Since moving to Atlanta after his wife began working at the CDC I have been following GM Alonso Zapata’s exploits on the Chessboard and we have been communicating via email. After his dismal, and uncharacteristic performance (Although the highest rated player, Alonso finished in a tie for 7th place after managing to draw 6 games while losing 3) at the recent Summer 2021 CCCSA GM/IM Norm Invitational held July 28-Aug 1, 2021 at the Charlotte Chess Club & Scholastic Center (https://xpertchesslessons.wordpress.com/2021/08/03/the-charlotte-chess-center-scholastic-academy-summer-2021-cccsa-gm-im-norm-invitational-extravaganza/) I sent Alonso an email which was not answered until last night. I have chosen to publish some of the email because it answers the questions posed in the above aforementioned post, and because the more information the Chess world has on what is happening with the dreaded virus the better decisions those who decide (that made me think of George Dubya Bush and the time he said:
Bush the Decider
Dear Michael Bacon.
Thanks for your email.
Before, I want to mention that I participated in looking to improve my rating. I had already experienced a similar event before, and I did very well, gaining a considerable rating.
You are right; I played very poorly, even I did not understand how with so many positions with huge advantages, even very close to winning (as in the one you mention), I could not define. Michael, I didn’t answer you because I’ve been depressed these days. In the tournament, I felt lacking in energy and concentration. My chess didn’t flow, I slept little, and it affected my self-confidence.
Once the tournament was over, I returned home; after driving for about 4.5 hours, my symptoms became more noticeable: runny nose, cough, malaise, fever, discouragement. I thought it was an unpleasant flu; I was calm because I had the two Pfizer vaccines against Covid -19.
To not extend the story, after a couple of days without improving, I took the test, and it came out positive for Covid-19. I immediately called the Tournament Organizer in Charlotte, Grant Owen, to inform him, hoping that no one else had picked it up. To my peace of mind, there was no other sick player.
(Redacted)
Fortunately, I already feel recovered.
I want to add that competing with Coronavirus disease is a terrible nightmare!
My best wishes, Alonso Zapata
Of course I answered immediately, offering condolences and expressing sympathy, while being pleased he had recovered. Then after having watched some of the evening bluews, as I have come to think of it, I sat down to punch ‘n poke this into my daily log: News from Macon is a 4 year old boy is in hospital with Covid fighting for his life…Young woman died in a Baton Rouge hospital from Covid after delivering a 4 pound three ounce baby. She did not take the vaccine because those in charge had not yet given the OK for pregnant women to take the vaccine…Parents are marching in an attempt to get school boards to require masks be worn…This after the idiot Republican Governor of our state Brian Kemp
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp issued an executive order Thursday that bans cities from requiring businesses to enforce local restrictions aimed at curbing the coronavirus pandemic. Credit John Bazemore / AP Photo
He stands towering over me beside my bed Losing his head Tells me I must take him seriously Droning on the usual way He’s such a clever guy And I wonder should I laugh or cry
He’s (he’s) dressed (dressed) in the striped pajamas that I bought Trousers too short Gives (gives) me (me) of his small philosophy Carries on the way he does And me I get so tired And I wonder should I laugh or cry High and mighty his banner flies A fool’s pride in his eyes Standin’ there on his toes to grow in size (All I see is) All I see is a big balloon Halfway up to the moon He’s wrapped up in the warm and safe cocoon Of an eternal lie So should I laugh or cry
Strange (strange) how (how) dangerously indifferent I have grown Cold as a stone No (no) more (more) pain where there was pain before Far away he rambles on, I feel my throat go dry And I wonder should I laugh or cry
High and mighty his banner flies A fool’s pride in his eyes Standin’ there on his toes to grow in size (All I see is) All I see is a big balloon Halfway up to the moon He’s wrapped up in a warm and safe cocoon Of an eternal lie So should I laugh or cry
The state is about to find out how many people need to lose their lives to shore up the economy.
Amanda Mull
1:02 PM ET
A sign announces that Maui Beach Tanning Salon is reopened for business on April 24 in Marietta, Georgia. (Kevin C. Cox / Getty)
At first, Derek Canavaggio thought he would be able to ride out the coronavirus pandemic at home until things were safe. As a bar manager at the Globe in Athens, Georgia, Canavaggio hasn’t been allowed to work for weeks. Local officials in Athens issued Georgia’s first local shelter-in-place order on March 19, canceling the events that usually make spring a busy time for Athens bars and effectively eliminating the city’s rowdy downtown party district built around the University of Georgia. The state’s governor, Brian Kemp, followed in early April with a statewide shutdown.
