Quarantine...

The United States will implement stringent travel restrictions Sunday evening in an effort to contain the novel coronavirus outbreak that has so far killed more than 300 people in China and infected more than 14,000 worldwide.

The plan, which goes into effect at 5 p.m. ET, includes temporarily denying entry to foreign nationals who visited China in the 14 days prior to their arrival to the US, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Friday.

Restrictions also apply to US citizens who have been in China's Hubei province, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, in the two weeks prior to their return to the US. Upon their return to the US, those citizens will be subject to a mandatory quarantine of up to 14 days.

Witch Hunt...

The Senate voted on Friday to block new witnesses in President Trump’s impeachment trial, signaling a crucial turning point and steering toward an all but certain acquittal within days. 

The end game became clear after this step. The Dems new what they are getting out of it and the Republican will solidify their base as a result.

The rancor engendered by our current impeachment debate bears out Alexander Hamilton’s prediction that impeachments would “seldom fail to agitate the passions of the whole community, and to divide it into parties.” But the scope of “high Crimes and Misdemeanors” shouldn’t turn on one’s opinion of any particular president. 

Partisans who lower the bar to impeachment in order to punish a president they revile — or raise it to save one they support — may, under future presidents, live to regret the standard they’ve set.

Tried...

Moment...

The House of representatives is looking for a Jesus moment. Will, there is a principle in the law that says "Clean Hands." Just a thought.

No Touchy...

Clearly...

Fellow...

Impeaching Donald Trump would do nothing to halt the deep decay that has beset the American republic. It would not magically restore democratic institutions. It would not return us to the rule of law.   

Impeachment is about cosmetics. It is about replacing the public face of empire with a political mandarin such as Joe Biden, himself steeped in corruption and obsequious service to the rich and corporate power, who will carry out the same suicidal policies with appropriate regal decorum. 

The ruling elites have had enough of Trump’s vulgarity, stupidity and staggering ineptitude. They turned on him not over an egregious impeachable offense because he made the fatal mistake of trying to take down a fellow member of the ruling elite.

But this kind of dirty quid pro quo is the staple of politics and international relations. Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence official, was hired to dig up dirt on Trump and Russia by Fusion GPS, a research and intelligence firm under contract to investigate Trump by Perkins Coie, a law firm working for the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee. 

Four decades ago, Ronald Reagan’s campaign manager, William Casey, asked the Iranians not to free the American hostages held in Tehran until after the November presidential election to hurt incumbent Jimmy Carter, according to Gary Sick, Carter’s chief aide on Iran. The American hostages were released the day Reagan was inaugurated, in January 1981.

Trump, however, will not go quietly into this good night. He will attempt to bring the whole rotten edifice down with him. And he may succeed.

Help...

Burn...

Bernie Sanders has jumped into a virtual tie with Joe Biden nationally just before the first nominating contests in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Friday.

The Vermont senator has the support of 27% of Democratic primary voters, a 6 percentage point jump from December, the survey found. The former vice president follows closely at 26% — down 2 percentage points from a month ago. Sanders' 1 percentage point edge falls well within the poll's plus-or-minus 4.7 percentage point margin of error.

It seems that the Impeachment procedure of President Trump may lend a hand to Sanders.  Just a thought

Web...

Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!" (Sir Walter Scott, 1808).