagination saying the same thing. If you didn't mean to suggest that GHWB's suicidal compromise on taxes is the kind of thing you'd expect to see from a president interested in enlarging the party, why did you bring it up? I've managed to come up with several of Trump's efforts to cultivate voting constituencies who presumably did vote for Hillary Clinton last time, or didn't vote at all, efforts, like his outreach to African Americans, which are meeting with enough success to shape nervous Democratic counter attacks. He's also made statistically significant inroads with Hispanics. I repeat, you seem to think that pleasing his base and expanding it are mutually exclusive propositions. I do not.
Posted by: JM Hanes | February 05, 2020 at 11:41 PM
She won the popular vote by two points.
But she lost the election. The election you yourself (and almost everyone else) said she had zero chance of losing.
Everyone, save a few people, was shocked. Or don't you remember?
The 2016 poll revisionism is just too much. Especially from you. I see where you are coming from on several of your other points, but this is a bridge too far. :)
Posted by: Porchlight | February 05, 2020 at 11:44 PM
Porch-
It’s an attorney explaining statistics to you.
Just clap.
Posted by: Melinda | February 05, 2020 at 11:49 PM
Ok, in your best Fellini accent. But just clap!
Posted by: Melinda | February 05, 2020 at 11:50 PM
They presented this and every representTive signed off on this, is this how theranos or teslas board operates.
Posted by: Narciso | February 05, 2020 at 11:53 PM
I’m taking the closed Schroedinger option and saying “G’night!”!
Now define statistic existentiality!
G’night!
Posted by: Melinda | February 05, 2020 at 11:54 PM
👏 👏 👏 👏
Btw, it's snowing in Austin. Weird week!
Posted by: Porchlight | February 05, 2020 at 11:56 PM
Another great video ad made by a Trump supporter. I wouldn't be surprised to see something similar put out by his campaign. It's only 1:14 and worth it! It incorporates Nancy's little stunt last night.
https://twitter.com/KevinJacksonTBS/status/1225253909666492417
Posted by: Momto2 | February 06, 2020 at 12:05 AM
jim nj (and Sandy):
Yes, it's disturbing, but if you switch the left hand column from "Country/Region" to the "City,St/Pro" listing (which you'll find at the bottom of the column), you can see more specifically where those cases are appearing. From some stats I recorded around 10 am this morning, I can tell you that slightly over 3,000 of those new cases showed up in Hubei Province (Wuhan) alone. The death rate there has been considerable higher than elsewhere in China and the World, although is very slightly lower tonight than it was using this morning's numbers.
Now I take Sandy's point about how little we actually know for sure about what China's real numbers are, or about just how dire the actual situation in Wuhan, in particular, might be. At the same time, I'm not sure my feeling that things are at their very worst in the Wuhan area, both in case numbers and deadliness, is incompatible with the news reports Sandy has linked to. I find that quite concerning.
Posted by: JM Hanes | February 06, 2020 at 12:06 AM
How did howdy go from 63 to 67 from left to right how did they completwly leave off klobuchars 25 delegates? This was am official document. Are the data sets going to be any clearer.
Posted by: Narciso | February 06, 2020 at 12:06 AM
From Sen. Marsha Blackburn to her constituents:
The process was a waste of time and resources, its motivations completely divorced from reality. At taxpayer expense, President Donald Trump’s counsel spent weeks litigating a policy disagreement over the President’s foreign relations strategy; meanwhile, seven House Democrats shamelessly questioned whether American voters could be trusted to decide for themselves whether the President’s agenda and policies were appropriate. By the end of the trial, we’d heard about a cover-up, a quid pro quo, extortion and bribery—all despite the fact that no crime was alleged in the two articles the Senate was tasked with debating.
History must take note of the lessons we’ve learned from these destructive methods.
The House overstepped the bounds of its Article I oversight power, abused its authority and used impeachment for political gain. The House Managers’ actions ignored the fact that Congress is guided by history, precedent, and above all, the Constitution; we should thank the Framers for troubleshooting diligently enough that we could be prepared for this scenario.
Fortunately, we saw that when the House ignores precedent in favor of partisan politics, the Senate will not hesitate to put the lower chamber back in its place.
That’s exactly why today I voted to acquit President Trump—because lowering the high bar of impeachment such that any American could be found guilty is far more dangerous than anything the Democratic ‘resistance’ has asserted.
