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TODAY'S HEADLINES:

Donald Trump says maybe one or two hundred thousand Americans will die from COVID-19 in the weeks ahead. And for this, you should thank him.

Meanwhile, New York institutions are struggling to cope with pandemic casualties, and those yet to come. Elsewhere, corporations are imposing censorship on front-line workers.

And lastly, a Trump ally in Europe seizes absolute power with the blessing of a captive opposition. But will neighboring countries go along with the fascist power grab in Hungary?

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

The US government expects up to a quarter million will die of COVID-19 in the weeks and months ahead – and that’s the goal. Depending on what states and cities do, the death toll could rise into the millions. This is according to the federal government, which under Trump has all but completely abrogated its responsibility to coordinate a pandemic response.

In another briefing yesterday evening with Vice President Mike Pence and public health officials, Trump tried to portray himself as the last reasonable Republican. He now says coronavirus is a grave threat, and he alone has been pushing for concerted action. But one month ago he was calling the pandemic a Democratic hoax – fake news. A week ago he was saying he wanted to have this whole thing wrapped and people going back to work by Easter. Now he says he expects hundreds of thousands to perish, and more if they don’t do what he says. So it’s a safe bet that the official casualty counts will rise further.

In reality, Trump is still denying aid to states based on how nice their governors play with his insane demands. Florida, and its Trump-friendly governor, Ron DeSantis, reportedly received one-hundred percent of its first two requests for federal aid. DeSantis has still failed to announce a stay-home order. State officials from around the country reported disastrous interactions with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies run by

Trump appointees. By Trump’s own admission, politics and his own whim influence who gets aid. But states also reported chaos and general disarray. For instance, North Carolina requestsed five hundred thousand medical coveralls and recieved just over three hundred. Oklahoma asked for sixteen thousand face shields and for some reason was sent one- hundred and twenty thousand. New York wants thirty thousand ventilators and got fewer than five thousand. Governor Andrew Cuomo compared the process of states acquiring emergency medical gear to bidding against each other on eBay. And, he said, FEMA is outbidding states on the private market. Massachussetts Senator Elizabeth Warren confirmed her state is having the same problem and called the federal actions inexplicable and unacceptable. Last night, Trump himself said he decided some states don’t need as much medical equipment as they say they do. Also yesterday, the White House decided not to re- open Obamacare enrollment to millions of uninsured Americans during the pandemic. So when the new official death estimates turn out to be far too low, everyone should know who to blame: Trump, and every one of his supporters.

STORY TWO

There’s more grim news from New York, especially Rikers Island – which may have one of the highest concentration of COVID-19 cases in the world. The Intercept reported that city officials are offering inmates $6 an hour to dig mass graves for victims of the pandemic. Elsewhere around the city, residents reported freezer trucks parked near hospitals taking and storing bodies until they can be taken away to funerary rites. Similar scenes will no doubt be coming to other parts of the country soon.

The Pentagon ordered commanders of military bases to stop reporting coronavirus case numbers. The captain of a nuclear aircraft carrier, the Theodore Roosevelt, docked in Guam, sent a letter to superiors in Washington begging for assistance, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Coronavirus has been spreading among the crew of four thousand sailors, and the outbreak is worsening as the government has failed to provide quarantine facilities on shore. Captain Brett Crozier wrote QUOTE We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die ENDQUOTE. Yesterday Trump’s Defense Secretary, Mark Esper, said he had not read the letter.

Hospitals around the United States are threatening to fire doctors, nurses, and other front-line workers who speak up about their working conditions and what they are witnessing during the pandemic. Some who’ve shared their stories on social media or with news reporters have already faced reprisals, others say they are being warned by management on a daily basis not to tell the truth. And people are still complaining about China’s authoritarian response!

STORY THREE

One day after the fascist Hungarian Prime Minister and Trump ally Viktor Orban seized total dictatorial power under the guise of an emergency decree, there were stirrings of discontent in European institutions. Luxemboug representatives said Hungary needed to be, in their words, politically quarantined from European Union meetings. But it is unclear whether the EU as a body will take any formal action against Hungary. The new dictatorship is also a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a mutual defense pact that includes the US – for now. Both NATO and the EU consider democratic governance and respect for human rights as an entrance requirement. We’ll see how that holds up.

On Monday, Hungary’s parliament passed a law giving Orban the right to rule by decree for the duration of an indefinite state of emergency, already declared in response to coronavirus earlier last month. The law allows the new fascist dictator to put people in prison for up to five years for spreading what they deem to be fake news. And for encouraging people to ignore curfews, Orban’s flunkies may impose prison terms of eight years. The groundwork for this power grab was laid years ago, with dissidents attacked and independent media organizations suppressed. When the vote was taken this week, even the so-called opposition parties supported the imposition of dictatorship. Whatever this is, let’s hope it isn’t contagious.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

Vermont Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders yesterday demanded answers from Trump’s Postmaster General, Megan Brennan, over reports of dangerous conditions for postal workers during the pandemic. Another report indicated that the US Postal Service could run out of cash and cease operations by June without federal action. Sanders is scheduled to appear on ABC’s The View today, but who knows what they’ll talk about.

Former employees of the Mike Bloomberg for President campaign told reporters their final paychecks came yesterday and had been docked by as much as $800. The reason? The campaign the deductions went to cover taxes on company-issued laptops and smartphones. More inspiring leadership from the billionaire former Republican mayor of New York City.

Last week, Trump pal, the South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsay Graham, threatened to sink a stimulus bill because he didn’t want workers to get unemployment benefits. Yesterday it emerged that the interfered in a State Department funding bill to ensure that Egypt was not held accountable for the medical bills of April Corley, an American tourist critically wounded by a military helicopter that strafed her bus by mistake. The US had sold the helicopter to Egypt. Graham’s office said he wants to preserve that relationship.

Exerpts are hitting the news from a new book by one of the lawyers in a twelve-year legal battle against the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. The laywer, Brad Edwards, represented one of Epstein’s many victims, and his book contains new details about the career criminal’s associates with Trump, Bill Clinton, and others. Most intriguing: when Epstein in jail in Florida, he sent his Russian bodyguard to a week-long training course at Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Virginia. Probably just normal stuff!

That’s all for the AM Quickie. Join us this afternoon on the Majority Report.

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