In Case You Haven't Noticed Yet, Trump Is Now Directly And Viciously Attacking Dr. Fauci; It Was Inevitable

USA Today reported that the news that the creepy Orange Menace will hold a rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, this Saturday "has raised concerns among some local medical experts about what his visit will do to the relatively low COVID-19 numbers in the area. Compared to other states, like Florida and Texas, the Northeast seems to be managing the pandemic fairly well. Some fear a large, crowded rally will reverse that positive trend. New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu urged residents to wear masks and practice social distancing at the outdoor rally. 'It is imperative that folks attending the rally wear masks,' he said." Sununu also told the media that though he's "going to go and greet the President as the governor, I will not be in the crowd of thousands of people, I'm not going to put myself in the middle of a crowd of thousands of people, if that's your question specifically. I try to-- unfortunately, you know, I have to be extra cautious as the governor, I try to be extra cautious for myself, my family." Sununu may well lose his reelection bid because of his strange refusal to mandate masks.

The progressive Democrat challenging Sununu this cycle, Andru Volinsky, was terse and to the point regarding the rally he obviously isn't attending. "I am calling on Gov. Sununu to publicly state that Donald Trump is not welcome in New Hampshire. The public health risks are far too great to use New Hampshire for a photo op."

In his NY Times column published around the same time Sununu was making an ass out of himself, David Leonhardt noted that "There is no country in the world where confirmed coronavirus cases are growing as rapidly as they are in Arizona, Florida or South Carolina. The Sun Belt has become the global virus capital. The only countries with outbreaks as severe as those across the Sunbelt are Bahrain, Oman and Qatar-- three Middle Eastern countries with large numbers of low-wage migrant workers who are not citizens. These workers often live in cramped quarters, with subpar social services, and many have contracted the virus."

These are Tuesday's and Wednesday's numbers conparing Sun Belt states' two one day increases of confirmed cases with the the 10 European countries experiencing the most severe spikes right now.

• Texas +9,414 ---> 10,199
• California +8,631 ---> 8,561
• Florida +7,347 ---> 9,989
• Arizona +3,653 ---> 3,520
• Georgia +3,406 ---> 3,420
• Louisiana +1,936 ---> 1,888
• North Carolina +1,748 ---> 1,028
• Tennessee +1,359 ---> 2,472
• Missouri +1,135 ---> 755
• South Carolina +972 ---> 1,557
• Mississippi +957 ---> 674
• Alabama +907 ---> 1,177
• Nevada +876 ---> 516
• Oklahoma +858 ---> 673
• U.K. +581 ---> 630
• Ukraine +564 ---> 807
• France +475 ---> 663
• Romania +397 ---> 555
• Spain +341 ---> 383
• Serbia +299 ---> 357
• Germany +298 ---> 410
• Portugal +287 ---> 443
• Poland +257 ---> 277
• Moldova +235 ---> 330

Trump lied (again) on Twitter, claiming, absurdly, that coronavirus deaths are "down tenfold." Someone in the White House forced the ignorant pig to delete the tweet. Trump also went on the attack against Dr. Fauci, belittling him and his assessment of the battle against the pandemic. Señor Trumpanzee to Greta Van Susteren: "Well, I think we are in a good place. I disagree with him. Dr. Fauci said don't wear masks and now he says wear them. And he said numerous things. Don't close off China. Don't ban China. I did it anyway. I didn't listen to my experts and I banned China. We would have been in much worse shape. We've done a good job. I think we are going to be in two, three, four weeks, by the time we next speak, I think we're going to be in very good shape."

Fauci on Monday had specifically pointed to "a series of circumstances associated with various states and cities trying to open up" too early as a key factor in the virus's surge and emphasized the US "should use the public health effort as a vehicle and a pathway to get to safe reopening."

"So we've got to make sure that we don't create this binary type thing of 'it's us against them,' " he said of public health efforts and the US economy.

"It's not. We're all in it together."

