Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Outbreak: “Top U.S. public health officials said Tuesday that Americans should prepare for the spread of the coronavirus in communities across the country.”
* Remember yesterday when Donald Trump said the stock market is “starting to look very good to me”? Perhaps that wasn’t the right line: “Wall Street plunged for a second straight day on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing down 877 points after U.S. health officials warned that the spread of coronavirus to America was not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when.’”
* Ric Grenell: “Sen. Susan Collins broke with President Donald Trump’s decision to replace his acting director of national intelligence with U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, deeming the longtime GOP operative inexperienced for the critical position.”
* Quite an investigation: “The FBI is investigating the disappearance of some $500,000 from the coffers of the powerful union representing the country’s roughly 20,000 Border Patrol agents, said the organization’s national president, Brandon Judd.”
* Oregon: “Less than a year after Oregon’s Senate Republicans fled the state with passports in hand and hid out in Idaho cabins to avoid voting on a climate change bill, they have disappeared again.”
* What a mess: “For the past 18 months, Ginni Thomas, the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, and other conservatives have plied the White House with memos and suggestions about which people to fire — and who should replace them.” * That’s an interesting move: “JPMorgan Chase said Monday that it won’t directly finance new oil and gas development in the Arctic and will significantly curtail its financing of the extraction and burning of coal.” * Here’s the message Rush Limbaugh shared with his audience yesterday: “Folks, this coronavirus thing, I want to try to put this in perspective for you. It looks like the coronavirus is being weaponized as yet another element to bring down Donald Trump.” See you tomorrow.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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