My fellow Tennesseans saw right through the games and the intentional mishandling of the Democratic House Managers’ constitutional duty. They know this was nothing more than a dangerous and desperate attempt to pre-litigate the 2020 election, and remove President Trump from office—and the ballot. Thanks to the tireless leadership of Majority Leader McConnell, the Senate completed its task. The House Managers failed to prove their case, even by their own standard.”
Posted by: anonamom | February 06, 2020 at 12:07 AM
Yes abob these folks are already touchy in a morlock direction.
Posted by: Narciso | February 06, 2020 at 12:11 AM
In muscatine they adjusted delegate count up by 4 but it still doesnt add up. This 8s a travesty of amockery of asham
Posted by: Narciso | February 06, 2020 at 12:16 AM
If Joe Biden had a single ounce of dignity...
Hunter would snort it off the bathroom floor.
Posted by: Pinandpuller | February 06, 2020 at 12:17 AM
They miscounted in cedar as well,
Posted by: Narciso | February 06, 2020 at 12:23 AM
Dana Loesch never liked Romney, but she voted for him in 2012. She's no more enthusiastic tonight:
https://danaloesch.com/there-are-two-paths-romney-and-his-grudge/
Posted by: anonamom | February 06, 2020 at 12:26 AM
They are off by 12 in cedar,
Posted by: Narciso | February 06, 2020 at 12:34 AM
From Julie Kelley's twitter feed;
--nytdavidbrooks
· 6h
Instead of spending the past 3 years on Mueller and impeachment suppose Trump opponents had spent the time on an infrastructure bill or early childhood education? More good would have been done.--
Thomas Friedman specializes in saying things no one ever thought of before because they're so incredibly stupid.
David Brooks specializes in saying things every other person on the planet thought of several years before because he's so incredibly stupid.
Posted by: Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki | February 06, 2020 at 12:50 AM
And paper ballots dont work because they cant even count those correctly.
Posted by: Narciso | February 06, 2020 at 12:50 AM
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/05/tesla-coronavirus-carmaker-plans-delay-to-model-3-deliveries-in-china.html
Tesla shares crater 17% after coronavirus delays Model 3 deliveries
Posted by: jim nj | February 06, 2020 at 12:53 AM
This guy couldnt get more than one actual attendee at his rallies
https://mobile.twitter.com/mtracey/status/1225259641828970497
Posted by: Narciso | February 06, 2020 at 12:54 AM
Do they serve paste in the boardroom
https://mobile.twitter.com/TedNesi/status/1225230130433404934
Posted by: Narciso | February 06, 2020 at 12:55 AM
That Babylon Bee tweet re Romney was over a year old, but still relevant.
Posted by: Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki | February 06, 2020 at 01:00 AM
Even there rule book is confused, you dont wave a red flag in front of peoplr whose first instinct is hulk smash
Posted by: Narciso | February 06, 2020 at 01:01 AM
Funny, Ignatz. And true.
I've just done a mini-field trip to observe Rachel Maddow & Andrew Cuomo. Needless to say, it was a very short trip, and I have switched over to the Weather Channels top 10 worst storms evah. It was long enough to determine the Democrats' post Impeachment talking point: "Now that Republicans have told Trump that he can do whatever he wants to do...." Aside from that it was St. Romney ad nauseam.
Posted by: JM Hanes | February 06, 2020 at 01:04 AM
Like magic
https://mobile.twitter.com/AFP/status/1225274919765725184
Posted by: Narciso | February 06, 2020 at 01:07 AM
Getting french quarter flashbacks
https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/scott-whitlock/2020/02/05/brian-williams-questions-faith-some-senators-after-acquittal
Posted by: Narciso | February 06, 2020 at 01:08 AM
Now what they are going to do:
https://mobile.twitter.com/SchipperKeith/status/1225273451729977345
Posted by: Narciso | February 06, 2020 at 01:11 AM
Watched the quite cute Mollie Hemingway and what I could stand of the benighted bovine Jonah Goldberg. You know I hope I don't offend Jane and I probably don't sound like the best Christian but when I watch that fatuous fatheaded fool I just want to throat punch him.
