February 29, 2020, Happy Leap Day
February 29th only comes once every four years, so I thought I would take this opportunity to sneak a post in on this "extra" day.
Right now, the world is convulsing through a COVID-19 viral outbreak that has not yet been termed a "pandemic," but today, marked the first death within the borders of the U.S. Naturally, the President did what he always does and lied, first suggesting to one of his Nuremberg rallies that the whole thing was a hoax dreamed up by Democrats to discredit him (which he walked back... eventually), and then misidentifying the victim as a woman.
And so, as the shit-show goes on and decisions must be made (Mrs. TD and I have travel plans coming soon... or do we?), and the worst stock market drop since the financial crisis last week fueled by the President's endless bullshitting at a moment of extreme crisis from the pandemic may continue to play out, as a global pandemic (centered in China no less) would, of course, do wonders for the global economy.
Meanwhile, what if they ran a primary in the middle of this, in say, South Carolina, and Joe Biden were to win big? It might make the Democratic primary battle really interesting all of a sudden! Anyway, while I am ideologically liking Sanders and Warren, I am much more concerned with defeating Mr. Trump, and the headwinds Sanders (or Warren) would face from a Democratic Establishment more concerned with keeping their big campaign donors happy than with keeping their voters happy concern me to the point where I am favoring Mike Bloomberg, who could, hopefully just buy the Presidency, or Mr. Biden should Bloomberg not catch fire on Super Tuesday and beyond.
Finally, I briefly watched coverage of the conclusion of the Tokyo Marathon, which was actually cancelled for non-elite runners.
Seems wise not to bring in 38,000 people from all over the world to a potentially infectious area; I observed most of the race officials in surgical masks. Unless the COVID-19 virus calms down by May, I don't see how they are going to pull off the Olympics there. Just saying.
While it's nice to have one extra day, the exception would be one more day when Donald Trump is President. But this one was baked into the cake. Alrightie then. Happy Leap Day.