Why not change to a vote by mail system for the remaining primary voting
states?
Miriam
From: Ryan Grim <badnews@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, March 16, 2020 11:54 PM
To: miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Should you vote Tuesday?
I’m not sure what did it -- and frankly I don’t particularly care -- but it
appears that for whatever reason Donald Trump has belatedly realized that we
are days away from a historic public health crisis. The new guidelines that
have been issued are draconian, but also sensible.
Should you vote Tuesday?
<http://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJxVUEluxCAQfI05WixjGx845DLfsFjaYxQMCNqTeF4
fnMklUh9apVJtViM8UjlVThXJUaEs3qlxmCmdiVM3x-Qgia_LWgB27YPCcgDJhwneavQpXnw2MUY
2RVdpuKVuGo1epWUwDzct5DwMkmpnBLlMFn04D9GCgieUM0UgQW2IuXbio-P3dka7CF-1r4epqO1
nb9Pe4AwpB2gPl4zSkXjFKadUsImKQYipZ_33aLb44lt-6e5G9wf_p0GK2n3xen-2AL4RUsYUg4_
QR8Cr1NJY-xE9ngtEbQK4d1987_ObH88M6soXABHKG2wjCDbSkZFm6FJbKqq_Gj_Lc3oZ> Ryan
Grim
Mar 17
I’m not sure what did it -- and frankly I don’t particularly care -- but it
appears that for whatever reason Donald Trump has belatedly realized that we
are days away from a historic public health crisis. The new guidelines that
have been issued are draconian, but also sensible.
<http://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJwlkE2OhCAQhU_T7JqAiD8LFrOZ3SRzA4NStmQUCBT
a9ukHuxNSUJVXebxv0ggPH08VfEKSE8TBGtXInrGeGFUb3smO2DTMEWDTdlUYM5CQx9VOGq13l56
3nJNFtXU1MahnKWfopejnbh470P3cjo3gXU0uk0FnY8FNoGCHeHoHZFULYkg38XWrvss5joMei0V
YfPkRffj9Gob75B2Cw9LksHptUnlVrGLlYuJdKG9oxYbJR-_0bmNO90e2Rhe7oaPyyfkguPz9ocH
MxKprmQneMiGFaCmnz2Zc3KtawkvfarY9KprymFBPf3TyG4lqs9HqbS8BbBH4gN6t1gF1gBeU4rx
t2Vk8B3B6XMF8eOGH7zs_ngGUgyOtgAjxMywQBW9Yw0kxNL6QdmrU5pL9A4Wjjqg> To quote
from them: “If you are an older person, stay home and away from other
people.”
“If you are a person with a serious underlying health condition that can put
you at increased risk (for example, a condition that impairs your lung or
heart function or weakens your immune system), stay home and away from other
people.”
Yet despite this, four states -- Ohio, Florida, Arizona, and Illinois --
were scheduled to have in-person primaries, both Democratic and Republican.
There is simply no way to comply with those guidelines and also hold those
elections as scheduled.
<http://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJwlkM1uwyAQhJ8m3GKBsU1y4NBLX8PiZ1OvagOCdVr
n6btuJLSg0WiG_YIj-Mr1sCU3EnuDOmO003iX8i6iHaK6jTeBbX5UgM3haqnuIMruVwyOMKfTr4x
SYrEKjPLDfZLePaSJJj4mPcoxDtpEeVNenCWz2yNCCmDhCfXICcRqF6LSLvrj0n_yoQUwEdQAhbq
QN5Z62Uu-pOahJh55wXw98wontOvmaliuylxLRX4jSyHXnNwT697YL9CeGVIrI_WotelU9zv5Jb3
6pbzcZZDbV9-13Tdy4ftsFdVuWNFtT_4usiEXymnFBF0COhHM7Nr2hHTMkJxfIb7p0Jvm_7Z0FLA
JftoKxCu9RUam1SQnJbgwZuaarHfxtP0BFBuJcw> Ohio’s Republican governor, Mike
DeWine, who has been among the most proactive leaders in the country in
mitigating the pandemic, moved late Monday to postpone the primary. But a
judge rejected his order, insisting that it would set a bad precedent, and
ordered the elections to go forward. DeWine then did something
extraordinary: along with the secretary of state and public health
commissioner, he barred the elections as a public health emergency.
