Morning statistics – Biden vets Amy Klobucher – The need for a third party – Travel along the Beltway – Dangers of public restrooms – Evening statistics
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 AM — # of cases worldwide: 5,220,599; # of deaths worldwide: 335,162; # of cases U.S.: 1,622,333; # of deaths U.S.: 96,363.
Joe Biden’s campaign is now vetting Senator Amy Klobuchar as his vice-presidential running mate. She is a moderate and would probably go over reasonably well with the electorate, but the vetting process is highlighting some of the weaknesses in the Biden campaign. The choice for vice president is arousing much greater interest than it ordinarily does during presidential elections, because Biden is now 77 years old. He has already hinted that he plans to be a transitional president who would serve only one term. That is a half-hearted way of approaching an election, and I greatly fear that it makes Trump being elected for a second term more likely. Whatever else may be said about Donald Trump, he cares passionately about winning and makes no secret of his desire to retain as much power as he can for as long as he can.
Nor is Biden without a degree of arrogance on his own. Today he said in a radio interview that anyone who is black and who voted for Trump in 2016 “ain’t black.” I can think of no more effective way to alienate a large bloc of voters than to tell them that you take their votes for granted. Many black voters have already in response expressed their indignation, as well as a determination to have nothing to do with Biden. Who can blame them?
Biden is 77 and Trump is 73. For all of the rhetoric that both the Republicans and the Democrats have made about the need for change, the best that either of them can provide are old men who aspire to prominence well after the age that most people have retired. When will a third option emerge that will provide an alternative to these ossified parties? We have never had a greater need for one.
I went again to my mother’s place today. She is neither any better nor any worse. I picked up some accumulated mail and chatted a bit with MB, her caretaker, for whom I signed the reports she needs to turn in to the long-term care health provider. It was curious driving back and forth on Beltway, which I have been long trained to regard as an invariable source of traffic jams; traffic is still light and there were no tie-ups, with one exception. There was an accident close to the Connecticut Ave. exit, so I had to get off on the Wisconsin Ave. exit instead. On my return I saw that the accident had not yet been cleared from the Inner Loop and there was a long line of traffic backed up much further than it had been earlier. It was just like old times, in fact.
Health officials are warning against using public restrooms. For my own part, I have been avoiding them for some time. Various porta-potties have been available for use on some of the trails, but I have not ventured into them. There is hardly any need for them when hiking in secluded areas, because at this season the foliage is dense enough to provide adequate cover. I believe it will take several months before I feel confident enough to venture into a public restroom of any description, no matter how frequently it is cleaned.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM — # of cases worldwide: 5,297,989; # of deaths worldwide: 339,413; # of cases U.S.: 1,644,878; # of deaths U.S.: 97,635. Brazil has triumphantly shot up to second place. The way President Bolsonaro is behaving, at any rate, indicates he at least appears to consider it as a triumph. The country has had nearly 20,000 new cases today and nearly a 1,000 deaths. And we can be pretty confident that both the case count and the death toll have been under-reported. One research team has suggested that the number of infections is about 16 times higher than the official figures, which would place it well in the lead of the U.S. The WHO has declared that South America is the new epicenter for the virus, a verdict for which Bolsonaro’s policies are largely responsible. However, he’s in good company; Sweden, which has had a similar policy of ignoring the obvious, has one of the highest mortality rates in the world for the virus. China has reported its first day without any new cases or deaths from the virus.