Puppet MastersS


Attention

Best of the Web: President Trump and first lady test 'positive' for The Covid - UPDATES

Zeke Miller and Jill Colvin
Associated Press
Fri, 02 Oct 2020 05:40 UTC

Comment: Whatever is going on here, the timing - weeks before Trump's likely re-election - is strange...


Donald Melania Trump
© AP Photo/Julio CortezPresident Donald Trump stands on stage with first lady Melania Trump after the first presidential debate with Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020, at Case Western University and Cleveland Clinic, in Cleveland, Ohio.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus, the president tweeted early Friday.

Trump's positive test comes just hours after the White House announced that senior aide Hope Hicks came down with the virus after traveling with the president several times this week. Trump was last seen by reporters returning to the White House on Thursday evening and looked to be in good health. Trump is 74 years old, putting him at higher risk of serious complications from a virus that has now killed more than 200,000 people nationwide.

"Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!" Trump tweeted.


Trump announced late Thursday that he and first lady Melania Trump were beginning a "quarantine process" after Hicks came down with the virus, though it wasn't clear what that entailed. It can take days for an infection to be detectable by a test.

The diagnosis marks a major blow for a president who has been trying desperately to convince the American public that the worst of the pandemic is behind them even as cases continue to rise with four weeks before Election Day. And it stands as the most serious known public health scare encountered by any sitting American president in recent history.

Comment: Trump is reportedly experiencing 'mild' symptoms. Pence and his wife have tested negative, but RNC chair Ronna Romney McDaniel reportedly tested positive on Wednesday. Stocks slumped after the announcement about Trump.

Biden and Jill are reportedly 'praying' for Trump and Melania's health and safety - very presidential, very fake. Many are now worried that Trump gave Biden Covid during the debate:



Putin also wished the Trumps a swift recovery, saying: "I'm sure your vitality, strong spirit and optimism will help you beat this dangerous virus." The Sputnik V vaccine creators offered their vaccine to the White House staff.

UPDATE: Trump is reportedly fatigued but in good spirits, and has been treated with the "Regeneron polyclonal antibody cocktail and several supplements." Melania has a cough and a headache, but the rest of the family has tested negative. Trump will be flown to Walter Reed for a few days as a "precautionary measure." The campaign has shifted to "virtual mode" while Pence has assumed more White House duties.

Rachel Maddow had the decency to pray for the President and First Lady, only to be blasted by her audience.

Pelosi discussed continuity of government plans and discussion with the military on MSNBC:


Biden tested negative today, for what it's worth.

UPDATE: Now at Walter Reed, Trump is "doing very well", according to his doctor, but notes that the Covid hasn't yet entered the inflammatory phase (assuming Trump even becomes symptomatic). He says Trump hasn't needed supplemental oxygen, and has started a course of Remdesivir antiviral therapy.

Senators Thom Tillis and Mike Lee, along with Kellyanne Conway, are the latest to have tested positive. (So far no one seems to be showing any actual symptoms besides a mild cough, unsurprisingly.) Also Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien.

Also unsurprisingly, Democrats are happy to see Trump get Covid, according to a new poll. It's more than that, of course. For example (more at the linked article):


Twitter says it will remove posts calling for the death of Trump. (So far, many of the examples linked to above are still up, however. For another large collection of such tweets, go here.)

Update: Trump's doctor has had to clarify his clarification of the time of Trump's test, and whether or not he has needed oxygen: "The president was first diagnosed with Covid-19 on the evening of Thursday, October 1st and had received Regeneron's antibody cocktail on Friday, October 2nd." While saying he hadn't needed oxygen today, he dodged the question of whether he had needed oxygen at any point. Trump's chief of staff had revealed that his condition was "very concerning". Oh, and Chris Christie (who helped Trump prepare for the debate) also has the Covid, and has checked himself into a hospital as a precaution.

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Attention

'What could go wrong?' Former FBI assistant director suggests bipartisan committee 'vet candidates' to prevent another Trump


RT
Thu, 01 Oct 2020 20:16 UTC
Trump rally
© Reuters/Lucas Jackson
Frank Figliuzzi, former FBI assistant director for counterintelligence, says a President Trump "can't happen again," so a "bipartisan committee," rather than voters, should "vet" and approve future candidates.

Figliuzzi, who worked under Robert Mueller at the FBI, made it clear during a Thursday appearance on MSNBC he buys into conspiracy theories about Donald Trump being influenced by the Russian government, calling him "the most vulnerable president in history."

Vaguely mentioning various business dealings the president had previously had with foreign companies, the current NBC News national security contributor said the US needs to have a "national discussion" to avoid another Trump.

