Category: News

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Acting Navy Secretary Resigns After Attacking Relieved Captain As “Naive/Stupid”

Captain Brett Crozier was removed as commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt last week for attempting to alert the Navy about mounting concerns about the spread of COVid-19 on his ship. Apparently, the Trump administration thought it “looked bad” for Navy captains going public with unsafe situations. “We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die. If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset: our Sailors,” Crozier wrote in a memo that three US defense officials confirmed to CNN. Video footage of Crozier being cheered by his crew as he left the Roosevelt went viral. Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly (above) then traveled to Guam where the ship was docked on Monday to address the crew. During his speech, he called Crozier “too naive or too stupid” to be in charge. Hours later, he was ordered by Defense Secretary Mark Esper to apologize. It would seem that wasn’t enough to stop the bad press, as Modly has now submitted his resignation for the dumb AF remarks. From CNN:

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly resigned on Tuesday, a day after leaked audio revealed he called the ousted commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt “stupid” in an address to the ship’s crew, according to a US official and a former senior military official.

On Monday, Modly told the crew of the Roosevelt that their former commander, Capt. Brett Crozier, was either “too naive or too stupid” to be in command or that he intentionally leaked a memo to the media, in which Crozier warned about coronavirus spreading aboard the aircraft carrier and urged action to save his sailors, according to remarks obtained by CNN.

According to Peter Baker of the NY Times, “After excoriating Crozier, Modly did not tour the ship, saw few of the crew and was gone in less than 30 minutes. Questions solicited for him were screened but he did not answer a single one.” As of today, 230 sailors aboard the Roosevelt have tested positive for coronavirus. Undersecretary of the Army James McPherson, a retired rear admiral and former judge advocate general of the Navy, has been named as Modly’s successor.

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Having Held Zero Press Briefings, White House Press Secretary Exits After 8 Months

L-R Kayleigh McEnany, Trish Regan
After eight months as White House press secretary, Stephanie Grisham is exiting the post during which she held no regular press briefings traditionally associated with the job. Trump campaign spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany will replace Grisham as press secretary, and Grisham will toddle back to First Lady Melania Trump’s staff as chief of staff and spokesperson. McEnany, a longtime true Trumper, comes with her own baggage to the position. For instance, she recently insisted Trump would stop the coronavirus before it impacted Americans. During an appearance in late February with (now-departed) Fox Business host Trish Regan, McEnany said, “This president will always put America first, he will always protect American citizens. We will not see diseases like the coronavirus come here, we will not see terrorism come here.” She added, “And isn’t that refreshing when contrasting it with the awful presidency of President Obama?” Since making that statement over 383,000 Americans have tested positive for COVID-19.

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Podcast: Blood Donations, Anti-LGBTQ Hate Groups, A Virtual Pride Celebration

The Randy Report podcast

The Randy Report podcast delivers the week's top stories in a quick, convenient podcast - 'the 60 Minutes of gay news - only shorter' In this week’s podcast: • The FDA issues new guidelines regarding gay and bisexual men donating blood • A new report shows anti-LGBTQ hate groups are on the rise in the U.S. • Get ready to live-stream a global Pride celebration this June • Sean Hayes reflects on saying goodbye to Will & Grace a second time All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report

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New York Sees First Decline In Daily COVID-19 Deaths

The state of New York reported its first decline in daily coronavirus deaths possibly signaling better days on the horizon. From Bloomberg News:

New York State reported 594 new coronavirus deaths on Sunday, fewer than the 630 it reported on Saturday, Governor Andrew Cuomo said at his daily news briefing. The state has had 4,159 fatalities so far.

New Jersey, which has the second-highest number of U.S. cases, reported a slowdown in the death rate: Fatalities rose by 71 on Sunday, compared with 200 the day before. It also reported fewer new cases, 3,381, for a total of 37,505. Total deaths are 917.

As President Donald Trump and other leaders warned of rising death tolls, Cuomo said it was too early to say if the outbreak had reached a peak in New York — the center of the nation’s outbreak.

“You could argue that you are seeing a plateauing,” he told reporters in Albany. “Next week they will tell you whether we are on a plateau or is it just a blip,” he said, referring to statisticians.

Additional encouraging signs: New hospitalizations declined to 574 on Sunday from 1,095, and 74% of those hospitalized have been discharged.

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Jake Tapper To Trump: ‘This Isn’t About Winning A News Cycle’

CNN’s Jake Tapper addressed Donald Trump directly today on-air asking questions many Americans – like myself – would like answered.

“If I can take a moment, I would like to speak directly to one person known to watch this show, or at least clips of this show, President Trump.

“Mr. President, I know you, like millions of Americans, are eager to have the nation go back to some semblance of normal. One of the questions the American people need answered for that to happen responsibly: What’s the plan?