It's all just jaw-jaw parlor games to that idiot. He and his ilk are the modern Puritans except rather than censorious views on public and private morality they try to enforce and grow misty eyed dreaming of a puritanical, but ill defined political orthodoxy of doctrinal salubrity overlayed with a feminized submissiveness toward and a lazy, chicken-hearted granting of undeserved legitimacy to the disloyal oppositional progs.
Merely useless would be a gigantic step up for the spavined clod.
Posted by: Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki | February 06, 2020 at 01:17 AM
OMG. Just watched Pelosi Galore pre-rip Trump's speech.
What a calculating despicable POS she is. No country can long survive intact a major party led by such evil, manipulative, crooked moral pygmies.
Posted by: Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki | February 06, 2020 at 01:24 AM
This guy was booted off the island at least a year ago
https://mobile.twitter.com/shipwreckedcrew/status/1224792664555409408
Posted by: Narciso | February 06, 2020 at 01:35 AM
Meanwhile, Back In Iowa —.
They are now up to 97% of the votes counted. Comrade Sanders continues to lead in the popular vote but quite interestingly, he has virtually closed the gap in terms of getting the most State Delegate Equivalents, which is how the media determines who “won.” Bernie has 26.1 SDEs and Pistol Pete has 26.2.
If in the final tally, Sanders overtakes him or ties him, the conspiracy theorists on the far left will go into hyperdrive. For the past couple of days the media narrative has been that Mayor Buttigieg “won.” But if it turns not to be true by any measure, well the comrades will be pissed.
As they say, pass the popcorn.
Posted by: Theo | February 06, 2020 at 01:43 AM
As i pointed out earlier theo. The attendee count is off which the delegate is as well, they need to start from scratch
Posted by: Narciso | February 06, 2020 at 01:46 AM
JMH -
I wrote you a long response on the issue of firing up the base versus expanding the base. It was brilliant and witty and cleared up all the misconceptions that you had about my position on this stuff.
Unfortunately Typepad swallowed it and I am too lazy to do it again, (I feel your pain.)
Let me just say that I understand and respect your position.
Posted by: Theo | February 06, 2020 at 01:47 AM
Narciso —
A total shitshow to be sure.
All bad news for the Dems starting with the relatively low level of turnout.
But if the Sanders people feel screwed over by the party establishment and their media allies — which seems very likely — party unity is going to be a problem for them in November. Unless of course Comrade Sanders is the nominee, in which case, as James Carville said, they will not be a political party but an ideological cult.
Posted by: Theo | February 06, 2020 at 01:53 AM
It will be a corbynized party, indeed, both are ex soviet or at leasr easr bloc tools.
Posted by: Narciso | February 06, 2020 at 01:55 AM
If trotskiyte derivation.
Posted by: Narciso | February 06, 2020 at 01:57 AM
Yeah and that has worked out so well for Labour.
Posted by: Theo | February 06, 2020 at 01:57 AM
If Beria Sanders is the nominee of the Democrat Party it will be the first time in over 100 years that the prog party will finally be honest with America about who they are and what they believe.

They don't want to stop the fossilized old Bolshevik because he's too far left. They want to stop him because he is a;
Posted by: Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki | February 06, 2020 at 02:07 AM
https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/palestinians/syrian-air-defenses-intercept-israeli-missiles-over-damascus-state-media-says-1.8501073
Other sources indicate actions in Daraa Province and near Damascus. Multiple sites reportedly hit by airstrikes.
https://syria.liveuamap.com/
Symbols on the lower right on the map show the reports. Meanwhile, in Idlib, so many reported things are happening that the symbols over lap one another.
https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2020/02/hezbollah-and-i.php
Hezbollah and Iranian-backed militias suffer heavy losses fighting in Syria
"With greater fire power at their behest, including Russian air cover, pro-Assad forces will likely continue to make advances deeper into opposition held territory. That means fighting will continue to be fierce and losses on both sides will rise. The question now is how great of a loss Hezbollah and its Iranian-backed allies are able to sustain before completing their objective of clearing northwest Syria of opposition forces."
I assume these groups, rather than the Syrian Army, are the tip of the spear in this offensive.
My kind of battle - Shia extremists killing Sunni extremists and vice versa.
Posted by: jim nj | February 06, 2020 at 02:11 AM
https://twitter.com/BetteMidler/status/1225264869663965184 Fag hag triggered.
