And …… we’re back.

Viral News: More than 77,000 Americans were diagnosed with the coronavirus yesterday, another one-day record as the disease tightens its squeeze on the country. So far, 138,360 Americans are dead and a CDC estimate says we could hit 170,000 by August 8^th.

  Ten states are getting a 10 percent positive reading on coronavirus tests, an indicator that it’s spreading like wildfire. 

  Oklahoma’s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt became the first state governor to test positive for the virus. Stitt chaired an office meeting as recently as Tuesday in which neither he nor any of the attendees in a photograph were wearing masks. Stitt recently re-opened his state and said after his diagnosis, “I’m not thinking about a mask mandate at all.” 

  The pandemic has clearly become a political battleground. The White House has kept Dr. Anthony Fauci out of the public view and waged a disinformation campaign on the credibility of the country’s noted epidemiologist. The President’s trade adviser, Peter Navarro, a former economics teacher, wrote in an opinion piece that Fauci “has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him on.”

  In Georgia, the governor banned county and local governments from requiring people to wear masks. Brian Kemp is suing Atlanta for not obeying his order.

If it was the London blitz, would he allow people to keep their lights on? Gov. 

  A record 5.4 million Americans have lost health insurance during the pandemic, mostly by being laid off. Also, an estimated 100,000 small businesses have closed permanently.  Small businesses account for about 40 percent of the economy.

Objection: After the Supreme Court ruled that President Trump must turn over tax returns to the Manhattan district attorney, the President’s lawyers are attempting to drive a truck through loopholes in the decision. The Supreme Court ruled that Trump is not immune to investigation but he may continue to fight if the subpoena “is motivated by a desire to harass or is conducted in bad faith,” and that it would impede his constitutional duties.

  Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance is seeking eight years of Trump’s corporate and personal tax returns as part of an investigation into payoffs to porn actress Stormy Daniels who said she had an affair with Trump. 

While We Were Out: Operating on the belief that it’s the salesman, not the product, President Trump replaced his campaign manager. He’s trailing by an average of more than eight percent in election polls. … Trump excused another of his criminal cronies, this time commuting the prison sentence of Roger Stone, who lied to cover up during the Russia investigation. … The McClatchy Newspaper chain, which includes the Miami Herald, Sacramento Bee and the Charlotte Observer, was sold at auction to a hedge fund. Expect thinner newspapers. … — The Navy assault ship Bonhomme Richard has been on fire all week at port in San Diego. The ship was just at the end of upgrading and maintenance and might be so damaged it can’t be saved.  The ship cost $750 million in the 1990s and might run to $3.5 billion to replace. —The Navy has elevated its first black female to be a fighter pilot. It seems like all fighter pilots look like the cast of “Top Gun” and she is the female equivalent. 

The Obit Page: Christopher Dickey, a foreign correspondent and editor often described as “legendary,” has died of evident heart failure at age 68. He was working for The Daily Beast as foreign editor.

  Dickey had an extensive knowledge of the world and a thick book of sources.

  He was the son of novelist James Dickey, a notorious alcoholic. The younger Dickey wrote that he moved overseas in part to get away from his father’s abuse. 

Game Show: Chuck Woolery, the former game show host and self-identified Hollywood conservative, tweeted last Sunday that, “The most outrageous lies are the ones about Covid 19. Everyone is lying. The CDC, Media, Democrats, our Doctors, not all but most ,that we are told to trust. I think it’s all about the election and keeping the economy from coming back, which is about the election. I’m sick of it.”

  President Trump picked it up and re-tweeted it.

  Nevermind. A day later Woolery posted that “To further clarify and add perspective, Covid-19 is real and it is here. My son tested positive for the virus, and I feel for of those suffering and especially for those who have lost loved ones.”

Vacation Planning: Following the resignation of his primary writer Blake Neff, who for years had anonymously posted racist and sexist material on the internet, Fox News host Tucker Carlson condemned Neff’s words without a hint of what they were.

  We’ll fill in for him: 

-“Black doods staying inside playing Call of Duty is probably one of the biggest factors keeping crime down.”

-“Honestly given how tired black people always claim to be, maybe the real crisis is their lack of sleep.”

-“I wouldn’t get LASIK (eye surgery) from an Asian for free”

  Carlson on Monday night said Neff’s racism never infected the show, although Neff wrote the first draft of everything Carlson said. Carlson once said admitting poor immigrants makes the country “dirtier and more divided.”

  In a professional eulogy for his writer, Carlson condemned the “ghouls beating their chests in triumph at the destruction of a young man.” He announced he was immediately going on a long-planned vacation, because everyone knows that when you have a Monday through Friday job, Tuesday is the best day to go. 

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