memeorandum: Epidemic Danger and Catholic Sacraments (Thomas Joseph White/First Things)

9:35 AM ET, April 10, 2020

Top Items:

Trump Keeps Talking. Some Republicans Don't Like What They're Hearing. — Aides and allies increasingly believe the president's daily briefings are hurting him more than helping, and are urging him to let his medical experts take center stage. — WASHINGTON — In his daily briefings on the coronavirus …

Discussion: Washington Post, Axios, Business Insider Malaysia, Letters from an American, Raw Story, Deadline, The Week and POLITICUSUSA

Washington Post:

Trump administration pushing to reopen much of the U.S. next month — The Trump administration is pushing to reopen much of the country next month, raising concerns among health experts and economists of a possible covid-19 resurgence if Americans return to their normal lives before the virus is truly stamped out.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Wall Street Journal, The Week, Daily Kos, Mediaite, Business Insider Malaysia, CNBC, One America News Network, The Hill, Politico and ABC News

Washington Post:
Live updates: Trump contradicts experts, says widespread coronavirus testing not needed to reopen the country

Discussion: Florida Politics, Twitchy, RAPPLER and GovExec.com

Josh Boswell / Daily Mail:

Changed name, alleged fraudster dad: Meet Trump's favorite reporter — DailyMail.com reveals questions over how OAN's Chaneil Rion obtained a White House ‘hard pass.’ She refuses to socially distance and has been dubbed Trump's favorite reporter.

Travis Gettys / Raw Story:
Bizarre background of Trump's new favorite White House reporter exposed in wild tabloid investigation

Discussion: Bloomberg

Ryan Lizza / Politico:

Barack Obama wins the Democratic primary — In the end, the most influential politician of 2020 might be the one who has been the most silent. — With Bernie Sanders exiting the race and Joe Biden taking on the mantle of presumptive nominee, the man who hovered quietly over the race for more than a year …

Discussion: The Daily Beast

Reid J. Epstein / New York Times:

Iowa Was Meaningless — We spent a lot of time covering the candidates' ups and downs in Iowa. Almost none of it mattered. … All that time in Iowa turned out to be a waste. — For 14 months, all of us in the political-media-industrial complex focused our resources and attention on the first-in-the-nation caucus state.

Francis Wilkinson / Bloomberg:
Gavin Newsom Declares California a ‘Nation-State’

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and California Globe

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

How Did the U.S. End Up with Nurses Wearing Garbage Bags? — A Silicon Valley C.E.O., Jared Kushner, and the race to get P.P.E. for America's hospitals. — On Saturday, March 21st, while Donald Trump was tweeting about the “Chinese virus” and circulating praise for the “great job we've done …

Associated Press:

Barr says Russia probe was started ‘without basis’ — WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General William Barr believes the Russia investigation that shadowed President Donald Trump for the first two years of his administration was started without any basis and amounted to an effort to …

Brent Scher / Washington Free Beacon:

Biden and Trump Agreed to Keep Details of Their Call Private. Then Biden Told Us Everything He Said. — Though President Donald Trump and former vice president Joe Biden said they had agreed to keep the details of their Monday phone call private, Biden appears to have reneged on the agreement.

Discussion: Breitbart and Reason

Joe Biden / Medium:
Joe Biden Outlines New Steps to Ease Economic Burden on Working People

Discussion: Washington Post, NPR, Business Insider Malaysia, HuffPost, Common Dreams, Fox News, Talking Points Memo, Forbes, Mediaite, The Hill, The Week, New York Post, POLITICUSUSA, Axios and VICE

Carla Marinucci / Politico:
Steyer endorses Biden while prodding him on young voters

Discussion: IJR, The Hill and The Daily Beast

CBS News:

Views of Trump's handling of coronavirus outbreak slip again - CBS News poll — Most Americans continue to think the battle against the coronavirus outbreak is going badly, and few would feel comfortable being out in crowded spaces now. There's a collective uncertainty about where things are headed next …

Discussion: Political Wire and Mediaite

David Lat / Washington Post:

I spent six days on a ventilator with covid-19. It saved me, but my life is not the same. — David Lat is the founding editor of Above the Law, a website covering the legal profession, and a managing director at Lateral Link, a legal recruiting firm. — The ventilator has become an object …

Discussion: Business Insider Malaysia

Detroit Free Press:

New Whitmer order bans ‘travel between residences,’ with a few exceptions — LANSING — After Friday, Michigan residents will no longer be able to jump in the car — or cross the street — to visit friends and relatives inside the state, or to go to the cottage Up North, with limited exceptions.

Tim Alberta / Politico:

‘The Woman in Michigan’ Goes National — The phone rings once. — “Hello?” — It's a man's voice: gruff, impatient. — “Hi there,” the female caller says. “May I please speak with John?” — “Who's this?” — “Gretchen Whitmer.” — A three-second pause. — “Governor Whitmer?”

Giovanni Russonello / New York Times:

Trust in Trump's Virus Response Is Falling. What Does It Mean for November? — Polls suggest that faith in the president to handle the outbreak has slipped among some crucial voting blocs in the general election. — Americans are rapidly losing faith in President Trump's handling …

Discussion: courthousenews.com and Washington Post

Sahil Kapur / NBC News:
Trump approval dips as Americans question his handling of coronavirus crisis

Discussion: Daily Kos, Washington Times and CNN

Jason Koebler / VICE:

The Viral ‘Study’ About Runners Spreading Coronavirus Is Not Actually a Study — In the last 24 hours, a computer simulation by a team of Belgian engineers that tracks the “spread droplets” and “slipstream” of the exhalations, coughs, and sneezes of people who are running, walking, or cycling has gone viral.