Posted by: Dave (in MA) | February 06, 2020 at 02:23 AM
https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/u-s-halts-secretive-drone-program-with-turkey-over-syria-incursion-1.8498869
Drone flights within the program, in place since 2007, often targeted Kurdish militants and zeroed in on mountainous territory in northern Iraq
Well if you're going to go after the YPG we're not going to continue to help you with the PKK.
Erdogan must drive Trump nuts.
Posted by: jim nj | February 06, 2020 at 02:51 AM
Every time I read a Bette Midler tweet a nightmarish vision of the fat old bat in a bed covered with satin sheets and mounds of pillows with a big bowl of rocky road ice cream and an ipad perched on her plump tummy with empty vodka bottles scattered all over the floor and the film crew from Intervention on the way.
Posted by: Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki | February 06, 2020 at 02:57 AM
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/killed-sadr-followers-storm-protest-camp-iraq-200205211840660.html
Several killed after al-Sadr followers storm protest camp in Iraq
Clashes erupted at an anti-government protest site in Najaf when supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr raided the sit-in.
Posted by: jim nj | February 06, 2020 at 02:59 AM
https://hotair.com/archives/allahpundit/2020/02/05/romney-sent-signed-note-every-senate-republican-explaining-vote-something/
Axios has a screen shot
https://www.axios.com/mitt-romney-trump-impeachment-vote-note-c09e8704-0196-41e9-8d7a-5d640f06c7f7.html
WTF? A Mitt Romney keepsake to cherish?
Posted by: jim nj | February 06, 2020 at 03:27 AM
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2020/president/iowa_democratic_caucus_results.html
96% reporting - Sanders in 1st place
Posted by: jim nj | February 06, 2020 at 03:42 AM
Maybe it's just me, but I can't help but think of Mitt Romney as a modern-day Aaron Burr.
Posted by: jim nj | February 06, 2020 at 03:52 AM
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/02/04/is_trumps_unorthodoxy_becoming_orthodox_142301.html
VDH, stylistically different from his usually dense writing style, lots of one or two sentence punchy paragraphs.
Posted by: jim nj | February 06, 2020 at 04:09 AM
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a30771030/growler-unmanned-navy/
The Navy's Surprise Unmanned Fighter Is a Glimpse of War's Near Future
The Navy converted manned combat jets into unmanned ones. Nobody had any idea they were doing it.
"In a surprise announcement, the U.S. Navy revealed on Tuesday that it had successfully flown tests involving unmanned versions of the EA-18G Growler electronic attack fighter. The tests involved a single manned EA-18G controlling two unmanned versions of the same aircraft, opening up the possibility that the U.S. Navy could fly armed unmanned aircraft sooner than originally thought."
That does surprise me, and it begs dozens of questions wanting more details that I guess I'll just have to wait on, but the big one would be does that include take-offs and landings?
Posted by: jim nj | February 06, 2020 at 04:36 AM
https://breakingdefense.com/2020/02/secdefs-review-is-in-and-hes-willing-to-shut-down-entire-offices/
SecDef Eyeing Moving Billions By Eliminating Offices, Legacy Systems
The Pentagon is about to pitch Congress on a plan to move $5.7 billion from legacy programs to new modernization efforts. Some offices are going to feel some pain.
"Defense Secretary Mark Esper is looking to move billions in this year’s defense budget away from programs that don’t fit his modernization blueprint, and will ask Congress to kill off aging programs and roles he deems redundant or outdated.
The scope of the cuts, set to be unveiled with Monday’s fiscal 2021 budget rollout, amounts to $5.7 billion, all of which will be moved elsewhere in the budget with an emphasis on missile defense, artificial intelligence, and hypersonic research, defense officials told reporters today."
It's really a shame that Congress passes vague laws and lets the executive branch figure out the rules and regulations, but micro-manages Defense Dept. procurement.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Coast_Artillery_Corps
After WWII it took them five years to figure out that we didn't need coastal shore batteries any longer.
I'm sure there is some modern equivalent that some idiot congressman doesn't want to give up because of some impact on his district.
Posted by: jim nj | February 06, 2020 at 05:06 AM
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2020/02/06/the_political_effects_of_chinas_biological_chernobyl_115024.html
"Much truth is revealed in a crisis. The continuing and ever-worsening effects of the coronavirus epidemic in China, and now the world, spark political facts about the true nature of the regime—how the country is really run—and why it caused a challenging problem to become a global catastrophe.