The other three states, inexplicably, are going forward. So let’s use the
CDC guidelines to try to figure out, if you’re planning to vote Tuesday in
Florida, Illinois, or Arizona, whether you should do that. Here are the
questions to ask.
* Are you an “older person” (interesting that they left that
undefined) or do you have “an underlying health condition”?
* In the next two weeks, will you be in contact with an older person
or a person with an underlying health condition?
* In the next two weeks, will you be in contact with any person who
themselves might be in contact with an older person or a person with an
underlying health condition?
* In the next two weeks, will you be in contact with any person who
themselves might be in contact with any person who themselves might be in
contact with an older person…
Okay, you get the point of an epidemic, and how it spreads. If the answer to
1-4 is no, then go vote. If not, think about the risk.
The pandemic is forcing competing values to collide. It’s deeply painful as
an American to suggest that an election ought to be postponed, or that a
voter ought not to vote. It also cuts against our cherished value of the
rule of law to have a governor simply override the judiciary, citing an
emergency. I hate the way that DeWine made the decision -- and yet I agree
with it, and therein lies the true threat to democracy. If our leaders, from
Trump, to DNC Chair Tom Perez, to the remaining candidates for the
Democratic nomination, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, refuse to show
leadership in this moment, they are not just putting the public health at
risk, they’re undermining confidence in democracy itself. If we want to
emerge from this crisis with our democracy intact, people with power --
limited as it may be, as in the case of Perez, for instance -- need to use
it and lead.
The judge who rejected DeWine’s request to postpone the election was no
doubt influenced by the fact that neither Sanders nor Biden had called for
the postponement, and, indeed,
<http://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJwlkM1uwyAQhJ8m3GKBsU1y4NBLX8PiZ1OvagOCdVr
n6btuJLSg0WiG_YIj-Mr1sCU3EnuDOmO003iX8i6iHaK6jTeBbX5UgM3haqnuIMruVwyOMKfTr4x
SYrEKjPLDfZLePaSJJj4mPcoxDtpEeVNenCWz2yNCCmDhCfXICcRqF6LSLvrj0n_yoQUwEdQAhbq
QN5Z62Uu-pOahJh55wXw98wontOvmaliuylxLRX4jSyHXnNwT697YL9CeGVIrI_WotelU9zv5Jb3
6pbzcZZDbV9-13Tdy4ftsFdVuWNFtT_4usiEXymnFBF0COhHM7Nr2hHTMkJxfIb7p0Jvm_7Z0FLA
JftoKxCu9RUam1SQnJbgwZuaarHfxtP0BFBuJcw> more than 100 progressive groups
were calling on the state to push forward with its election. There are
deeply legitimate reasons to be wary of a postponement, but, again, refer to
the CDC guidelines. If older people are advised to “stay home and away from
other people,” in what possible scenario can an election go on that doesn’t
either put those people at heightened risk, or disenfranchise them? The
clear, pressing need was to postpone this election. It should have been done
by popular demand. Instead, it was done in an authoritarian fashion. Maybe
it’s apocryphal, but when Ben Franklin stepped out of the constitutional
convention and was asked what the founders had created, he said, “A
republic, if you can keep it.” If your position is that an election must be
held, even knowing that it will lead to many people dying needlessly,
because it’s on the calendar and that’s the process, then don’t be surprised
when people demand the process be thrown out. If we behave irresponsibly
with our democracy, an authoritarian will be happy to ride in and take over,
promising to do it smoothly. A republic, if you can keep it.
Let’s keep it. Don’t vote in person if you answered yes to any of the four
above.
Meanwhile, the great isolation has begun. Millions remain in denial, but
reality has a way of forcing itself upon even the most deluded imaginations.