But then the governor sent Canavaggio into what he calls “spreadsheet hell.” In an announcement last week, Kemp abruptly reversed course on the shutdown, ending many of his own restrictions on businesses and overruling those put in place by mayors throughout the state. On Friday, gyms, churches, hair and nail salons, and tattoo parlors were allowed to reopen, if the owners were willing. Yesterday, restaurants and movie theaters came back. The U-turn has left Georgians scrambling. Canavaggio has spent days crunching the numbers to figure out whether reopening his bar is worth the safety risk, or even feasible in the first place, given how persistent safety concerns could crater demand for a leisurely indoor happy hour. “We can’t figure out a way to make the numbers work to sustain business and pay rent and pay everybody to go back and risk their lives,” he told me. “If we tried to open on Monday, we’d be closed in two weeks, probably for good and with more debt on our hands.”
Kemp’s order shocked people across the country. For weeks, Americans have watched the coronavirus sweep from city to city, overwhelming hospitals, traumatizing health-care workers, and leaving tens of thousands of bodies in makeshift morgues. Georgia has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, and the state’s testing efforts have provided an incomplete look at how far the virus continues to spread. That testing capacity—which public-health leaders consider necessary for safely ending lockdowns—has lagged behind the nation’s for much of the past two months. Kemp’s move to reopen was condemned by scientists, high-ranking Republicans from his own state, and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms; it even drew a public rebuke from President Donald Trump, who had reportedly approved the measures before distancing himself from the governor amid the backlash.
A bench is taped off to ensure social distancing at a coffee shop in Woodstock, Georgia, on Monday, April 27. (Dustin Chambers / Bloomberg via Getty)
Public-health officials broadly agree that reopening businesses—especially those that require close physical contact—in places where the virus has already spread will kill people. Georgia’s brash reopening puts much of the state’s working class in an impossible bind: risk death at work, or risk ruining yourself financially at home. In the grips of a pandemic, the approach is a morbid experiment in just how far states can push their people. Georgians are now the largely unwilling canaries in an invisible coal mine, sent to find out just how many individuals need to lose their job or their life for a state to work through a plague.
Estimates vary as to how many businesses might actually reopen now, but none of the Georgians I talked with knew many people who intended to voluntarily head right back to work. That was true in Athens, which has long been one of the Deep South’s most progressive cities, as well as in Blackshear, a small town in the rural southeastern part of the state that tends toward conservatism. Kelly Girtz, the mayor of Athens, estimated that about 90 percent of the local business owners he had spoken with in the past week had no intention of reopening immediately. “Georgia’s plan simply is not that well designed,” Girtz says. “To call it a ‘plan’ might be overstating the case.”
Do you see a trend? Does it appear things in the Great state of Georgia are improving? If you flip the order it may be time to reopen. Obviously things are getting worse rather than improving. Only a stupid idiot would consider reopening the economy under these conditions. Georgia REPUBLICAN Governor Brian Kemp could care less about the number of Georgia citizens who will die because of his stupidity.
One would think that when the imbecile POTUS criticizes the risky, to say the least, move by the governor, Brian Kemp would have had second thoughts about opening for business too soon, but NOooooooo! The REPUBLICAN mantra of “Death for Dollars” is in full bloom in my home state.
Experts and the President criticize Kemp’s move
Health experts have criticized the move to reopen Georgia, saying it’s too soon and risks setting off another wave of infections. President Donald Trump at first applauded Kemp for his aggressive plan to restart the economy, a source told CNN, then publicly bashed him during news briefings.
“I told the governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp, that I disagree strongly with his decision to open certain facilities,” Trump said. “But, at the same time, he must do what he thinks is right.”
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp should be removed, by any means necessary, for malfeasance while in office. Georgia desperately needs a sane leader who cares more about We The People than one who obviously desires crap shooting for dollars.
Georgia’s Kemp neglected to warn people about his dangerous gamble
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s (R) decision to re-open businesses is tough to defend, but so too is the way in which the governor made it.
April 22, 2020, 2:59 PM EDT
By Steve Benen
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) announced new steps this week to re-open his state’s economy, inviting a series of businesses — including gyms, barber shops, tattoo parlors, movie theaters, and bowling alleys — to open their doors as early as tomorrow.
It was just last week when Donald Trump announced new White House guidelines, including benchmarks states should expect to reach before launching re-opening initiatives. Georgia has not yet cleared those federal benchmarks.