Discussion: Jurgen Thoelen, Althouse and The Conversation

Ezra Klein / Vox:

I've read the plans to reopen the economy. They're scary. — There is no plan to return to normal. — Over the past few days, I've been reading the major plans for what comes after social distancing. You can read them, too. There's one from the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute …

Discussion: The Nation

ABC News:

White House braces for congressional probes of coronavirus response — Multiple oversight entities in Congress are vying to examine the response. — Late last month, when asked how the administration will hold the Treasury Department accountable for the $500 billion coronavirus relief fund …

Politico:
Pelosi warns Trump not to reopen country too soon

Discussion: Raw Story, Vanity Fair, The Hill and Breitbart

New York Times:

Does Vote-by-Mail Favor Democrats? No. It's a False Argument by Trump. — Even some Republican officials, disagreeing with president, say that vote-by-mail has not hurt the G.O.P. in elections. — President Trump said that if the United States switched to all-mail voting …

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post, Politico and WCCO | CBS Minnesota

Reuters:

Exclusive: Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, in solitary confinement — (Reuters) - Michael Cohen, U.S. President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, has been placed in solitary confinement at a federal prison in New York state where he is serving time for violating campaign finance laws …

Discussion: Fox News

Memos:

Memo: The Staggering Economic Impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic — It is important for policymakers to understand the toll this is taking on the public, as well as noting the racial disparities that are being further exacerbated by this situation. And they need to act now because …

David Wallace-Wells / New York Magazine:

The Best-Case Scenario for Coronavirus Is That It's Way More Infectious Than We Think — We're committed to keeping our readers informed. … Over the past few days, some glimmers of relative hope have flickered down the end of what had seemed until recently a possibly endless tunnel.

Jim Tankersley / New York Times:

Virus Throws Millions More Out of Work, and Washington Struggles to Keep Pace — Federal efforts to keep businesses operating and workers employed have so far failed to stop the bleeding as the coronavirus tears through the economy in devastating ways. — WASHINGTON — When the federal …

CNN:

People are luring Instacart shoppers with big tips — and then changing them to zero — New York (CNN Business)In late March, Instacart worker Annaliisa Arambula accepted a grocery order that came with a big tip: $55. The store was just down the street, everything the customer wanted was available …

Quint Forgey / Politico:

‘He needs to let his experts speak’: Haley offers Trump messaging advice amid pandemic — Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley suggested Friday that President Donald Trump should “let his experts speak” at the White House's daily coronavirus briefings.

CNN:

Florida governor falsely claims the coronavirus hasn't killed anyone under 25 — (CNN)Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis falsely claimed Thursday that the novel coronavirus hasn't killed anyone under 25 nationwide while discussing a timeline for reopening schools in the state.

Discussion: Tampa Bay Times, Florida Politics, The Hill and New York Post

Kendall Karson / ABC News:

More than half of Americans wear masks as coronavirus' new normal takes hold: POLL — An overwhelming majority of Americans remain concerned about the virus. — More than half of Americans who went out in public in the last week say they've worn a face mask, as an overwhelming majority …

Discussion: ABC7

CBS News:

Voting in a pandemic: Officials sound alarm about November elections — The legal and political battles in Wisconsin, along with the gripping images of voters donning facial masks and gloves standing in hours-long, socially-distanced lines to cast ballots Tuesday, could be just a preview of what lies ahead …

Neil Vigdor / New York Times:

‘How Do I Get Help?’ Dying Coronavirus Patient Asked Alexa — Lou Ann Dagen, 66, was one of six residents who died from the virus at one nursing home outside Grand Rapids, Mich., a spokesman for the center said. — They lived about 20 minutes apart in Michigan, but when a cousin gave …

Gabby Orr / Politico:

To fight coronavirus, Trump and Pence lean into religion — in their own ways — As the nation's coronavirus death toll continues to climb, millions of religious Americans have been left to observe Holy Week in isolation: no Passover gatherings with relatives who flew in for the occasion …

Discussion: Raw Story

Denver Post:

Trump is playing a disgusting political game with our lives — President Donald Trump is treating life-saving medical equipment as emoluments he can dole out as favors to loyalists. It's the worst imaginable form of corruption — playing political games with lives.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo and The Mahablog

Ashley Cullins / Hollywood Reporter:

MGM Ordered to Deliver Unaired ‘Apprentice’ Footage in Marketing Scam Lawsuit Against Trumps — The decision comes in an unidentified woman's lawsuit against The Trump Corporation and multiple members of the Trump family. — Journalists, litigants and even actor Tom Arnold for years …

Discussion: Bloomberg and The US Sun

Eugene Robinson / Washington Post:

Trump might want to get a head start on packing his bags — There is only one logical reason President Trump is so desperately trying to cast doubt on the outcome of an election that's still seven months away: He knows he is likely to lose. — To use a football analogy …

Discussion: NPR and New York Times

Amy Walter / The Cook Political Report:

Battleground North Carolina: The Suburban Vote — I have been thinking a lot about North Carolina these days. While the former “Blue Wall” states get the lion's share of coverage, North Carolina is actually the bigger bang for the buck. It is one of just two states — the other is Arizona …

Harmeet Kaur / CNN:

A woman was arrested after licking $1,800 worth of grocery store items, police say — (CNN)A woman was arrested after she licked $1,800 worth of merchandise at a California grocery store near the Nevada border, authorities said. — An employee at a Safeway supermarket in South Lake Tahoe told officers …

Discussion: The Root, Business Insider Malaysia, WCMH-TV and WGN-TV

Thomas Joseph White / First Things:

Epidemic Danger and Catholic Sacraments — As the Church enters a Triduum where a great majority of the faithful lack public access to the sacraments, I'd like to offer some reflections that stand in sharp contrast to those currently being promoted by the editor of First Things …

Discussion: National Review