We took our kids out of school on Friday and we probably should have done so
earlier. DC schools have since closed through the end of the month, but I
suspect they’ll close for the rest of the school year. We are collectively
telling ourselves we’ll be in isolation for the next couple weeks, but that
could easily turn into months. I’m wishing all of us the best.
A huge problem we’re confronting is that authorities have suggested that the
primary driver of infection is visibly symptomatic people. Republican Rep.
Devin Nunes was recently on Fox News telling people to go to bars and
restaurants if they’re not feeling sick in order to prop up the local
economy. That is murderous, negligent advice. In fact, people not showing
symptoms, including children, are most certainly able to carry the virus and
transmit it.
<http://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJwlkEuOwyAQRE8TdrHA2MZesJjNXMPi0xOj4Sdox3F
OP3gioYZuPXUVZRTCI5VT5lSR7BXK6qycxoXShVg5WDaPM3F1_SkAQTkvsexA8q69MwpdihfPBGN
kk0DFTHuhKJ-ZHihftIBRT5aJRWi1GHKJrGq3DqIBCU8oZ4pAvNwQc73xr1v_3c5xHJ2JsTMptK6
nPW0X5a2woZUNlMetPUwqKaqnK3u9q3qGjCk0T-ZecwFlG-GihVe3YfDEyWsR5UxQPnIuOta9Jr3
Fd7_lt7oNNDz6ru66ojK_lzQpMrjiVHg2u64Bqe2P3kXoIuAVwdqosEeH5wpRaQ_2kw5-0vz_LZ4
ZZISjekCE8hm2yDib6MRIE7TNtItSK3thf7cuiVI> Here’s from a recent CNN article:
On Tuesday, Dr. Sandra Ciesek, director of the Institute of Medical Virology
in Frankfurt, Germany, tested 24 passengers who had just flown in from
Israel.
Seven of the 24 passengers tested positive for coronavirus. Four of those
had no symptoms, and Ciesek was surprised to find that the viral load of the
specimens from the asymptomatic patients was higher than the viral load of
the specimens from the three patients who did have symptoms.
Viral load is a measure of the concentration of the virus in someone's
respiratory secretions. A higher load means that someone is more likely to
spread the infection to other people.
Another problem is that our hospital system is uniquely unprepared for this
moment. Hospitals, to maximize profit (which even non-profit ones aim for),
have moved to “just in time inventory,” meaning they keep only bare minimum
of supplies on hand. It’s been one of the profit-driving trends of
globalization, and now that it has become entrenched in hospital management,
it will leave them short, as supply lines are broken and demand overwhelms
productive and shipping capacity. The American decision to offshore our
manufacturing capacity has set us up for catastrophe.
<http://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJwlUUGOgzAMfE1zC0qAQnvIYS_7DWSIU6IFByWmu_T
1a1opsqXxxGOPJ2B8pHy4LRVWe8E8RO-6692Yu_Ku9fZ2valYhpARV4iL47yj2vZxiRNwTHTybW-
tml3woQ1W_o4dgL-1EAD9aDD0vrv1nVWnyAC7j0gTOnxiPhKhWtzMvJVL83Wpv-XxjJEY84QbV1N
aBapNbSSZRoJtJfhYNuBp1iGnVQNpWDHLSKRpzwV1Ii1tzirxEgmLTuGNYAgps-akJylBJMlCgmf
Me5HGKrpTzDS2N821afrKVn_dONOrnrcXXFqzPuqq7GNhmH7O8VR2a8wR1qfsFYWQNk50ilaEfHo
1CGvdKfIxIMG4oP_YyB_b37bwsaEj_C0Lsuz-AcXbxnZGrBNBn-QA5EbwJ-0fqzaaOQ> A nurse
at an American hospital wrote a first-person dispatch for us about the lack
of preparedness they’re witnessing.