The Republican governor is proceeding anyway. It led Dana Milbank to note, “Whether you’re going to heaven or hell, the old joke goes, you’ll have to change planes in Atlanta. But Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is proposing to offer a new nonstop service to the Great Beyond: He has a bold plan to turn his state into the place to die.”
The decision is tough to defend, but so too is the way in which Kemp made it. We learned this week, for example, that the governor didn’t bother to connect with the mayor of his state’s largest city about his decision.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Bottoms said on Tuesday morning that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) hadn’t given her or other state leaders a heads-up when he announced he would let several businesses to resume operations.
Kemp didn’t inform his own coronavirus task force, either.
Key members of the coronavirus task force Gov. Brian Kemp tapped to shape the state’s pandemic strategy said they didn’t know about his decision to reopen some shuttered businesses until he announced it at a press conference. In interviews and public statements, a half-dozen members of the task force said they only learned about Kemp’s move to let barber shops, theaters and dine-in restaurants begin to resume operations after he made it public.
Even Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, from neighboring South Carolina, expressed concern publicly that Georgia is “going too fast too soon.” The senator added, “We respect Georgia’s right to determine its own fate, but we are all in this together. What happens in Georgia will impact us in South Carolina.”
Quite right. The virus is indifferent to state boundaries. If Georgia’s governor places a dangerous bet and loses, Georgians won’t be the only one feeling the adverse effects.
It led ABC News’ Jonathan Karl to ask Donald Trump about this yesterday, noting that there’s routine travel between states like South Carolina and Georgia, and the results of Brian Kemp’s recklessness won’t be limited to his own constituents.
The president replied that Kemp is “a very capable man” who “knows what he’s doing.” Trump added, “We’re going to find out.”
How reassuring.
For her part, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) appeared on MSNBC yesterday and urged city residents to “please stay home,” the governor’s policy notwithstanding. She added, “Follow the data, look at the science, listen to the health care professionals and use your common sense.”
Dear Gods you’re so divine in each and every way to you we pray,
Dear Gods we pledge our love to you forevermore,
We always felt we had a special bond,
Take us to the great beyond,
Where we’re sure nothing bad happens to food,
Once we’re out the sliding doors things will all be grand,
We will live our dreams together in the promised land,
The Gods control our fate so we all know we’re in good hands,
We’re super sure there’s nothing sh*tty waiting for us in the great beyond,
And every aisle thinks something different,
(Holy sh*t I’ve been chosen),
And to this we all agree,
(Booyah b**ches I’m outta here),
Everyone else is f**king stupid,
Except for those who think like me,
(And me, and me, and me),
Out there, for all eternity we’ll meditate how f**king great,
Out there, we’ll get to teabag every day at four,
(Pip, pip),
We’ll shove pementos up our ass by Zeus,
Ve’ll exterminate ze juice,
Und subjugate ze whole damned great beyond,
In here we keep our wieners in our packages that’s how it is,
It sucks but that’s the way our buns keep fresh and pure,
But once we’re out the doors it’s not a sin,
For us to let you slip it in,
In other words we finally get to f**k
(And love),
And f**k (And hug),
And f**k (And feel),
And f**k (And share),
The Gods will always care for us,
They won’t squeeze us out their butts,
We cannot overstate how confident we are that our beliefs are accurate,
And nothing awful happens to us in the great beyond
Georgia to allow some shuttered businesses to reopen amid pandemic
By Greg Bluestein
Gov. Brian Kemp
outlined plans Monday to allow some businesses shuttered amid the coronavirus pandemic to reopen by the end of the week, as he starts to ease restrictions that have ravaged the state’s economy to stem the spread of the disease.
The governor’s order will allow gyms, bowling alleys, salons and some other indoor facilities closed under his shelter in place order to resume operations by Friday if they comply with social distancing requirements and meet other safety standards.
And restaurants, which were banned from in-person dining, will be allowed to reopen on April 27 if they meet guidelines his office will release later this week. Theaters will also be covered by those new standards. Bars and nightclubs will stay shuttered.
“I don’t give a damn about politics now,” said Kemp, who said he’s more concerned about Georgians “going broke worried about whether they can feed their children and make the mortgage payment.”
The shelter in place, which is set to last through April 30, remains in effect, though Kemp urged the “medically fragile” to remain at home through May 13.
And the governor, who has wrestled with the idea of banning in-person religious services, said religious leaders can resume them if they adhere to the state’s safety policies.
“I am confident that together we will emerge victorious from this war we have been fighting,” he said.
He was met with immediate criticism from public health experts and others who worried his measures were too aggressive.
