Uncle Joe Wins Big. Coronavirus Comments.

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After last night it is fairly evident Democrats have rallied around Biden fearing loss of power and an unwillingness to go down with "The Good Ship Socialism."

There are those who believe Sanders would be more difficult  an opponent but I am not as sanguine. Yes, Biden is mentally challenged, never been right about major issues and probably corrupt but he is an acceptable bumbler to the Democrat Party and less controversial to the unorthodox turn-off  and abrasive Trump.

As for Sanders, the next round of states to vote are less likely to be in his corner so he has two basic choices.  He can throw in the towel after the debate this week or continue along in order to have the opportunity of trying to leave his imprint on the part at their convention.Being more of an ideologue I am betting the old curmudgeon will fight on to the bitter end.

Biden’s biggest problem: His candidacy relies totally on Obama nostalgia

By Jonathan S. Tobin

Last week wiped away Democrats’ worst fears. Joe Biden’s comeback likely ended the possibility that Bernie Sanders and his leftist fanatics will hijack their party and crash it in November. But they shouldn’t bust out the party horns quite yet.

Democrats think the general election can now be a referendum on President Trump, rather than one about the merits of socialism. But their embrace of Biden means they’re asking the country for something that might be equally unpalatable: a third term for President Barack Obama, except attached to Biden.

For now, Democrats might take some comfort. While the nonstop gaffes continue to provide fodder for gossip about his apparent slide into senescence, Biden at least seems to be more energized since his dramatic Super Tuesday victories.

But gaffes aside, now that he is the likely nominee, there is no avoiding the fact that his candidacy is the most backward-looking of any of the 2020 hopefuls or, in fact, of any presidential candidate in memory. Indeed, he would already be a political goner had he not tied himself inextricably to Obama’s legacy — for some good and much ill.

Left-wing activists like to highlight Biden’s transgressions against current progressive orthodoxy, including opposition to forced busing in the 1970s and support for a tough crime bill in the ’90s. But black voters seem to see only Obama’s faithful vice president.

This is good news for Democrats, since they know the only way they can beat Trump is by producing the same sort of massive minority voter turnout that enabled Obama’s 2008 and 2012 victories. By contrast, the failure to produce that kind of a response among African-Americans doomed Hillary Clinton in 2016.

That means that Biden will have no reason to stop constantly reminding us that he was Obama’s man. Many Democrats have moved on from Obama’s brand of liberalism to one that promises a far larger dilation of entitlements. Yet the memory of the Obama era still appeals to the party’s base. Moreover, Democrats are hoping to capitalize on the contrast between Trump’s divisive personality and what they remember as a gentler era dominated by Obama’s jazzy cool.

But remember: Trump was elected because many Americans — especially white, working-class voters Biden claims he can recapture for the Democrats — were sick of Obama. Though sacred to the memory of the Democratic elite, the Obama administration exemplified the rule of the liberal establishment that treated such voters with contempt.

What Biden is doing is inviting a referendum on a presidency that will solely be remembered for the historic breakthrough it represented for African-Americans. Shorn of that distinction, it just means tying today’s Democrats to the failed promise of the era of Hope and Change.

Obama’s political magic was never transferable. Hillary Clinton thought she could win what would, in effect, have been a third term for Obama. But if she couldn’t do it in 2016, it’s hard to imagine how Biden can pull it off in 2020.

Nor is tying the Democrats’ fortunes to Obama nostalgia the same as Trump’s vow to “make America great again.” Trump’s appeal was based on the fact that he was something new and entirely different in American politics, not, like Biden, an old and tired retread of the recent political past.

Trump’s re-election will hinge on whether voters see him as having succeeded where Obama failed. That’s why the impact of the coronavirus on a booming economy is such a problem for Republicans.

But despite their relief about torpedoing Sanders, Democrats should remember that there is no precedent for winning the White House purely on the basis of a longing for a past president. That’s all Biden has going for him. And though he has the virtue of not being a socialist, the idea that Biden can be elected as a tribute to Obama is a fantasy.