This weekend,
<http://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJwlkEFuxCAMRU8z7BJBSEKyYNFNrxER8DRuE6Bgps2
cvqQjWbZkPev7f2sIPkI6dQyZWMmQFnR6HGbOZ-Z078Q0TAzzck8Ah8FdUyrAYll3tIYw-IsXSgi
2aTvNzppeKWcHq1bRq7txQkk3zrYb1cQukcUUh-AtaHhAOoMHtuuNKOabfLt177VoA_QEyUKk1oa
jrjre8Tq4rE30tXn4aT4hZTgbG1Lw5oGp5Aa-C8YDPDUOdrwEKstQX_dcCsXlIKVqRfs7rpt_dlt
8mlvPj4-uzWXNZOzXpciSPjChOR71VaxAiBT8jh5aD3TZXyp1FI90LuDNuoN7JUOvJP-d0hlB10f
zDlTtvJY1LilGPgpWBV2omXq9Gndhf-TZiPw> Akela Lacy and I obtained a
spreadsheet listing all the requests made by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy of
the federal government. Murphy had publicly noted that a supply of masks and
other equipment was being delivered to the state, but the spreadsheet shows
that the deliveries amount to just a fraction of what the state believes it
needs -- and included no ventilators, essential to keeping people alive who
start nosediving with the virus.
<http://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJwlkEFuxCAMRU8z7BJBSEKyYNFNrxER8DRuE6Bgps2
cvqQjWbZkPev7f2sIPkI6dQyZWMmQFnR6HGbOZ-Z078Q0TAzzck8Ah8FdUyrAYll3tIYw-IsXSgi
2aTvNzppeKWcHq1bRq7txQkk3zrYb1cQukcUUh-AtaHhAOoMHtuuNKOabfLt177VoA_QEyUKk1oa
jrjre8Tq4rE30tXn4aT4hZTgbG1Lw5oGp5Aa-C8YDPDUOdrwEKstQX_dcCsXlIKVqRfs7rpt_dlt
8mlvPj4-uzWXNZOzXpciSPjChOR71VaxAiBT8jh5aD3TZXyp1FI90LuDNuoN7JUOvJP-d0hlB10f
zDlTtvJY1LilGPgpWBV2omXq9Gndhf-TZiPw> That story is here.
Sunday’s Democratic presidential debate was moved from a live audience in
Arizona to CNN’s DC studios. That’s a good step, but that studio is probably
itself a petri dish, and both remaining candidates are in their 70s.
I joined
<http://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJwlkE2OgzAMhU_T7ED5KSldZDGbuQZKiFusgQQlpgw
9_ZipZNmS9Tkv742e4JnL4dZcSWwVyoDR2e4u5V1Ed42q73qBdXgUgMXj7KhsINYtzDh6wpxOXt2
UEpODvtcRHrbrHyZq392V6a2yWpux1x6iOEUGv0WENIKDF5QjJxCzm4jWejFfF_3NRRNgIigjrNS
OeeGVllrykIabstwClITQ8BN1q03ACKnZp9zsOTV830QIbI1Bge48lkbdpOmMubWq_bVhSm89rW9
_ucrlqdu6hUp-_DnlRHELFvTLi_-JDOSVcpoxQZuATu8DU8uWkI4Bkg8zxE8s9Inx3yYdK7gEe52
B2MtnyVkZZaVVggVj5kCTCz6e2B8XcoaF> Mehdi Hasan on our podcast Reconstructed
to analyze the debate.
Stay safe, and, if you can, stay home.
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<http://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJxVULluhDAU_BpcIh_YsIWLNPsbyMfbxYqxkf3YhP3
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<http://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJxNkM1qwzAQhJ_GOhr92HJy0KEQ8hpGP5tY1JKMtEr
rPH3lpIXCXnb4lpkdqxHuKe9qSwVJLZBn75Qcz5SeiVODY6fxRHyZbxkgaL8qzBXIVs3qrUaf4sG
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PGC-x1SaYpJKRZuhSix2V0e7AfgDtko2p>
<http://email.mg2.substack.com/o/eJwlj0tyxCAMBU8Tli6Bf-MFZ3Hx0YxVMeACMYnn9MH
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ptrBx351LQWQdKJMJ7_aJGpAOTnGniF1EvuzWRoUaic8Vo7E7-luc79B_ET4P1BF_yo7MmO9jq-n
lBJMUbdCnlhy1Nf7C_gCvDGiO>