"We've got to have a national discussion about how we vet a presidential candidate. We screwed this up," he said.

The NBC contributor suggests a "bipartisan committee" that would require tax returns and personal financial information to be handed over before a candidate can be approved. "We got this wrong, and this can't happen again," he said of Trump.


Comment: If Trump was the 'most vulnerable' he wouldn't still be Prez! If he truly is, then he is assuredly the most 'clean' of recent occupiers of the Oval Office. Tax returns remain the standing assault. Everything else thrown at Trump by the Democratic party has melted into a puddle. Their feet? Soaking wet last time we checked!

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Arrow Down

Biden & Dems slammed as hypocrites for resuming in-person canvassing despite criticizing Trump for doing so during Covid-19


RT
Fri, 02 Oct 2020 00:39 UTC
Biden supporters
© Reuters/Mike Segar
Joe Biden's campaign is facing criticism for now focusing on in-person canvassing after spending months avoiding it and criticizing Donald Trump's campaign for holding events during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Biden campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon said Thursday:
"We're now expanding on our strategy in a targeted way that puts the safety of communities first and foremost and helps us mobilize voters who are harder to reach by phone now that we're in the final stretch."
The strategy will focus on multiple swing states with several hundred volunteers canvassing in states like Nevada, Michigan, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania.

She is one of many Biden campaign and Democrat Party officials whose past comments are now revealing a 'flip-flop' of sorts on the issue of in-person campaigning in 2020, which the Trump campaign has been doing for months.

Comment: Hypocritters! We should expect logic and equality in an otherwise controversial, contested and nasty presidential campaign? Dream on!

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Bullseye

Best of the Web: Meet the Biden-supporting general deploying military grade information warfare tools against Trump supporters


Revolver News
Thu, 01 Oct 2020 00:00 UTC
McCrystal
© UnknownGeneral Stanley McChrystal
General Stanley McChrystal delighted the left and the war-loving neoconservatives today by joining his name to the ranks of military-industrial complex "national security" professionals supporting Joe Biden.

This development should not be surprising. While Trump enjoys overwhelming support from the military rank and file, the brass has been largely corrupted for some time. As the President himself pointed out, many of the generals and national security bigwigs have their fortunes tied to the continuation of precisely the never-ending war policies that Trump successfully ran against in 2016.
General Stanley McChrystal is a certified military brass swamp creature deep in the bowels of the military-industrial complex. His specific business ventures are disturbing, even by swamp standards. According to a Fox News report, General McChrystal was involved in a venture that aimed to redeploy information warfare tools-originally designed to combat ISIS-against Trump supporters. From Fox News:

Comment: A McChrystal conspiracy in the offing...? Rolling Stone magazine called McChrystal "The Runaway General" and others deem him a psychopath.

See also:

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Beaker

Blame Kadyrov? Chechen boss asks Navalny why he wasn't accused of poisoning, instead of 'ridiculous' accusations against Putin

Johnny Tickle
RT
Sat, 03 Oct 2020 15:26 UTC
Kadyrov
© Reuters/SputnikHead of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov
Head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov has told opposition figure Alexey Navalny to blame him for his alleged poisoning, claiming that it is "more convincing and plausible" than the accusation thrown at Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Writing on Telegram, Kadyrov accused Navalny of blaming Putin "without any evidence." The opposition figure told German magazine Der Spiegel that he believes Putin organized the alleged Novichok attack, saying that he has "no other explanation for what happened." According to Kadyrov, this accusation is "ridiculous."
"Thanks to Putin, there's a tolerant attitude toward the opposition in the country...If there were an eccentric head of state, all the radical opposition scum would have been thrown out of the country long ago with far-fetched excuses."
According to Kadyrov, Navalny is:
"a toy in the hands of those who want the collapse of Russia. Why didn't you name me, Kadyrov, as the culprit or the customer [of the poisoning], to make it more convincing and plausible? At least it wouldn't look as ridiculous."
Following the opposition figure's interview with Der Spiegel, Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin called him a "shameless scoundrel," declaring that Putin had saved his life.

Comment: See also:

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Snakes in Suits

Facebook, Twitter, Google CEOs will testify before U.S. Senate committee

David Shepardson, Nandita Bose
Reuters
Fri, 02 Oct 2020 07:09 UTC
Twitter/Facebook/Google
© Twitter/Facebook/Google/KJN
The chief executives of Facebook, Twitter and Alphabet-owned Google have agreed to voluntarily testify at a hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee on Oct. 28 about a key law protecting internet companies.