Trump conceded Tuesday that there are spikes in the virus in "some areas that looked like we were going to escape, that they were going to escape, and all of a sudden it became hot."

"But I think you're going to see with all of the things that we're doing, and with all of the therapeutics that are coming out, and then ultimately the vaccine, we're going to be in very good shape very soon," he claimed.

Fauci's assessment built on the stark warning he had issued to lawmakers on Capitol Hill last week, telling them he wouldn't be surprised if the US sees new cases of coronavirus rising to a level of 100,000 a day.

"We are now having 40-plus-thousand new cases a day. I would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around, and so I am very concerned," Fauci told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

He specifically expressed dismay over people congregating in crowds and not wearing masks and inadequate attention being paid to guidelines on reopening.

"We're going to continue to be in a lot of trouble," he said. "And there's going to be a lot of hurt if that does not stop."

Blue America's First June Endorsement-- Andru Volinsky For Governor

Blue America hasn't endorsed many candidates for governor this year. Governors, like senators, tend to be a little too establishment, a little too conservative-- and not leaders so much as managers. We just added a third-- Andru Volinsky of New Hampshire-- to our short list. This is for a late primary, September 8, in which Andru is being opposed by a establishment conservative Dan Feltes, a weak, tepid, dishonest and utterly useless minority leader of the state Senate. The winner will face off against GOP incumbent Chris Sununu. Bernie hasn't endorsed many candidates for governor either, but Volinksky was a sure bet for him too.

“Real change comes from the bottom up, not the top down,” Sanders said in the news release announcing the endorsement. “This is why we need candidates who champion the people and the issues at every level, in every state.”

Calling Volinsky a “progressive beacon in New Hampshire,” the news release cites his work as an attorney advocating for more equitable school funding and efforts on public-sector pensions and health care premiums.

"It is my honor and privilege to be endorsed by the next president of the United States, Bernie Sanders," Volinsky said in a statement emailed Thursday morning. "I endorsed Bernie Sanders for president twice because he’s been fighting for decades against the corrupting influence of money in politics, for robust public education funding, commuter rail, climate action, healthcare access, and addressing income inequality."

I was impressed at the way Volinsky has been taking on Sununu already, by, for example, calling for masks to be required by businesses for customers and employees, something Sununu refuses to do. Unlike the weak-knee-ed and complacent Feltes, Volinsky has been fearless when it comes to taking on Sununu, who he referred to as a "fake" and a "coward" for his power grab in spending COVID federal funds.

Governor Veto has blocked 57 bills passed by the legislature, many of them bipartisan, 4 times as many as any other governor, including renewable energy/net metering, campaign finance reform, independent redistricting, raising the minimum wage, paid family leave... Feltes is still too scared to take him on directly. Volinsky can beat this guy; Feitis doesn't have any chance at all in November.

New Hampshire has towns now with no science teachers, even no elementary schools, because of their wack ass tax system that relies exclusively on property taxes. There is no income tax and there are no sales taxes. If you ask me, Andru is running for governor primarily because he sued the state in 1997 in what was known  as the landmark "Claremont decision" which said the state has a broken taxation and funding system that shortchanges children who live in property-poor towns. Since that time,  governors of both parties have refused to reform the taxation system, agreeing with what's known in New Hampshire as "The Pledge" meaning you will NEVER consider a broadbased tax-- neither income nor sales. Any Democrat who doesn't take "The Pledge" scares the hell out of the establishment which assumes it's a political loser. Feltes, of course, eagerly took The Pledge. Andru Volinsky is even prouder to have not and it is a quality Blue America ultimately judges progressive candidates on: political courageousness. I asked André to address it when introducing himself. Please read on and then consider contributing to his campaign by clicking on the Blue America 2020 gubernatorial thermometer above.


