WaPo:
‘I’m sorry, but it’s a fantasy’
Jeff Gregorich, superintendent, on trying to reopen his schools safely
We got back two of those tests already — both positive. We’re still waiting on eight more. That makes 11 percent of my staff that’s gotten covid, and we haven’t had a single student in our buildings since March. Part of our facility is closed down for decontamination, but we don’t have anyone left to decontaminate it unless I want to put on my hazmat suit and go in there. We’ve seen the impacts of this virus on our maintenance department, on transportation, on food service, on faculty. It’s like this district is shutting down case by case. I don’t understand how anyone could expect us to reopen the building this month in a way that feels safe. It’s like they’re telling us: “Okay. Summer’s over. It’s been long enough. Time to get back to normal.” But since when has this virus operated on our schedule?
STATnews:
School closures in spring linked to drastic decrease in Covid-19 cases and deaths
Now, a study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that closing all of a state’s schools was associated with a drastic decrease in both Covid-19 cases and deaths. And the point at which officials made that call mattered: Those states that adopted the policy while few people were testing positive saw a correlated flatter curve of cases.
“It’s a nice study. It’s clear that coincident with closing down schools, the numbers improved,” said Helen Boucher, chief of the division of geographic medicine and infectious diseases at Tufts Medical Center, who wasn’t involved in the research. But she noted that we have to be careful about drawing overly broad conclusions from a single sliver of a sweeping shutdown strategy: “School closing didn’t happen in a vacuum.
Will Sommer/Daily Beast:
Why Is The Right So Obsessed With Hydroxychloroquine?
The unproven drug touted by Trump and his allies is a miracle remedy for more than just COVID-19.
For the vast majority of Trump supporters, of course, the drug represents the possibility that COVID-19 can be successfully treated and the deaths stopped. But there’s also a political benefit: portraying hydroxychloroquine as a forbidden cure allows pro-Trump media to blame anyone but Trump for the coronavirus disaster. In this telling, COVID-19 could have been cured months ago with hydroxychloroquine, if only the Democrats, the media, and Dr. Anthony Fauci would have listened to Trump!
Dave A Hopkins/Honest graft:
A Few Thoughts on the 2020 Democratic Veepstakes
4. Of all the "veepstakes" episodes in my memory, this one has been the least dominated by speculation about who might deliver a particular battleground state or key voting bloc to the national ticket and the most dominated by discussions about who might be the best vice president once the election is over. This is probably due in large part to Biden's steady lead in the polls—a rare luxury for a non-incumbent—but it is still a positive development. Whatever one might think about the way Harris or any of the other candidates have been treated, it is much better for the parties and the entire political system if leaders focus on the running mate as a potential governing partner and political successor, not as a mere tool of campaign strategy.
WaPo:
How the Trump campaign came to court QAnon, the online conspiracy movement identified by the FBI as a violent threat
Outside the Las Vegas Convention Center, Kayleigh McEnany raised a microphone to a mega-fan and asked what it felt like to be acknowledged by President Trump at his February rally in Sin City.
At the time a spokeswoman for Trump’s reelection campaign, McEnany nodded as the supporter said the shout-out was most meaningful because of the words on the shirt he was wearing, which he read aloud: “Where we go one, we go all,” the motto of QAnon conspiracy theorists who believe Trump is battling a cabal of deep-state saboteurs who worship Satan and traffic children for sex.
McEnany, who has since become the White House press secretary, continued, asking the supporter, “If you could say one thing to the president, what would you say?”
“Who is Q?” he replied, inquiring about the mysterious online figure behind the baseless theory. McEnany smiled and said, “Okay, well, I will pass all of this along.”
Isaac Chotiner/New Yorker:
Trump’s Dangerous Attempt to Create a Federal Police
To discuss some of these questions, I spoke by phone with Carrie Cordero, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and a CNN contributor, who specializes in homeland-security law. During our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, we discussed the history of sending federal forces to states and cities, the shaky legal basis for Trump’s actions, and how the creation of D.H.S. gave the President vast new powers.
WaPo:
Trump’s campaign in crisis as aides attempt August reset before time runs out
With the president unable to hold traditional rallies and his central economic message no longer relevant, campaign officials are scrambling to assemble a fresh case for his candidacy on the fly.
After a six-day pause in advertising, new ads targeting Democratic rival Joe Biden are set to begin airing Monday, according to campaign officials who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. It’s the latest in a long-running attempt to define the former vice president in the eyes of voters before they cast their ballots.
But Trump himself is perhaps the greatest impediment to any successful campaign pivot, as the president has rejected calls from Republican allies and lawmakers to project a steady hand during what is shaping up to be another lost summer of self-inflicted setbacks.
NY Times:
Alienated by Trump, Suburban Voters Sour on G.O.P. in Battle for the House
A self-described independent, Ms. Vaughn, 41, had supported Representative Ann Wagner, her Republican congresswoman, in past years, but more recently soured on her. This year, given her frustration and anger with Mr. Trump, Ms. Vaughn is confident she will not vote for Ms. Wagner and is wrestling with whether she in good conscience can vote again for any of the local Republicans down the ballot whom she would normally back.
“That is an issue that we’ve had my entire life and we still haven’t solved,” she said of the systemic racism that drove recent protests around the country, much as it did in 2014 in nearby Ferguson, Mo. “It’s just going to get swept under the rug again unless we do something significant at the polls in November.”
IBD/TIPP:
President Trump Trails Joe Biden As Law And Order Pitch Falls Flat: IBD/TIPP Poll
Former Vice President Joe Biden holds a 7-point lead over President Trump, the August IBD/TIPP Poll finds. Trump is facing broad rejection by independent voters on everything from his handling of the coronavirus and economy to his law and order message that aims to win back suburban voters.
h/t Chitown Kev for finding the above tweet.