How did a Pa. senator with COVID get to meet Trump?
I guess we now know why the White House has become a petri dish for the coronavirus.
Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano reportedly was diagnosed with the virus during a visit last week— but not until after he was in the room with the president.
Oops.
Associated Press reported that Mastriano and other Republican state senators met with President Donald Trumpi n the West Wing on Thanksgiving Eve. They were there to discuss how to continue the losing battle to reverse Pennsylvania’s election results to Trump’s favor, and keep himin power for another four years.
Everyone whowill be close to the president has to take a rapid COVID-19 test, according to the Associated Press. Attendees at last Wednesday’s meeting were tested, but apparently they weren’t cleared with a negative result before gathering with Trump.
Mastriano already was in a meeting with the president and others whenthe positive test camein.
If the goal is to protect the president, that’s not going to do it.
Mastriano’s son and his son’s friend, who also were there for the Oval Office meeting, also tested positive and left abruptly, according to the Associated Press.
Trump told Mastriano, of Adams County, that White House medical personnel would take care of the three of them. Mastriano’s office did not respond to an email Monday.
I wish Mastriano a speedy recovery. And I hope that White House officials tighten their coronavirus testing protocols, to better protect the president and all of those who come near him.
Earlier on Thanksgiving Eve, Ma stria no was among Pennsylvania Republican lawmakers who held a committee meeting on election fraud. Photographs show he wasn’t wearing a mask at the event, which was held at a hotel in Gettysburg.
Trump and the coronavirus
For months, Trump down played the severity of the virus. He kept saying it “is going to disappear” and the country was “turning the corner.”
He wanted people to pay attention to other things — predominantly himas he sought reelection. Even after he, his family and staff close to him got sick, he still refused to face the reality of what COVID-19 is doing to America.
Thed isease is surging coast-to-coast. Officials are warning of hospitals being overwhelmed. Some states and cities are shutting downbusinesses and schools again and enacting curfews.
The virus is dominating newspaper headlines and television news broadcasts. Andin the process, it is overshadowing Trump’s desperate attempt to change election results so he can stay in the White House. His legal challenges in Pennsylvania and other states aren’t the big story of the day, as they might be if they weren’t trumped by the virus.
He’s being downplayed by the virus that he downplayed.
Steroid-era players and hall of fame
This time every year, I enjoy a friendly debate with a few pals about the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot.
For the first time in a long time, there are no locks. Someof the players eligible for the first time were solid, but not great. There are no slam dunks amongthe holdovers, either, though I believe Curt Schilling is deserving.
There are some great names on the ballot. They’re just all tainted because they played in the steroid era — Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Gary Sheffield, Manny Ramirez and Sammy Sosa.
Clemens and Bonds have been getting more votes in recent years. This is the year they should go in. Along with the others.
Many voters would have to hold their nose to check those boxes. But what better year to put them in than 2020? Theyear has stunk.
Vote them all in together and get it over with.
These players, along with two others who didn’t makethe cut, Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro, were super-talented. They were locks for the Hall of Fame if they hadn’t been caught upin allegations of performance-enhancing substances. For a few, that’s all it was, allegations. Others failed tests or admitted to using.
McGwire and Palmeiro no longer are on the ballot voted on by baseball writers, the traditional wayto get into the hall. Players are removed from the ballot after 10 years, or if they don’t receive 5% of the votes in a year.
McGwire fell off the ballot in 2016. Palmeiro was removed in 2014 after getting 4.4% of the votes.
But they still can be elected, by the Hall of Fame’s Expansion Era Committee, formerly knownas the veterans committee. That committee can consider any player whoplayed in at least 10 major league seasons, is not on the league’s ineligible list and has been retired for at least 16 years.
Allegations of steroids in baseball were tough to stomach. But shunning some of baseball’s best isn’t the answer.
Put them in, and note on their plaques any verified use of performance-enhancing drugs. Then move on.