Facebook and Twitter confirmed on Friday that their CEOs, Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey, respectively, will appear, while a source said that Google's Sundar Pichai will appear. That came a day after the committee unanimously voted to approve a plan to subpoena the three CEOs to appear before the panel.

Twitter's Dorsey tweeted on Friday that the hearing "must be constructive & focused on what matters most to the American people: how we work together to protect elections."

The CEOs are to appear virtually.

In addition to discussions on reforming the law called Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects internet companies from liability over content posted by users, the hearing will bring up issues about consumer privacy and media consolidation.

Republican President Donald Trump has made holding tech companies accountable for allegedly stifling conservative voices a theme of his administration. As a result, calls for a reform of Section 230 have been intensifying ahead of the Nov. 3 elections, but there is little chance of approval by Congress this year.

Comment: See also:

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Handcuffs

Arrest of Hamas co-founder by Israeli security forces denounced as attempt to undermine Palestinian reconciliation


RT
Fri, 02 Oct 2020 17:40 UTC
Sheikh Hassan Youssef
© AFP/Abbas MomaniSheikh Hassan Youssef
Israeli security forces have arrested senior Hamas leader Hassan Youssef. The two rival Palestinian groups, Hamas and Fatah, have both condemned the move as being politically-charged and a bid to ruin their reconciliation talks.

Youssef was taken at his home in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Friday morning. While Israeli authorities have not provided any official information about the move, local media reported that the Hamas co-founder was detained over alleged "renewed" activity by the group.

After helping to found Hamas in the late 1980s, Youssef was repeatedly arrested by the Israeli authorities and spent years behind bars. Hamas has always maintained he was only involved in its political activities, and not associated with its military wing. His arrest was condemned by both Hamas and its rival, Fatah. Hamas claimed the arrest was a politically-motivated move, designed to destabilize the ongoing reconciliation process between the two groups.
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Star of David

Israeli tourism minister resigns to protest Netanyahu lockdown policies


Yahoo! News
Sat, 03 Oct 2020 17:46 UTC
Asaf Zamir Israel tourism minister
© Israel KnessetAsaf Zamir, Israel's Tourism Minister
Israel's tourism minister resigned from the fractious government Friday, saying he doesn't have an "ounce of trust" in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and accusing him of putting his personal and legal issues ahead of the response to the coronavirus crisis.

Asaf Zamir is a member of the centrist Blue and White Party, which battled Netanyahu's right-wing Likud in three stalemated elections in under a year before forming an emergency government with it in May to combat the pandemic.

Israel went into a second nationwide lockdown last month and is now grappling with one of the worst outbreaks in the world on a per capita basis. The emergency government has been roiled by infighting and has faced widespread criticism over its confusing and often contradictory response to the pandemic.

Comment: 'Pandemic' or no, the Palestinians continue to suffer:

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Ambulance

Ex-Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko hospitalized with Covid-19, diagnosed with 'bilateral pneumonia'

Jonny Tickle
RT
Sat, 03 Oct 2020 17:35 UTC
Poroshenko
Former Ukrainian President and current lawmaker Petro Poroshenko speaks during a rally in central Kyiv on December 8, 2019.
As Ukraine struggles with a surge in Covid-19 cases, ex-President Petro Poroshenko has been hospitalized with the virus, according to his wife Marina. One of their daughters has also been admitted to hospital for the same reason.

"Despite the fact that my husband has bilateral pneumonia, he has a strong will," Marina Poroshenko wrote on the Facebook page of the former head of state's political party, European Solidarity.

Petro Poroshenko, who ran the country from 2014 to 2019, was diagnosed with Covid-19 at the end of September, and his condition has since deteriorated. The 55-year-old ex president has diabetes, and therefore could be more vulnerable to the virus.

Comment: Ukraine's response to the virus has indeed been chaotic, a product of decades of corruption. Will Russia generously offer Ukraine their Sputnik vaccine?

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Yoda

John Pilger: Assange 'forced' those behind war crimes 'to look in the mirror,' now faces revenge


RT
Sat, 03 Oct 2020 17:07 UTC
john pilger interview assange RT
© RTJohn Pilger and 'Going Undground' host Afshin Rattansi
Assange exposed Western hypocrisy and discovered "too much truth," so his trial became a form of "revenge," journalist and filmmaker John Pilger told RT's Going Underground.

The main part of the extradition trial of Julian Assange came to a conclusion this week, and a decision is now expected to be announced in early January. Pilger, a long-time supporter of the WikiLeaks founder, closely monitored the proceedings, which were barely covered in the Western media despite the serious repercussions for journalism that a ruling to extradite Assange would entail.

Comment:

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