Jonathan S. Tobin is editor in chief of JNS.org. Twitter: @JonathanS_Tobin

And:

Twilight of the Sanders Revolution

Biden gets closer to the nomination with a big victory in Michigan.

The Editorial Board

Democrats really, really want to defeat President Trump. That’s the message from Joe Biden’s primary victories on Tuesday as he further deflated the hopes of Bernie Sanders and his revolution.

If Democrats had buyer's remorse after Mr. Biden’s stunning comeback on Super Tuesday last week, they didn’t show it as he rolled to easy wins in Mississippi, Missouri and Michigan. The victory was especially impressive in Michigan, where Mr. Sanders won narrowly in 2016 but Mr. Biden led by 14 percentage points by our deadline. Washington state was too close to call.

The Vermont Senator campaigned heavily in the Wolverine State, especially in college towns full of social-justice warriors and gentry liberals. Mr. Sanders won voters under age 29 by about 82% to 15%, according to the exit polls, but they were only about 15% of the electorate. Voters older than age 65 made up about a quarter of the Democrats who cast ballots, and Mr. Biden won them 73% to 23%.

Mr. Sanders tried to turn Democrats against Mr. Biden in Michigan by running against Nafta, and charging that the former Vice President would slash Social Security and Medicare. But Democrats don’t believe the latter, and trade has gained support among Democrats as Mr. Trump has co-opted the protectionist agenda.

The mass voter mobilization of the proletariat that Mr. Sanders promises simply hasn’t materialized. As that fact becomes clearer to Democrats who want to win in November, Bernie’s chances of a comeback diminish even more.

Meanwhile, Mr. Biden showed strength among most voter groups that Democrats will need to win in November. That includes older African-American voters in and around Detroit, but his reach extended to suburban voters in wealthy Oakland County and working-class whites without a college degree throughout the state.

This coalition is remarkable considering that Mr. Biden barely had what you could call an organized campaign on the ground in Michigan and other states. He was catapulted by free media after his wins in South Carolina and Super Tuesday, and by Democratic Party officials who rallied behind him to stop Mr. Sanders. Turnout was also higher than in 2016. If this coalition and enthusiasm don’t scare Republicans and the Trump campaign, they should.

Mr. Sanders’s best chance for a revival is the debate scheduled for Sunday, March 15, in Phoenix. If Mr. Biden falters, Democratic doubts about his ability to go the distance against Mr. Trump could return. Otherwise we are looking at the twilight of the Sanders revolution.

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Our house guests this week are Lynn's brother and his wife.  Stuart is a brilliant, retired,  PHD researcher whose entire 35 year career focus was multiple myeloma.  Eva's entire career was at The FDA.

Let me repeat, when I post a "Rant" it is authored by a money manager and analyst named Ross.

So what have I learned about the Coronavirus?

a) Apparently the current Coronavirus has at least two known strains.

b) It is transmitted not only among persons, but also there now seems to be evidence, a human can transmit to an animal, in this case a dog, raising the possibility that animals may pass the virus among themselves and possibly back to other humans.  Not a good circumstance.

c) Most viruses need to live within the carrying source, but the Coronavirus can live outside for an extended period and thus the need to wipe objects down as well as keep your own hands, etc. washed and wiped.

d) The Corona virus appears to have come to humans as a result of Chinese cultural traditions. Namely, they eat wild animals that are likely the source of the virus. 

I have actually seen videos of bats on dishes at Chinese restaurants and in our Asian travels other wild/domestic animals are sold in markets and subsequently eaten. 

This virus came from China but we know the Communist Party would not reveal the truth if it hit them in the face and for political reasons live in denial. They have been telling their people America is the source of the current outbreak.  Democrats and the mass media seem willing to accept/ignore this fraud for political reasons because it serves their own nefarious goal of defeating Trump.

e) The incubation period seems to be between 5 and possibly 15 days. Symptoms are fever and general ill feelings similar to flu.  This long incubation period is one reason the virus can be transmitted by people who do not know they are infected. Not good.

