I guess the Trump attitude above reminded me of the general violence and bloodshed of Aug. 2017 in Charlottesville, Va., highlighted by Confederate flags, weapons, etc., during the proposed removal of the statue of Robert E. Lee. A young peace advocate was murdered and a young black man w as beaten almost to death—and Donald Trump saw “good people on both sides.” Seems he’s still preaching guns to a certain segment of Virginia voters prior to the 2020 election.

Tracy Connor, executive editor of the Daily Beast observed “over the last six weeks, I’ve definitely had moments when I thought:Is this really happening? As I listened to the ambulances screaming past my window. As I monitored the rising body count. As I used my dwindling supply of antiseptic wipes to clean a newly delivered quart of milk. 
 
¨But this past week, things got truly surreal. Floridians flocking to reopened beaches. Unmasked protesters crowding together to demand an end to the lockdown. Sheriffs refusing to enforce stay-at-home orders. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp deciding his residents MUST have access to bowling alleys . . .  
 
“And then Thursday night, perhaps the most cockamamie presidential briefing yet, with Donald Trump suggesting that doctors could blast sunlight into humans or inject disinfectant to kill the coronavirus. It was the kind of jaw-dropping display that calls for a Rick Wilson column, and fortunately he obliged (see https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-idiot-alchemist-says-sun-bleach-will-save-us?via=newsletter&source=covidnote2 ) writing that Trump went ‘so far off the deep end that viewers would not have been shocked to see him in a wizard’s robe covered in mystic symbols’.” 

And I may be too late in warning some Trump followers that should he mention this possibility in days ahead, Drano suppositories are in the same category as oral ingestion of Lysol or Clorox.

“I shudder to think what next week will bring. What I can tell you is that The Daily Beast will be exposing all the new insanity and inanity while continuing to dig deep into every aspect of the coronavirus crisis—dishing up exclusives like this one ( https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-administration-turns-to-peter-thiels-palantir-to-track-coronavirus?via=newsletter&source=covidnote2https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-administration-turns-to-peter-thiels-palantir-to-track-coronavirus ) about a Trump ally’s company scoring a contract to create a virus data platform, and richly reported narratives like this look ( https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-next-coronavirus-nightmare-is-what-happens-after-the-icu?via=newsletter&source=covidnote2 ) at the hurdles COVID-19 survivors face after they get out of the ICU.”

MEANWHILE, Mary Papenfuss of HuffPost noted that the White House amended its transcript Friday of President Donald Trump’s highly controversial Thursday press briefing, clarifying that health adviser Dr. Deborah Birx had said sunlight and heat are not a treatment for COVID-19. The transcript change followed Trump’s comments Thursday that it would be “interesting to check” if an “injection” of disinfectant might be used to battle the disease. He also suggested that sunlight or ultraviolet light and heat could be used to battle the coronavirus. 

“Suppose that we hit the body with tremendous — whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful — light . . . suppose you brought the light inside the body?” The president mused. Moments later, he asked Birx: “Deborah, have you ever heard of that? That heat and the light, relative to certain viruses, yes, but relative to this virus?”
It was clear from the video of the press conference that Birx had responded, “Not as a treatment.” Initially, the transcript had her saying: “That is a treatment” before the language was corrected.
Trump responded: “I think it’s a great thing to look at. I mean, you know. OK?”

TROOPS RECALLED—President Trump made a surprise announcement to officials of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point last week that he’s speaking at graduation, requiring that the school recall 1,000 cadets who had left their New York campus as a precaution against the spread of COVID-19, The New York Times reported.
West Point officials had postponed commencement, initially scheduled for May 23, and it was unclear when, or even if, the ceremony would be held, according to the Times. The academy’s 4,000 cadets were told to stay home after spring break and continue their studies online, The Military Times reported.

Flying from as far away as L.A, at the height of coronavirus season, to the campus an hour’s drive from New York City.

WITHOUT THE SPIT AND POLISH—5,000,000 face masks ordered by the Veterans Health Administration to protect staff at the department’s hospitals and clinics were taken by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the Strategic National Stockpile, a top official told The Washington Post Saturday. "I had 5 million masks incoming that disappeared," said Dr. Richard Stone, the executive in charge of the nation's largest health care system, serving more than 9,000,000 veterans.