“If you open up enough it’s almost for certain” the virus will hit Georgia again, said Dr. Marc Lipsitch, a professor of epidemiology at Harvard’s T.D. Chan School of Public Health. “It’s just waiting for more susceptible people and more contacts. That’s how viruses work.”
Democrats also blasted his decision as short-sighted. Stacey Abrams,
Kemp’s 2018 opponent, called the approach “dangerously incompetent.” And state Rep. Bee Nguyen, D-Atlanta, urged Georgians to take caution.
“There’s no way I’m getting a haircut, or dining at a restaurant, even though I really want to,” she said. “This is not good. This is going to get more Georgians killed.”
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Wednesday announced a stay-at home order across Georgia to try to curb the spread of the coronavirus. During the announcement, Kemp also stated he just learned asymptomatic people could transmit the virus.
An incredulous Dr. Sanjay Gupta: “This is inexcusable. My kids, who go to school in Georgia, knew that a month ago.”
CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta discuss remarks by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp in which he claims he recently learned that the coronavirus can be spread by asymptomatic people.
Source: CNN
Gov. Admits He Didn’t Know Asymptomatic People Could Pass Virus | Morning Joe | MSNBC
Fact check: Georgia governor says we only just learned people without symptoms could spread coronavirus. Experts have been saying that for months
CNN Digital Expansion 2018
By Tara Subramaniam and Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN
Updated 3:18 PM ET, Thu April 2, 2020
Atlanta (CNN) Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said on Wednesday that new information on the spread of coronavirus influenced his decision to issue a stay-at-home order. In particular, Kemp pointed to what he said was the recent discovery that the virus can be spread by people who are not exhibiting symptoms.
“What we’ve been telling people from directives from the CDC for weeks now that if you start feeling bad stay home, those individuals could have been infecting people before they ever felt bad. But we didn’t know that until the last 24 hours,” said Kemp, a Republican.
Facts First: It’s not true that people didn’t know “until the last 24 hours” that individuals without symptoms could be infecting people with coronavirus. Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, said in mid-February that asymptomatic transmission of coronavirus was possible. Furthermore, studies from as early as January showed cases of coronavirus spreading amongst people with no symptoms.
Kemp’s press secretary said the governor was referring to an update that the CDC made to its guidance on March 30 that indicated there’s a higher risk of people without symptoms passing on the virus. The updated guidance changed the period of exposure risk for individuals from “onset of symptoms” to “48 hours before symptom onset.”
As more has been learned about the virus, several experts told CNN last month that it’s become clear that transmission by people who are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic is responsible for more transmission than previously thought.
Though it wasn’t the first time he acknowledged it, Redfield confirmed that suspicion in a March 30 interview with NPR affiliate WABE, in which he said “as many as 25%” of individuals who are infected with coronavirus may remain asymptomatic. “One of the [pieces of] information that we have pretty much confirmed now is that a significant number of individuals that are infected actually remain asymptomatic,” Redfield said.
In a February 13 interview with CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Redfield said asymptomatic transmission of coronavirus was possible and concerning, based on information from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
“There’s been good communication with our colleagues to confirm asymptomatic infection, to confirm asymptomatic transmission, to be able to get a better handle on the clinical spectrum of illness in China,” Redfield said. “What we don’t know though is how much of the asymptomatic cases are driving transmission.” https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/02/politics/fact-check-georgia-gov-brian-kemp-coronavirus-no-symptoms-stay-at-home/index.html
This can be found on the front page of the Friday, March 27, 2020 Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Unfortunately for Georgians this, too, can be found on the front page:
Governor says drastic measures not yet needed state wide
I cannot help but wonder what percentage the number of cases would have to increase for the thief who stole the election by suppressing the vote to enact “drastic measures.” It will come as no surprise to learn Brian Kemp is a Republican. Any sane person would see what is happening around the country and do everything in his power to PREPARE for what is coming, if not already here.
In addition, how many have wondered what would be happening if Stacey Abrams
had become Governor of the Great State of Georgia? How many wonder how different things would be if Hillary Clinton
had not been cheated out of victory by Russian interference, and those traitorous scoundrels who welcomed, and used, assistance from the nefarious Russians?
I was born in the back seat of a 1949 Ford convertible on the way to Emory Hospital. By the time we arrived my Mother and I were “we”. I am a Southerner from the Great State of Georgia. I am from Georgia in the same way General Robert E. Lee
was from Virginia. When push came to shove, General Lee went with his state because at that time the states may have been “United” but the state was still paramount. This changed after the War of Northern Aggression. The states became “united.” In order for US to become united the northern people came south, devastating the Southern region, laying waste to any and everything in their path, while perpetuating war crimes against Southern civilians.
