Self-isolation is making us all a bit testy. For some politicians, that crabbiness comes out in the form of whining that we should just let some people die so the rest of us can go outside and trade stocks already. For others, like CNN correspondent Jake Tapper and Joe Biden, the lack of staff or bystanders around for audience has resulted in two grown men used to being unequivocally listened to having to explain things, like proper coughing procedure, to each other on live television.
On March 24, Biden spoke from self-isolation in his home with Tapper about President Donald Trump’s hopes that the country would be up and running again by Easter, to which Biden replied “He should stop talking” and start listening to medical experts. Then a hoarse-sounding Biden, who says he has not been tested for covid-19 because he has no symptoms, coughed into his hand.
“You know, you’re supposed to cough into your elbow, sir,” Tapper scolded. “I learned that actually covering your White House.”
Not to be out-actuallyed, Biden responded, “No, but actually, actually, that’s true, but fortunately I’m alone in my home.”
Fun to watch these two grown men bicker like two bored children with the chickenpox while simultaneously talking about the inadequacies of our medical system to manage the probable influx of thousands of sick people in dire need of care.
And while the men fought, Liz Cheney made sense on Twitter?
“There will be no normally functioning economy if our hospitals are overwhelmed and thousands of Americans of all ages, including our doctors and nurses, lay dying because we have failed to do what’s necessary to stop the virus,” Cheney wrote in response by a thread by Dr. Scott Gottleib of the conservative American Enterprise Institute arguing that hospitals and support for those experiencing economic hardship are more important than the stock market.
We all know this is a reeling Tilt-a-Whirl of a darkest timeline, and you most likely do not need me to remind you to take a Dramamine if you haven’t already. But I feel thoroughly dizzy, confused, and nauseated, so it’s probably a good time to barf.
- The two trillion dollar stimulus package could be going to vote tonight. [Washington Post]
- New anti-Trump ads by a Democratic super PAC focused on his handling of the pandemic. Sorry to the editor tasked with making him sound less informed and dangerous than he already does. [Politico]
- The first detainee in an ICE facility has tested positive for covid-19. [Buzzfeed]
- Meanwhile, leaked Department of Homeland Security documents reveal that ICE has quarantine nine detainees and are monitoring 24 others in 10 detention centers across the country. [The Nation]