5. Call the conventions ?: With public health experts warning that large-scale gatherings such as concerts and sporting events may not be recommended until 2021, the two political parties are increasingly in a hurry to reconsider the idea of hosting conventions national parties this summer.
And they react very differently.
Last week, the National Democratic Committee voted to approve alternative methods of voting for their candidate for the party convention - including the ability to vote virtually.
"I expect and hope that we will have an exciting and inspiring convention in August in Milwaukee," said DNC chairman Tom Perez in what, in the light of the vote, seemed a little impossible optimism to obtain.
If the alleged candidate says so, and a process is in place to change the way votes are cast, it is difficult to see how the Democrats meet in person in Milwaukee in August.
Even as Democrats move toward a virtual convention, Republicans even refuse to recognize the possibility that cancellation is a possibility.
In an email sent to supporters on Saturday, convention CEO Marcia Lee Kelly wrote:
"In 100 days, the Republican Party will meet, where we will reflect on the incredible legacy and extraordinary achievements of the Trump administration."
Is this a defensible position given what we know about the virus and its transmissibility? Does Trump care?
4. Silent Biden: We are less than six months away from the November elections, and Joe Biden still can't break through the coverage of all coronaviruses all the time.
Biden was largely locked up in his Delaware home - conducting interviews, organizing rallies and raising funds in his basement.
What Biden cannot do - it is not currently in office - is to have some sort of practical influence on the federal or state response to the pandemic. Instead, it remains to make policy proposals and criticisms of the current administration that end up getting lost in the rolling news cycle.
Biden's fight for attention has put the spotlight almost exclusively on Trump - and his management of the coronavirus. And voters, on the whole, did not like what they saw.
3. What do coronavirus numbers look like ?: For the first time in a long time, news about the coronavirus seems good. Or, perhaps better said, less bad.
This may be the week we find out if Trump is right. Given the incubation period of the coronavirus - and the fact that most states are now open for business between seven and 14 days - this next week will be crucial to whether or not a second wave arrives.
If not, expect Trump's victory lap, which is already underway, to continue. And for medical members of the White House Coronavirus task force to be further in the background in favor of these economic advisers pushing the need to restart the economy - and quickly.
If a second surge occurs - whether in a particular state or nationally - the question will be whether our increased testing capacity can limit the spread. and if not, why not?
2. Trump pressures the Senate against Russia: Convinced, despite contrary facts, that former President Barack Obama and other senior government officials were involved in a plot to hinder his presidency from the outset, Trump appears ready to pressure Republicans in Congress to make Something.
"If I were a senator or a congressman, the first person I would call to testify to the greatest political crime and scandal in the history of the United States, according to the FAR, is former president Obama. He knew EVERYTHING . Do it @LindseyGrahamSC, do it. More Mr. Nice Guy. No more talking! " "Mitch, I love you, but it's 100% true. Time is short. Be hard and move fast, or it will be too late. The Dems are vicious, but got caught. They MUST pay a high price. for what they have done to our country. Don't let them get away with that! @LindseyGrahamSC "Knowing Trump - and how obsessed he is with the idea that he is the victim of some sort of grand conspiracy to deprive him of his rights and his constituents - he will not give up pushing Senate Republicans to do more on #Obamagate.
But will they give in? And how?
And how have the Republicans in Congress responded to what is, without a doubt, a historic attempt to eliminate surveillance from the massive federal bureaucracy? Especially with tweets.
"The layoffs of several inspectors general are unprecedented; doing so without just cause dampens the independence essential to their goal," tweeted Utah senator Mitt Romney. "It is a threat to responsible democracy and a crack in the constitutional balance of power."
Oh man! Strongly formulated tweets! Trump is really will be knocked down by these!
What will Romney, Collins or any other Republican senator - the vast majority of whom have made no comment on the dismissal - actually do to make it clear that Trump is not following the oversight process is unacceptable?
No nothing. No formal reproach. No attempt to further strengthen the protection of inspectors general. No nothing.
But no one will. Because they are afraid of Trump - politically speaking. There aren't enough brave souls to risk their political careers trying to curb Trump - especially because on taxes and judges (the two questions that most Republicans care about more than others), it has been with them.
And so, here we go. Trump is doing something with really dangerous implications - both for the present and for the future - and some GOP officials are tweeting that he shouldn't.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