I am proud to hail from the South. An article years ago detailed a survey which found that out of all the regions of the United States, people from the South most identified with their region. The survey made no distinction between the skin color. Some years ago I was waiting for an order at Captain D’s. It was Senior day and the music playing was from the era of my youth. The tunes happened to be Motown music. Before rock & roll we listened to the sounds emanating from Motown. I noticed an older gentleman with dark skin, also waiting for his order, tapping his feet. Thing is, I, too, was tapping my feet. The song was:
I said something to the man about the song just as this song, which means more than a little to me, because Otis Redding
is from Macon, Georgia, which we discussed. It was also the song playing in the car as I “made out” for the first time,with the daughter of the Band leader at our high school. Since we were about the same age there was much to discuss, so we sat together and ate our lunch while conversing. We talked about the things we had in common, such as listening to the same music and eating the same food, etc. When finished he said, “Sir, you have made my day.” The reply was, “Back at ‘cha!”
Waffle House is one of the restaurants founded in Georgia. The original Waffle House museum is within a short drive from where I sit. Another restaurant originating in Georgia is Chik-Fil-A. I came of age within a short drive from the original Dwarf House,
located in Hapeville, the home of Delta Air Lines. It would be impossible to count the number of times I ate at that particular restaurant. Favorites were the Steak Plate and the Hot Brown.
At one time or another I have been seated at each and every one of those seats.
Moe’s Southwest Grill originated here, too. The original location on Peachtree Street in Buckhead
was within a very short walk from an apartment shared with the love of my life. There is a Moe’s within walking distance of the apartment in which I currently reside. At the end of Ken Burns
mentions something a young invading soldier asked a boy far too young to be fighting, holding a piece of wood cut in the shape of a rifle, a question. “Why are you fighting?” The reply was, ’cause ya’ll down he’ar.” I am writing this because I’m “down he’ar.”
The article which follows is being printed in it’s entirety, without comment, so you will understand why I will never, ever, set foot in a Waffle House. The ‘thinking’ demonstrated by Joe Rogers Jr., the 73-year-old sole board member of the nearly 2,000 restaurant chain is the reason our United States will be devastated in the days to come. I am willing to wager my life that this Fool In Power is a Republican.
Waffle House chairman criticizes coronavirus limits on businesses
The chairman of Waffle House, a chain known for getting its restaurants back up and running after natural disasters, is worried that many political leaders are headed down the wrong path as they battle the coronavirus outbreak.
Recent mandates, such as banning in-restaurant dining and closing some businesses, are “totally out of proportion,” said Joe Rogers Jr., the 73-year-old sole board member of the nearly 2,000 restaurant chain based in Norcross.
“American leaders have to lead people through ruinous times, but leaders don’t lead people to ruin,” he said later, warning that many large and small businesses might not survive.
Rogers has urged elected officials in Georgia to not adopt tough restrictions similar to those imposed on businesses in other states. His remarks came before a Thursday announcement by Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms
60th Mayor of the City of Atlanta
that she had signed an executive order temporarily barring in-restaurant dining and closing down nightclubs, gyms, movie theaters, live music venues and bowling alleys in the city.
In an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Rogers also bemoaned “doom and gloom” talk from the White House. “Any leader in the world that was dealt this hand might not have played it any better,” Rogers said of the president, “but we have to play it better going forward.”
Federal, state and local political leaders “are trying to do the right thing,” he said.
The Waffle House chairman said Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has shown appropriate restraint.
The governor has asked people to remain home as much as possible and avoid public gatherings. But Kemp hasn’t ordered statewide shutdowns of businesses and events, saying in an interview with radio station Q99.7, “I don’t know that our citizens would buy into that.”
Waffle House, which operates in 25 states, saw sales drop 25% last week, Rogers said. Now, as more states limit restaurants to drive through or to-go business, sales in some areas have fallen 60%. He said the chain will survive, though “we are going to lose money like crazy in this.”
The important thing, he said, is to remain open and keep pay flowing to the chain’s 40,000 workers, most of whom are hourly employees. If Waffle Houses are forced to close across broad areas, the company wouldn’t continue to pay employees who don’t work, Rogers said.
The company has increased sanitization efforts. It also is encouraging social distancing though “we haven’t taken out a tape measure,” he said. “We have let everybody eyeball their own reality.”
