The House of Representatives just passed the CARES Act, a $2 trillion coronavirus/COVID-19 stimulus and relief bill, by voice vote. It’s now headed to the White House for impeached president Donald Trump's signature. Read the rest

Canada is not super cool with plans by impeached U.S. president Donald Trump to send a thousand (maybe fewer) U.S. troops to the U.S.-Canada border. Trump says militarizing the border is good because he's worried things will become so desperate in the U.S. with the pandemic, Americans will flee north to escape the oncoming coronavirus hellscape. Read the rest

They told the public everything would be okay with the virus outbreak. Then they privately dumped stocks.

Over the past 24 hours, news has spread that various U.S. lawmakers received advance private briefings about the severity of an oncoming coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic -- then, they sold stocks before the public knew how bad it would get, and how the economy would suffer. Read the rest

Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C), reassured the public that America was prepared to fend off coronavirus. But being privy to decidedly non-public briefings, he knew otherwise, and sold off $1.5m in stocks before the markets crashed.

Soon after he offered public assurances that the government was ready to battle the coronavirus, the powerful chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Richard Burr, sold off a significant percentage of his stocks, unloading between $628,000 and $1.72 million of his holdings on Feb. 13 in 33 separate transactions.

As the head of the intelligence committee, Burr, a North Carolina Republican, has access to the government’s most highly classified information about threats to America’s security. His committee was receiving daily coronavirus briefings around this time, according to a Reuters story.

It's remarkable how many pundits and public figures are making plausibly-deniable references to having Burr dealt with. The constitution endures, but civility is toast. Read the rest

Impeached United States President Donald J. Trump said something awful again today that would end any other man's presidency in any timeline but this hellscape we're in. Read the rest

Hawaii Democrat Tulsi Gabbard today quit the race to challenge President Trump in november, reports ABC News. Recent primary results and polling had her struggling to get even 1% support, and the media lost any vestigial interest in her campaign as other concerns overwhelmed election coverage.

"After Tuesday’s primary results, it is clear that Democratic Primary voters have chosen Vice President Joe Biden to be the person who will take on President Trump in the general election," she wrote. "I know Vice President Biden and his wife and am grateful to have called his son Beau, who also served in the National Guard, a friend. Although I may not agree with the Vice President on every issue, I know that he has a good heart and is motivated by his love for our country and the American people. I'm confident that he will lead our country guided by the spirit of aloha — respect and compassion — and thus help heal the divisiveness that has been tearing our country apart."

Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida today became the first member of Congress to test positive for coronavirus. Read the rest

What a damning indictment of Fox News from the Post video team here. pic.twitter.com/r8Fz8vo5KV

— andrew kaczynski🤔 (@KFILE) March 18, 2020

In this video, assembled by the Washington Post's media team, Fox News hosts and their rhetoric is contrasted just a few days apart. Then, they were claiming coronavirus was either nothing to worry about or an outright hoax; now they are solemnly telling people to look out for themselves as the virus rages.

How Fox News has shifted its coronavirus rhetoric

Over the past month, many Fox News anchors and personalities have gone from doubting the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic to calling it a public health crisis.

One of the funny things about the Nuremberg Trials is that, for all their flaws, they replaced grimmer plans. The British wanted to summarily execute high-ranking Nazis after the war; perhaps thousands of people.

“The guilt of such individuals is so black that they fall outside … any judicial process,” said Anthony Eden, reflecting Winston Churchill's intent to mass-murder even the talkers and bullshitters of the German right.

The Soviets talked us out of it. Julius Streicher got his trial. Read the rest

Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Illinois) dislikes abortion, Barack Obama, the affordable care act and marriage equality, and likes religious discrimination, domestic surveillance and denying federal benefits to gay couples.

If you're wondering why he even has a "D" in his title, here's a clue: he inherited his seat in congress from his own father, courtesy of the state Democratic party.

But he's not going to represent the deep blue district any more, because a progressive opponent took it from him in Illinois' primary election.

The eight-term Illinois Democrat fell to businesswoman Marie Newman, who led 48 to 44 percent when The Associated Press called the race, a resounding victory for the party’s progressive wing, which has struggled so far this year to capitalize on its 2018 success.

"I am bursting with pride and gratitude for the amazing coalition that helped bring about much needed change in our district," Newman wrote in a late-night tweet. She canceled her election-night party as the number of coronavirus cases surged.

Lipinski was a poster child for the Democratic party as a cult of self-serving political insiders. Getting rid of him is a defeat for the machinery, yet a close-run thing all the same. Read the rest

The Florida, Illinois, and Arizona Democratic primaries were held Tuesday, and Joe Biden swept to victory in all three. Read the rest

BREAKING: AP calls Illinois for Joe Biden, his second win this evening in the 2020 Illinois Democratic primary. Read the rest

Breaking News: Democratic presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden is projected to have won Florida, one of 3 states holding presidential primaries today. Read the rest