“Is there a plan for widespread testing of every American so as to isolate the virus — the way other countries have done? When will there be enough tests for that to happen? How will they be administered? Who will pay for the tests and the results? Who will notify us as to whether we’ve tested positive or not and what to do then?

[snip]

“This isn’t about winning a news cycle on Fox, please. The American people right now need someone to explain what is going to be done to get us out of this. It’s a moment that requires leadership. It requires honest information. It requires empathy. And it requires a plan. Do you have one?”

Sadly, I think we know the answers to those questions.

(h/t JoeMyGod)

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CDC Now Recommends Public Wear Face Masks

Donald Trump announced Friday that the CDC is recommending that the public wear a “basic cloth or fabric mask” in public to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. In making the announcement, the White House underscored the recommendation was not for the use of “medical-grade or surgical-grade masks.” However, at the Coronavirus Task Force briefing, Trump told the press, “I don’t think I’m going to be doing it.” Surgeon General Jerome Adams explained that there are a significant portion of people infected by the virus who are asymptomatic or presymptomatic, but who can nonetheless transmit the virus. The recommendation to wear masks in public is intended to prevent these individuals from unknowingly infecting others.

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Trump Goes On Attack After Question About Jared Kushner’s “Our Stockpile” Comment

On Thursday, Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner (you know, the one solving the Middle East conflict) made a perplexing remark about the stockpile of medical equipment housed by the federal government. “The notion of the federal stockpile was it’s supposed to be our stockpile,” Kushner said. “It’s not supposed to be state stockpiles that they then use.” Folks were confused as to what differentiates the federal “our” stockpile from what would/should be used by states. It almost sounded like Kushner was saying the stockpile was for the Trump clan or the Trump administration to do with it as they wished. The federal government IS the United States of America. It exists primarily to keep the citizens of all states and U.S. territories safe. If the stockpile isn’t meant for states to use, then who would be using it? And why is anyone at this point in time even using the word “OUR” in regard to anything? Then on Friday (via CBS News):

When CBS News White House correspondent Weijia Jiang pressed the president on what Kushner meant by “our,” he dismissed the question as a “gotcha.”

“‘Our, our’ — it means the United States of America,” the president said.

Mr. Trump said the stockpile is needed for the “federal government,” to keep for the country “because the federal government needs it, too, not just the states.”

The president accused Jiang of using a “nasty” tone in her question.

Governors have implored the president to provide them more ventilators and other much-needed equipment, but the president has repeatedly put the blame on the states for not stocking up on the equipment themselves.

Basically, Kushner misspoke. And in the Trump administration handbook, rather than say, “He misspoke,” everyone has to act like the response was “perfect” and they are stuck defending a stupid comment.

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The Daily Show: Supercut Of Fox News’ COVID-19 Coverage

Remember when COVID-19 was declared a “Democratic hoax” by Donald Trump? Remember when all of Fox News fell over itself to announce we had practically “nothing to fear” from the virus? Pete Hegseth on Fox & Friends: “The more I learn about coronavirus, the less concerned I am.” Man, how I’d love to hear what they think about their dumb AF comments today. But, come to think of it, they probably still believe them. From The Daily Show with Trevor Noah:

Hannity. Rush. Dobbs. Ingraham. Pirro. Nunes. Tammy. Geraldo. Doocy. Hegseth. Schlapp. Siegel. Watters. Dr. Drew. Henry. Ainsley. Gaetz. Inhofe. Pence. Kudlow. Conway. Trump.

Today, we salute the Heroes of the Pandumbic.

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Hobby Lobby Closes All Stores Furloughing Employees Without Pay

Business Insider reports that Hobby Lobby will now close all stores nationwide after defying state lockdown orders relating to the ongoing coronavirus threat. Most employees will be furloughed without pay. The owner of Hobby Lobby, David Green, is worth an estimated $6.2 billion. So, you can see how he couldn’t possibly afford to pay his employees, right?

In a statement posted on the company website on Friday afternoon, Hobby Lobby announced it will furlough “nearly all store employees” without pay and “is ending emergency leave pay and suspending use of company provided paid time off benefits and vacation.”

“As the country continues efforts to manage and mitigate the devastating health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 virus, Hobby Lobby will, after careful consideration, close the remainder of its stores, and furlough nearly all store employees and a large portion of corporate and distribution employees, effective Friday, April 3rd, at 8:00 p.m,” Hobby Lobby posted on its website. “The stores will remain closed until further notice.”

According to three employees, each speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, managers at their stores called teams into a meeting to deliver the news on Friday afternoon.

“The line our manager gave us was, ‘The employees got what the employees wanted, the stores were closed,'” a Hobby Lobby employee in Indiana said. “My question was did God tell them they needed to closed the stores and not pay us?” ‘

On March 19, Green sent his employees a letter citing God as his justification for keeping his stores open. He wrote that his wife Barbara received a message directly from God about coping with the health crisis. God didn’t mention anything about paid sick leave, I guess…