Waffle House doesn’t have the flexibility of some other chains, particularly fast food restaurants, such as Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A. Some of those already generate most of their sales via drive throughs. Waffle House has just one drive-through, near Stone Mountain.
My father worked at the AJC before moving to the much more conservative, ill-fated Atlanta Times. I delivered the AJC before moving to the Times. Delivering the Sunday paper was a bitch.
Two United States Senators, Richard Burr, from North Carolina, and Kelly Loeffler, from Georgia, both Republicans, have been caught with their hands in the proverbial cookie jar. Excerpts from an article written by The Editorial Board of the New York Times follow, with a focus on Senator Loeffler. Loeffler was appointed to the seat vacated by Johnny Isakson by the Republican Governor, Brian Kemp. Kemp obtained office by thwarting eligible voters from voting, even when called on to resign his position as Georgia’s Secretary Of State. It is the Secretary of State who controls voting, proving it’s not just who votes, but who counts the vote. (https://whowhatwhy.org/2018/11/02/its-not-just-who-votes-its-who-counts-the-votes/)
In Georgia, as in much of the South, this has just been ‘business as usual’. The woman has no background in government. Her only qualification is MONEY! I cannot help but wonder what it cost the woman to become US Senator? When the COVID-19 virus runs its course this will change because the volcano is rumbling as I write.
Kelly Loeffler should have already resigned the office of US Senator. Since she has not resigned, the woman should resign IMMEDIATELY! Read on and you will understand why…
Did Richard Burr and Kelly Loeffler Profit From the Pandemic?
At least two senators engaged in suspiciously timed stock sales. All stock trades by members of Congress should be barred.
By The Editorial Board
March 20, 2020
Crisis often brings out the best in a people. As the coronavirus spreads its devastation, countless Americans are stepping up to perform acts of heroism and compassion, both great and small, to aid their neighbors and their nation.
Then there are certain not-so-inspiring members of the United States Senate.
Richard Burr, Republican of North Carolina, and Kelly Loeffler, Republican of Georgia, are in the hot seat this week, facing questions about whether they misused their positions to shield their personal finances from the economic fallout of the pandemic, even as they misled the public about the severity of the crisis. According to analyses of their disclosure reports filed with the Senate, the lawmakers each unloaded major stock holdings during the same period they were receiving closed-door briefings about the looming pandemic.
These briefings were occurring when much of the public still had a poor grasp of the virus, in part because President Trump and many Republican officials were still publicly playing down the threat. Instead of raising their voices to prepare Americans for what was to come, Mr. Burr and Ms. Loeffler prioritized their stock portfolios, in a rank betrayal of the public trust — and possibly in violation of the law.
It is unclear precisely what information about the pandemic either Mr. Burr or Ms. Loeffler received in the briefings before their stock sales. But any use of nonpublic information in guiding such dealings would have been not only unethical but almost certainly illegal. Lawmakers and their aides are explicitly barred from using nonpublic information for trades by the STOCK Act of 2012 (the acronym stands for Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge). Mr. Burr of all people should know this, since he was one of only three senators to vote against the bill.
As chairman of the Intelligence Committee, Mr. Burr is privy to classified information about threats to America’s security. In February, his committee was receiving regular briefings about the coronavirus. He is also a member of the Health Committee, which, on Jan. 24, co-sponsored a private coronavirus briefing by top administration officials for all senators.
Ms. Loeffler, who also sits on the Health Committee, is in a similarly sticky situation. On the very day of the committee’s coronavirus briefing, she began her own stock sell-off, as originally reported by The Daily Beast. Over the next three weeks, she shed between $1,275,000 and $3.1 million worth of stock, much of it jointly owned with her husband, who is the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange. Of Ms. Loeffler’s 29 transactions, 27 were sales. One of her two purchases was of a technology company that provides teleworking software. That stock has appreciated in recent weeks, as so many companies have ordered employees to work from home.
Early Friday, Ms. Loeffler issued a statement asserting that neither she nor her husband is involved in managing her portfolio.
Even as she was shedding shares, Ms. Loeffler was talking down the threat of the coronavirus. “Democrats have dangerously and intentionally misled the American people on Coronavirus readiness,” she tweeted on Feb. 28, assuring the public that the president and his team “are doing a great job working to keep Americans healthy & safe.”
As anxiety spread, she talked up the economy. “Concerned about the #coronavirus?” she tweeted on March 10. “Remember this: The consumer is strong, the economy is strong & jobs are growing, which puts us in the best economic position to tackle #COVID19 & keep Americans safe.”
