The Week UK - 04.04.2020

18 NEWS Best of the American columnists

THE WEEK4April 2020

The corrupt

senator and his

falling stock

MattTaibbi

RollingStone

“Ifthereissuchathingasagrandslamofpoliticalassholedom”,saysMattTaibbi,thenSenator

RichardBurrofNorthCarolinahassurelyhitit.Considerthefacts.TheRepublicanattendeda

privateSenatebriefinginlateJanuaryinwhichintelligenceofficialsspelledoutthedirerisksto

AmericafromthecoronavirusoutbreakinChina.Soonafter,Burrsoldoff“hundredsofthousands

(ifnotmillions)worthofstocks”whilecontinuinginpublictoparrotPresidentTrump’slinethat

therewasnothingtoworryabout.Burrdid,however,admithowgravethesituationwastoagroup

offinancialbighittersataprivatelunch.Whenthisstoryrecentlycameout,Burrinsistedhe’dsold

hisshares,includingthoseoftwovulnerablehotelstocks,onlybecauseofnewsreportshe’dseenon

TV.It’spossiblehe’stellingthetruth,butitseemsfarmorelikelythatBurr–alongwithatleastfour

othersenatorswhodumpedstockinthewakeoftheconfidentialbriefing–isguiltyofcongressional

insidertrading.We’veseenfartoomuchofthisovertheyears.In2012,Congressofficiallyoutlawed

suchbehaviour,butithassincewatereddownthereformandhasneverreallyenforcedit.Perhaps

Burr’scoronavirusscandal“mayfinallyinspireenoughpublicoutragetoprovokechange”.

Bullets won’t

help bring the

virus down

ScottMartelle

LosAngelesTimes

AcrossAmerica,peoplehavebeentoldtotakerefuge

athomeandtoventureoutonlytogetthingsthey

reallyneed,saysScottMartelle.Thingslikegroceries,

prescriptiondrugsandpetrol.Butshouldweapons

alsobeonthat list?Gunrightsadvocatesthinkthey

should.They’relobbyingforafederalshutdown-

orderexemptionforgunshops,arguingthatthese

establishmentsprovideanessentialserviceduringa

pandemic.Unlessanyoneisplanningon“shooting

thoselittlecoronavirusesonebyone”,thisisarecipe

fordisaster.Instatesthatarestillallowinggun

shopstostayopen,suchasCalifornia,therehasbeen

aboomin sales, withpeople queuingroundthe

blockoutsidethemostpopularshops.SomeAsian

Americanshave reportedlybeenarmingthemselvesincasetheysuffer racist attacks linkedto the

virus.Other people have bought weaponsincase there’sabreakdownof socialorder.Fear isnatural

at timeslikethis–there’sno reasontoletgunshops profitfromit. Loadingup withriflesisn’ta

rationalresponse toamedical emergency.“Itiscavingintodarkthoughtsandexpectations,and

it movestheneedleon ourcollectivesafetyalittle furtherdownthe‘dangerous’partofthescale.”

“Imisssports,” says Rick Reilly. Theirdisappearancefromour playingfields,arenas and television

screens–no basketball,no golf,no tennis,no Nascar–has leftagaping holeinAmericanlife.

Nothinglike this haseverhappened tousbefore.AfterPearl Harbor, FranklinD.Roosevelt

persuadedbaseball’srulingbody tokeepstaginggamesto takepeople’s minds offtheWar. Aweek

after the (^9) /11 attacks,baseballwasback on.Whatarewe supposedto watchtoday forlight relief?
RealityTV?Forgetit.“Sportisthe onlytruerealityTV.”Norare Netflix orAmazon acceptable
replacements.Sport hasmoredrama, more tragedy,more plottwists,surprisesand cliffhangers
thananyboxset.Iwassurfing channels and cameacrosswomen’sWWE prowrestling,performed
in anempty arena.Itdoesn’twork.Thewholepointof pro wrestlingisthateveryoneknowsit’s
fakedyetenjoys pretendingtheydon’tknowthis,alongwitheveryone else inthecrowd. Withouta
howlingthrongofspectators,it’s “just twomagicianstryingtotricktheircats”.No,forthesakeof
oursanity inthese tryingtimes,weneedrealsportsandweneedthemsoon.
The lack of
sport is driving
us insane
Rick Reilly
The Atlantic
Queuinguptobuy guns in Culver City, Calif.
Could the virus kibosh the presidential election?
Possibly themost important US presidentialelection ofour
lifetimesisd ue to ta ke place thisNovember,said Eugene
Robinsonin The WashingtonPost.But will it actuallygo
ahead? Thecoronavirus crisis has thrownaspanner intothe
election-year schedule.The Democr atic race forthe nomination
is in astate of“suspended animation” following thepostpone-
mentofsever al decisiv eprimaries.Andit’s hardtosee how the
partyconventions, due inJuly andAugus t, will work.Anyone
whohas been to one ofthese crowded events,attend ed by
peoplefromall across thecountry, willknowthat “eventhe
mostdiabolicalBond villain couldhardly designamoreperfect
environmenttog uaranteethe spreadof adangerous pathogen”.
The hope is that new Covid-19 infectionswill naturallydecline
over thewarmsummer months, butexpertshavewarned that,
even if thathappens,asecond wave of infections is likelytohit
the US in thelate autumn–i.e. just before election day.
We need to start making contingencyplansrightnow, said Jon
Meachamin The New YorkTimes.Thatmeans passinga
federal law to makevotin gbymailanoptionfor everyeligible
voter in thecountry.“We have worldenoughandtime –and,
in severalstates, the experience”–tomake postalvoting safe
andsecure. Oregonhasuseditasits standard voting method
for more than 20years–anything to avoid the chaos that could
lead tothe“nightmarescenario”ofDonaldTrump taking
advantage of the crisistodelay November’selection.Anyone
whothinks that’salarmisthasn’t beenpaying “even glancing
attention to the president’swill to powerand contempt for
constitutional convention”. In thepast, he hasjoked about
ignoring thetwo-term limit imposed on presidents.He also
retweetedasuggestion that hebe giventwo extrayears in
officeto make up fo rtime lost to theMueller inquiry.
Trump hates losing,said BlakeRutherfordon TheHill .It’s one
reaso nhecheatsatg olf. If defea tlooks li kelyint he run-upto
the election, he’d try anytrick to delay theballot. The good
news,thoug h, is that the constitution“would ultimatelystop
him cold”. The document isclear thatonlyCongresscandelay
afederal election,andwithDemocrat sinc ontrolofthe House,
that’s not aboutto happen.EvenifTrump declared martial
law, that wouldn’tsuspendtheconsti tution.“Americans
should haveabsoluteconfidencethatregardlessof Trump’s
rhetoricalandproceduralshenanigans(andnodoubt t here will
be plenty),the Novemberelections willproceedas scheduled.”