Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
Voting by Mail is the New Normal -- Voting in person has been the norm in America for years, but there has almost always been a provision for those unable to turn up at the polling booth to cast a ballot that counts. In recent years, some states, particularly in the western part of the US, have moved from the expense and inconvenience of in-person voting to running their elections by mail. Mr. Trump has tried to make a distinction between absentee voting (how he casts his ballot) and voting by mail (a term interchangeable with absentee voting). He believes that high turnout favors Democrats, and mail makes voting easier and, hence, favors his opponents. He is demonstrably wrong (as usual), but voting by mail does change campaign strategy. [4 August]
WHO Says Covid-19 Vaccine Won't Be a Magic Bullet -- Most of the discussion of how to deal with the pandemic focuses on buying time until the scientific community can develop a vaccine. After that, things are supposed to go back to normal. The World Health Organization has cautioned that the belief that the vaccine will fix things completely is unfounded. Based on past experience of vaccines, the shot will be a game changer, but the game won't be over for quite some time. That presumes that the game will ever be over. [3 August]
Trump Can't Delay Election, and It Wouldn't Help Him -- Donald Trump is losing his re-election bid. He has let 150,000 Americans die by failing to act decisively on the Covid-19 pandemic and has cratered the economy as a result. A party with a backbone would drop him like a bad habit and nominate someone else. However, the Republicans have no backbone nor any moral compass anymore. The president's latest attempt to avoid being crushed at the polls was a tweet suggesting America should delay the election scheduled for November 3. He does not have the power to do that. A delay would not keep him in office in any case. [31 July]
US GDP Shrinks 32.9% Annualized in 2Q 2020 -- The second quarter of 2020 was the worst on record when it comes to measuring the US GDP. From April to June, the economy shrank 9.5%, which works out to 32.9% on an annualized basis. The result is the worst since at least 1875. Even the Great Depression and the 1893 Panic were not as bad at 7.2% and 8.4% declines respectively. The crash is unique in that it was voluntary to fight the corona virus, but its magnitude suggest that the recovery will be slow. Moreover, policy errors are going to do further harm. [30 July]
Attorney General Barr Does Not Remember Much -- The Attorney-General of the United States appeared before the House Judiciary Committee yesterday to avoid answering questions from the elected representatives of the people. No one seriously thought he would provide any useful information. However, he did fall back to a lawyer's answer to beat possible perjury charges; "sorry, I don't remember." Alternatively, his answer was "I did not know that." Given his many memory failings and professed ignorance, one must ask if the man should continue in his role. [29 July]
© Copyright 2020 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
Volume XVIII, Number 143
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