Coronacrisis: “Mayor Pete” Buttigieg dropped out of the race for president last night, joining billionaire Tom Steyer who also folded his hand over the weekend. This considerably lowers the intelligence level of discourse in the Democratic debate. And will somebody please show Hawaii’s Tulsi Gabbard where the exit doors are located.

  But on the eve of the Super Tuesday primaries, presidential politics are eclipsed by the spread of the Chinese coronavirus resulting in the first two deaths in the US and the first two cases on the East Coast — New York and Rhode Island.

  As of this morning 3,048 people around the world have died, and 89,197 made sick. Outside China, the most serious outbreaks have been in Iran, where there have been 54 deaths; Italy 34; and South Korea, 26. 

  Doctors in China say they performed the world’s first double lung transplant on a coronavirus patient.

  The international spread of the coronavirus became so serious last week that even the stock markets fell seriously ill. The Dow Jones dropped 12.4% for the week  — that’s 3,583 points, including the worst one-day point drop in history on Thursday; 1200 points. 

  One of the first things the Trump administration did three years ago was cut the budget for the Centers for Disease Control, but the President and his lieutenants say they’ve got things under control and accuse Democrats of politicizing what has become a global pandemic. 

  Trump appointed Vice President Mike Pence to be the coronavirus czar here in the US saying, “Mike has a special talent for this,” although Pence’s special talents have so far escaped public revelation. 

  The President and his Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney have blamed Democrats and the press for overblowing the threat presented by the coronavirus. Mulvaney said,  “The reason you’re seeing so much attention to it today is that they think this is going to be the thing that brings down the president.” He added, “That’s what this is all about.”

  A NY Times editorial counters that you can’t dismiss what’s happening. “The world would do well to remember this time what it seems to have forgotten again and again,” the paper says. “Another pathogen will emerge soon enough, and another after that. Eventually, one of them will be far worse than all its predecessors. If we are very unlucky, it could be worse than anything in living memory.”

Just Super: After a bad defeat in South Carolina, Pete Buttigieg realized the election math was impossible for him, giving his moderate voters a day to decide where to go. He said, “We have a responsibility to consider the effect of remaining in this race any further. Our goal has always been to help unify Americans to defeat Donald Trump and to win the era for our values.”

  Voting in 15 states and territories tomorrow will distribute about a third of the Democratic Convention delegates, including from the big states of California and Texas.

  Making his first appearance on the ballots, former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg has spent millions on advertising in the Super Tuesday States.

  Going into the day, Bernie Sanders has already collected 58 delegates and former Vice President Joe Biden has 50. Buttigieg was running third with 26 delegates behind him.

  Polling shows that Bernie Sanders has about 30 percent of support in California. Biden is polling third in that state, but that was before Buttigieg dropped out.

  Sanders has a nearly 9-point lead in Texas, where 228 delegates are at stake, according to a RealClearPolitics average of polls. 

  Elizabeth Warren is fighting to win her home state of Massachusetts, where Sanders is threatening. 

The Bulletin Board: North Korea launched two unidentified missiles yesterday. More interesting than that, a photo shows leader Kim Jong-un looking through binoculars backed by a line of army officers all wearing faces masks. They know where the real threat is in the world. — A federal judge ruled yesterday that Kenneth Cuccinelli, who has openly supported the President’s anti-immigration agenda, was unlawfully appointed to lead the US Citizenship and Immigration Services and that some of his directives are void. The judge ruled that the appointment violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act because Cuccinelli never held a subordinate role in the agency.

While We Were at the Beach: Predator producer Harvey Weinstein avoided Rikers Island and its food by checking directly into New York’s Bellevue Hospital after his conviction for sex crimes last week. The cause was his bad back, diabetes, and fear of becoming the victim of a sex crime. 

  The Trump campaign announced that it is suing The NY Times for an opinion piece written by former editor Max Frankel, which said Trump welcomed Russian election help in exchange for favorable treatment should he become President. It’s a pretty reasonable theory to discuss and it is protected by US libel law and precedent regarding public figures. Still, the President who lies even when he says “hello,” and calls people “Pocahontas” and “Mini Mike” claims to be aggrieved.

  Bob Iger announced he’s stepping down as CEO after making Disney into a worldwide entertainment powerhouse and sickeningly unavoidable presence in the culture. 

  Former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh was sentenced to three years in prison for her scam in which she forced schools, vendors, and nonprofits to buy copies of her “Healthy Holly” children’s books, many of which were never delivered. 

  But all that is old news and we’re back on the beat.

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