Faced with calls for his resignation from across the political spectrum, Mr. Burr on Friday issued a statement insisting that his stock sales had been based solely on public information and that he had asked the Senate Ethics Committee to “open a complete review of the matter with full transparency.”
There is pressure for Ms. Loeffler to step down as well, and the recent stock dealings of other senators are now being dissected — as well they should be.
One might have expected lawmakers to be more circumspect about even the appearance of self-dealing after what happened to the Republican Chris Collins, the former congressman from New York, who was sentenced to 26 months in prison earlier this year after pleading guilty to insider trading charges. While at a White House picnic in June 2017, Mr. Collins repeatedly called to alert his son that a small pharmaceutical company in which the family was deeply invested had failed a critical drug trial. Based on the not-yet-public information, Mr. Collins’s son unloaded his holdings in the company, avoiding hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses.
“What I’ve done has marked me for life,” Mr. Collins said tearfully at his sentencing hearing in January.
Apparently, more needs to be done to protect lawmakers from themselves. Last May, two Democratic senators, Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Sherrod Brown of Ohio, introduced legislation requiring members to place personal investments in a blind trust, or hold off on making any trades, during their time in office. They would also be prohibited from serving on corporate boards.
There may, of course, be perfectly reasonable explanations for what, initially, appears to be illegal — and morally reprehensible — behavior. Mr. Burr and Ms. Loeffler deserve the opportunity to provide those explanations. The Senate should initiate an ethics investigation of all accusations, and, if warranted, refer relevant findings for criminal prosecution
That said, explicit criminality aside, the real scandal here is the way in which these public servants misled an already anxious and confused public. In times of crisis, the American people need leaders who will rise to the occasion, not sink to their own mercenary interests.
Jimmy Carter Calls For Georgia Secretary Of State’s Resignation In Personal Plea
is currently the Republican nominee for Governor of Georgia in 2018. In the Georgia Gubernatorial Republican Primary Election, 2018, Mr. Kemp finished second, with 154,913 votes, good enough for 25.5% of the vote.
Casey Cagle,
the current Lieutenant Governor of Georgia, finished first with 236,498, which was 39.0% of the vote. Things changed in the runoff between the two candidates as Mr. Kemp received 406,638 votes, or 69.45% of the vote, while Mr. Cagle received 178,877, which was only 30.55% of the votes cast.
What happened to Casey Cagle?
Portraits of a Casey Cagle collapse
By Isaac Sabetai
As soon as he announced his run in April 2017, the lieutenant governor became the Republican front-runner. He raised in excess of $11.5 million — more than double the man who beat him in the runoff, Brian Kemp — and amassed a long list of endorsements.
None of that mattered. Cagle won just 31 percent of the vote in a two-person runoff race. That was a drop of 8 points compared with his performance in a crowded primary election.
By Election Day, Cagle trailed with 44 percent of all early voters to 56 percent for Kemp. The fallout from a secret recording where Cagle admitted to supporting “bad public policy” to undercut a rival candidate and Donald Trump’s endorsement of Kemp had wiped him out.
Mr. Cagle was called a “reasonable Republican,” as if such a thing exists there days. Brian Kemp ran as a “politically incorrect conservative.” That is a quote, which can be found in this advertisement:
Much of Kemp’s success has been attributed to the above, and the one below:
Obviously, many of the Georgia Republicans liked what they saw, and heard.
Brian Kemp’s opponent for Governor of Georgia in 2018 will be Stacey Abrams.
Stacey Yvonne Abrams (born December 9, 1973) is an American politician, lawyer, romance novelist, and businesswoman who served as Minority Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives from 2011 to 2017. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stacey_Abrams
The future election has garnered much media coverage the world over because Ms. Abrams is “…the first black woman in American history to win a major party gubernatorial nomination.” The whole world will be closely watching this election.
Can Stacey Abrams Turn Georgia Blue?
David Byler
Georgia is changing as the graph below from the article shows:
The next graph illustrate how much the state of Georgia has changed as most of the new people move into larger metropolitan areas:
Stacey Abrams is in debt and much has been and will continue to be made of this fact by Republicans.
Stacey Abrams: I’m running for governor and am $200,000 in debt
Turner Cowles
Producer
Yahoo Finance July 26, 2018
Stacey Abrams is running for Governor in Georgia. She would be the first black woman to be elected governor of a state in American history if she were to win the election. But she faces some major roadblocks.
The office of governor was staunchly Democratic in Georgia until Sonny Perdue was elected in 2002. He was reelected in 2006 and was succeeded by another Republican, Gov. Nathan Deal, in 2010.