If you get the virus and recover you are likely immune to that strain.

f) As for myself, since I have undergone chemotherapy treatment and am at an advanced age, my immune system is more compromised even though I am basically in good health so I , and those like me, are more susceptible.

g)  Cold or hot weather apparently  has little effect in killing the virus.

Most among the younger population, ie. below 60 and in good health, could catch the virus and not even know it. If one does get the virus, the remedy, at this time, is isolation, liquids and prayers.  There is no available vaccine, but the medical community is moving swiftly to come up with an effective agent.

h) Finally, I believe the virus issue is currently, and appropriately, being addressed in America by the proper health personnel and Stuart assures me  Fauci of the NIH is incorruptible and the right man to be in charge of responding although muddled information comes from multiple other sources.

More people will be identified as virus positive as testing expands and no one knows how long our nation and the world will be effected. The economic impact will be severe and, in my humble opinion, will lead to serious declines in recorded GDP.

This is an edited op ed from an investment source:

Is This Bull Market Over?

By Grant Wasylik, analyst, Palm Beach Daily The coronavirus outbreak has certainly inflicted short-term damage on stocks… Since news of the outbreak began surfacing on January 7, major global indices are down between 12% and 21%. Of course, this past week’s correction has been historic. The Dow dropped a record 2,013 points and the S&P 500 lost 7% on Monday – triggering the market’s circuit breaker. Trading paused for 15 minutes for the first time since 2008. We understand it’s difficult being an investor in this kind of environment. But it’s exactly times like this where you must stay rational – and understand this will be temporary. Look, the spread of the coronavirus is serious. Confirmed cases are rising and lives are being lost. And this will impact many areas… For example, events are already being canceled. More people are working remote. Others are being quarantined. So naturally, consumer spending will decrease. And global GDP and corporate profits will take a hit, too. But as Daily editor Teeka Tiwari says: It’ll all be temporary. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Europe down the drain? Change the Drain Northern European populations are growing older, jeopardizing growth in the continent’s economic powerhouses. Young Southern Europeans are emigrating abroad, fleeing their basket-case economies when their energy and skills are arguably needed more than ever. One would think the two sides could reach a meeting of minds to help each other. But it’s not that easy. The European Union must determine “how to really support freedom of movement but at the same time … not to have some countries where we don’t have potential for innovation or growth,” Croatian Minister of Science and Education Blaženka Divjak told Euractiv recently. The number of 15- to 34-year-olds has fallen by 15 percent in much of Eastern and Southern Europe in the past five years, according to a Guardian analysis. Many “youth deserts” are in former communist eastern Germany, where young people have fled for new jobs in the West. At the same time, economically dynamic regions like East London, Berlin and Paris have grown younger as new emigres have flooded in. The trend is stark in Vidin, a provincial capital on the Danube River in northwestern Bulgaria. The city and its province have seen their population drop from 162,000 in 1985, when communist authorities made sure the region’s industries kept humming, to around 85,000 in 2018. The tipping point came in the early 1990s when the economy collapsed. The 2008 global financial crisis only hastened Vidin’s decline. The entrance of new countries into the Schengen Area, which grants free movement within Europe to EU citizens, hastened the momentum. Low fertility rates throughout the continent aren’t helping. “Vidin is in a death spiral in which a stagnating economy and demographic decline have been circling each other,” wrote Balkan Insight. “People have been leaving the province in search of prosperity, and prosperity has eluded the province because so many people have left.” In an op-ed in the Irish Times, Croatian author Slavenka Drakulic wrote that Eastern and Southern European politicians could do more to curb corruption and improve their economies. Maybe. In Greece, where the economy has been on the ropes since a debt crisis that erupted more than a decade ago, the government is promising workers between the ages 28 and 40 a wage of more than $3,000 a month if they return from abroad with innovative ideas, Quartz reported. Meanwhile, Germany has more than 1 million job vacancies. There probably aren’t enough job-seeking Greeks to fill those positions even if they all applied. German leaders recently changed the law to make it easier to hire non-European workers in order to shore up labor markets. This move comes as many Germans are very worried about migration changing their country. They can worry all they want. But European leaders say something must change nonetheless. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dick ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++