First, the incompetence and the cover up are symptoms of the Leninist/Soviet/Maoist form of communist government. This type of regime is unable to address the problem because to do so threatens the legitimacy of the regime."
Posted by: jim nj | February 06, 2020 at 05:18 AM
Red Sox fans not happy with trading away their best player: https://www.bostonherald.com/2020/02/05/red-sox-fans-rue-trade-of-mookie-betts/
Posted by: peter | February 06, 2020 at 05:29 AM
jim nj Congress is protective of their personal oxes that way. Priority and efficient use of funds are irrelevant.
It's really a shame that Congress passes vague laws and lets the executive branch figure out the rules and regulations, but micro-manages Defense Dept. procurement.
Posted by: hoyden | February 06, 2020 at 06:01 AM
@cnbc
Bernie Sanders raises a staggering $25 million in January to fuel Super Tuesday push
Posted by: henry | February 06, 2020 at 06:09 AM
Polling/schmolling....
Today I was at the dentist. In Ithaca. The dental hygienist (with sharp tools in my mouth) asks me, "Did you watch the SOTU?" When I was finally clear of sharp instruments, I replied that I had. "What did you think?"
Now this is Ithaca and this woman has a lot of power over my poor mouth, so I hedged and said something about enjoying the guests in the gallery. She responded that she felt it showed how divided we are and I went on to say that I thought the Democrats had behaved like petulant children.
"Did Pelosi really tear up the speech?" She asked me with wide eyes.
Turns out, she and her husband and 3 of their 4 children had voted for Trump. She can't stand the tweeting, but she's happy about everything else happening. Her daughter, the liberal, has refused to visit with any of the family for the last two years. They tried to get together a couple of months ago, but her daughter made so many stipulations about what they could talk about that she decided it wasn't worth the angst.
This is Ithaca. I practically skipped out of the dentist's office.
Anecdotal stories like this one is what drove the Trump Train in 2016 as people realized they weren't alone. I'd say between rallies and how people are feeling about the economy, if the polling was fair, he'd be close to 60% approval. That wins reelections.
Posted by: Robin, eff 'em all | February 06, 2020 at 06:15 AM
We are never going to get a good tick-tock on the Wuhan virus. The Chinese government is, and has been, cracking down on the free flow of information.
It is, was, or became a political issue, not just a medical one.
The WHO is treating it more like a political issue than a health issue. They caution other nations for imposing containment policies as being politically incorrect while ignoring China's containment policy.
A quarantine of Wuhan city or Hubei Province seems reasonable. You want to contain an outbreak like this as soon as you can. I think they didn't act fast enough.
I don't know if that was a failure of local authorities or of the central government.
If you feel the need to implement a quarantine the next step should be to surge medical personnel and supplies into the area. I think the quarantine was so ham-handed that neither happened.
As I now understand it, they implemented the quarantine too late and compounded it by preventing needed supplies from entering the province.
It would take several paragraphs to explain my thinking, but it boils down to the idea that the province wasn't just quarantined, but sacrificed.
In seeking to prevent the virus from spreading they allowed it to run rampant within the quarantined area.
That may not have been their intention, but the paralysis by analysis led to it directly.
When I look at the statistics on the Johns Hopkins web-page I get the sense that other Chinese provinces weren't medically overwhelmed. The fatality rates are much lower.
Was that because the quarantine was effective, to some extent, or because there were enough medical personnel to handle the local situation?
If there were enough doctors and supplies outside of Hubei maybe they would have been of more use being moved to Hubei?
Posted by: jim nj | February 06, 2020 at 06:17 AM
Maybe I'm an American jingoist, but if you consider the combined efforts of the CDC, FEMA, transportable US Army field hospitals and our existing medical system I think we would have come up with a better response.
Wasn't that the theme of the TV series "The Last Ship?"
Posted by: jim nj | February 06, 2020 at 06:30 AM
nytol
Posted by: jim nj | February 06, 2020 at 06:33 AM
The Babylon Bee
Pelosi Defends Ripping Up Trump's Speech, Saying It Was Just A 'Clump Of Cells'
https://babylonbee.com/news/pelosi-defends-ripping-up-trumps-speech-saying-it-was-just-a-clump-of-cells
Posted by: mike in houston | February 06, 2020 at 06:34 AM
Robin: "Turns out, she and her husband and 3 of their 4 children had voted for Trump. ...This is Ithaca."