I'll Bring Progressive, Principled Leadership to NH
-by Andru Volinsky





The COVID-19 pandemic has created waves of fear and uncertainty across New Hampshire. It’s also exposed just how important governors are. Too often, progressives have overlooked the importance of State Houses. With redistricting just around the corner, New Hampshire offers the best opportunity for Democrats to win back a state house. Governors make life or death decisions and they are the best bulwark to stand up against President Trump. The current governor of New Hampshire, Chris Sununu, is part of a political dynasty. His father was governor and President George H.W. Bush’s chief of staff, a position he used to single-handedly stall progress on climate change. His brother was a senator while another brother works at a climate denial think tank. And Sununu has his sights set on a U.S. Senate seat in 2022 challenging Senator Maggie Hassan. Progressives must do everything we can to stop him now.

As the only candidate for governor endorsed by Bernie Sanders so far in 2020, I believe the only way we win this race is by having the courage to lead. I went to a struggling high school in Levittown, Pennsylvania, a town where the mill failed. I watched my father work as a mechanic and maintenance man. I am still the only person in my family to attend college, which I did on scholarship and by working as a carpenter. I became a lawyer and worked against the death penalty because I wanted to make a difference and fight for justice.

I became the lead lawyer in the Claremont School Funding Case, which in 1997 established a constitutional right to an adequate state-funded public education for every child in New Hampshire. Because our state has no sales or income tax, we rely solely on ever crushing property taxes to fund education. Because too many state leaders live in fear of reforming our broken revenue system, the state isn’t living up to its responsibilities. And we’re passing down more fear to the next generation, which already has the deck stacked against them. In Berlin, a struggling town in the North Country, I met a 4th grader named Aurora who wants to be a doctor. She’s already behind her peers who live in districts funded by property-rich ski hill mansions because Berlin has no chemistry teachers. I won’t take what’s known in New Hampshire as “The Pledge” to never change our revenue system, because we need an honest conversation about our tax structure, which will never change as long as we lack the courage to challenge the conventional wisdom both parties adhere to.

Here’s another place we need more courage: the corrupting influence of money in politics. Too many politicians, Republican and Democratic alike, fear losing re-election if they don’t sell out to the highest bidder. They exploit the LLC loophole that here in New Hampshire, allows wealthy individuals to contribute more than the individual limit through multiple limited liability companies. I’m running my campaign in a different way: tearing up corporate checks from companies trying to buy my vote. I’ve never had to return corporate or LLC checks from this campaign, because I’ve refused them in the first place. I’m the only candidate to specifically take the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge and sadly the only candidate who opposes dangerous fracked-gas pipelines like the controversial Granite Bridge pipeline. For my stance against pipelines, I earned the Sierra Club’s endorsement.

Governor Sununu has halted all progress in the state on important issues such as raising our woeful $7.25 minimum wage, on campaign finance reform, independent redistricting, and renewable energy. His 57 vetoes this past term were a record for a governor. I’ve worked tirelessly to hold him accountable in my role on the Executive Council, which serves as a New Hampshire board of directors. We approve state contracts over $10,000, approve or deny nominees to state department heads and judges, and start the state’s 10-year transportation plan. I’ve vetoed Sununu’s unqualified nominees to environmental posts who had no plan for addressing climate change (Peter Kujawski), and who claimed fracking was environmentally safe (Michael Vose). I’ve kept Attorney General Gordon MacDonald, who had no experience as a judge and a 30-year documented history of antagonism toward reproductive rights, from being New Hampshire’s Chief Justice for our Supreme Court. And where I’ve been unable to veto Frank Edelblut, our equivalent of Betsy DeVos who is in charge of education, I’ve been able to deny him a raise and keep him from using grants to open new charter schools at the expense of our already-struggling public schools.

Here’s the truth: New Hampshire can raise its embarrassingly low $7.25 minimum wage to at least $15 an hour. New Hampshire can be a leader in ushering in new jobs in solar and wind, and retraining fossil fuel workers- i.e. the Green New Deal. New Hampshire can make healthcare more affordable, make voting by mail accessible to all, and become a place that retains young people. It’s time for political courage: it’s the only way we’ll beat Sununu and stop his rise. Bernie won New Hampshire twice by sticking to his vision and I know with your help and support, we can elect a progressive governor here.