Abrams wrote an op-ed for Fortune in April, in which she argued her personal debt shouldn’t disqualify her from running for governor. She owes more than $227,000 in credit card debt, student loan debt and back taxes. She also owes $178,500 in real estate debt and $4,434 on a car loan (but since those are assets as well as debt, we haven’t included it in our breakdown of what she owes).
She isn’t alone. Millions of Americans are in debt. In fact, the total household debt in America is $13.2 trillion, according to the New York Fed, and balances are rising on most kinds of debt; credit cards were the only debt to see balances decline in the first quarter of 2018.
Higher profile politicians have struggled with debt, including former presidential hopeful Marco Rubio. When Rubio was first elected to the Florida legislature in 2000, he reported around $150,000 in student loan debt as well as $30,000 as assorted credit and retail debt, according to the New York Times. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/stacey-abrams-im-running-governor-200000-debt-191600455.html
The current Governor of Georgia is Nathan Deal,
(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
or as I prefer to think of him, Nathan “Raw” Deal; or Nathan “Asleep at the Wheel” Deal, as he continued to sleep while Georgia suffered, grinding to a complete halt during a blizzard.
Georgia gov.: “We did not make preparations early enough”
Last Updated Jan 30, 2014 3:29 PM EST
ATLANTA — Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal took responsibility Thursday for the poor storm preparations that led to an epic traffic jam in Atlanta and forced drivers to abandon their cars or sleep in them overnight when a storm dumped a couple of inches of snow. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/danger-passing-but-not-over-in-atlanta-area/
Stacey Abrams owes about one tenth what “Raw” Deal owed when becoming Governor of Georgia.
After the last US Presidential election, in which the Trumpster was out voted by THREE MILLION VOTES nationally, Democratic Georgia Congressman John Lewis, who had his skull fractured while in the streets protesting “Jim Crow” laws in the South, has called Trump an “Illegitimate President.” Which begs the question, “Why did US citizens with dark pigmentation need to be out in the streets protesting for rights given to each and every citizen of the USA over one hundred after the war of Northern aggression?”).
Simply put, there are many people in Georgia (and the nation) who will NEVER vote for a person who is not white.
After the election I received an email from a former Chess player who exclaimed, “Look at the map. It’s almost all red!”
Although he had a point, I pointed out to him that most of that red area consisted of fewer people than the blue areas in and around the larger cities. This can be verified by reading this article:
Am Extremely Detailed Map of the 2016 Election
Bu Matthew Bloch; Larry Buchanan; Josh Katz; and Kevin Quealy
In the last Presidential election 7054 (83%) people voted for Putin’s Puppet; 1243 (15%) voted for Hillary Clinton.
I did not vote, not that it mattered. When young I voted. The Viet Nam “police action” (It was NOT a WAR!) was happening and my life was on the line. I used to decry the fact that “old people” with one foot in the grave were voting when voting is about the future, and those folks lived in the past. Now I am that old person and I still believe the citizens with their lives before them should make the choices which will affect the rest of their lives. The last time I voted my vote was given to my Mother, who was dying of cancer. The absentee vote did not arrive in time, so I told her I would vote for the candidate for whom she would have cast her ballot, which was Republican Bob “Dour” Dole. After voting for Bob I told my Mother the vote had been cast while holding my nose. She laughed.
Life Chess Master David Vest, the only man to hold both the title of Georgia Chess Champion, and Georgia Senior Chess Champion, was fond of asking, “Are we moving forward?” Republicans are fond of calling themselves “conservative.” They do not want change, and many wish to go back to what they call the “halcyon” days. If they had the choice to make many of them would return to an earlier time when there were water fountains for “White” and “Colored” people. I am old enough to recall the separate water fountains. I hope this country chooses to move forward in the next election cycle, and the one coming in 2020.
We Americans are the world, which is why America is called the “melting-pot.” If there is any hope for the world it is only the people who embrace change that hold any hope for the country and the world. I learned a long time ago that an old, rigid tree will crack and fall in a storm, while a younger, more flexible tree will bend with the wind, and remain upright after the wind abates. I have, therefore, tried to embrace change during the course of my life, because change is the way of life. The next election, and possibly the next one, will be called the “Year of the Woman.” That is change, and I have absolutely no problem with the change. Old white men have made a complete mess of things. Maybe it is time We The People acknowledge that fact and lend our support to the women. After all, they cannot be worse than the Trumpster.
Armchair Warrior 