Great story.
Even here, in a deep blue part of CA, I remind myself that as I walk down the street at least 3 of every 10 people I pass voted for Trump.
Posted by: JimNorCal | February 06, 2020 at 06:43 AM
Even here, in a deep blue part of CA, I remind myself that as I walk down the street at least 3 of every 10 people I pass voted for Trump.
You know, I bet that's true here too. My dentist is Jewish and in her late 50's. That her hygienist was openly talking about her support for Trump in the office to patients is not something to be overlooked. I'm starting to think there's a sea change occurring right before our eyes. That response to the SOTU - 82% of independents liked the speech - those are important numbers. That's suburban women and minorities in that number. 30% of democrats? Holy shit, batman.
Posted by: Robin, eff 'em all | February 06, 2020 at 06:52 AM
“does that include take-offs and landings”
Wouldn’t it have to? I’d be shocked if it didn’t.
Civilian airliners have had hands-off takeoff and autoland features for a long time. Garmin recently announced an emergency autoland feature intended for light airplanes, where at any point in flight you can press a button, and the airplane will find the nearest airport, navigate to it, issue radio calls on the correct frequencies, and land it. Intended for the “pilot had a heart attack” sorts of scenarios.
Posted by: Another Bob | February 06, 2020 at 06:56 AM
I also think that you can't overlook the effect that rabid hatred that lefties have exhibited towards family members who voted for Trump has had on the electorate.
It's one thing to disagree on policy. It's a whole other ball of wax to shut people out of your life for voting for the Orange Demon. Once a moderate realizes that this intolerance extends to the political figures Trump has to deal with on a daily basis to get anything done, it shifts thinking.
AS Instapundit says, all Democrats had to do was not act crazy.
Posted by: Robin, eff 'em all | February 06, 2020 at 06:58 AM
If you all missed the ad that MM linked earlier, here it is again. Just a talented nobody who created a fantastic ad in response to Pelosi's tantrum.
https://twitter.com/KevinJacksonTBS/status/1225253909666492417
Posted by: Robin, eff 'em all | February 06, 2020 at 06:59 AM
New thread - please join me!
Posted by: Robin, eff 'em all | February 06, 2020 at 07:30 AM
Interesting comparison of coronavirus and influenza.
https://www.livescience.com/new-coronavirus-compare-with-flu.html
In the last decade, annual deaths from influenza have ranged between 12,000 and 61,000 in the US.
Coronavirus appears more contagious and much more deadly.
Will it be contained? Will it mutate into something less threatening?
Posted by: Buckeye | February 06, 2020 at 07:31 AM
A late good morning! It's so gloomy here that I woke late; they keep predicting snow but we haven't had any yet.
Robin, that's a great story about the dental hygienist!
Posted by: MissMarple2 | February 06, 2020 at 08:08 AM
Good morning,
I used to listen to Jay Severin on the way home from work, before they fired him for calling illegls, wetbacks. He was a loose cannon for sure but he did make some good points most of the time. When the subject of Gore winning the popular vote would come up, he'd always throw out some stupid nonsensical reply like, well, Gore was taller than Bush. Of course, the follow-up question is, what the hell does that have to do with anything? To which he'd reply, like the popular vote, not a damn thing!
Posted by: Rocco | February 06, 2020 at 08:31 AM
Nancy and Trump at the prayers breakfast this morning.
Posted by: lurkersusie | February 06, 2020 at 08:44 AM
I love that, Rocco.
Great story, Robin! I know exactly how that feels. :)
Posted by: Porchlight | February 06, 2020 at 08:49 AM
Another great article by Julie Kelly
Julie Kelly
@julie_kelly2
It hasn’t been instant—it’s taken three years—but the bad karma the Democrats have put into the universe finally caught up with them this week. Impeachment failed, their presidential field is a hot mess, and Trump is stronger than ever:
https://www.printfriendly.com/p/g/nk2e5V
Posted by: lurkersusie | February 06, 2020 at 08:56 AM
New
Posted by: JimNorCal | February 06, 2020 at 09:14 AM