The Tapes of Wrath

This past week, the Senate impeachment trial began and Republicans in Congress will have a choice: conduct a fair trial based on evidence and testimonial witnesses or sweep everything under the rug. 

Here’s where we are
After three days of eight-hour presentations by House prosecuting managers, Schiff, a California Democrat and the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, delivered a concluding argument for removing the President from office on the charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
This weekend, Trump’s defense team takes the stage. They began, Saturday, by arguing the president “did nothing wrong” when he manipulated Ukraine into investigating his political opponents by withholding a White House meeting and millions in military aid.
However, Trump’s counsel has made clear Monday will be the main event, when they plan to shift attention onto former VP Biden and his son Hunter, allowing Trump leeway to carry public attention from impeachment onto attacks against his 2020 political rivals. 
 
How’s Trump handling it all?
Well, during Wednesday’s trial, Trump came close to breaking his Twitter record, when he tweeted 142 times in one day, with various threats and retweets supporting his defense. 

It’s been a long week, and the next few days will prove incredibly powerful in understanding Republican integrity and the future of Trump’s presidency. 

Hitting New Lows

Pregnant women traveling to the US to give birth will be blocked, in a new effort by the Trump administration to chip away at birthright citizenship and prevent foreigners who might give birth to a US citizen from entering the country at all. Officers around the world will now have broad justifications for denying any and all visas to people they suspect are visiting the US for the purpose of giving birth, which could have dangerous implications for pregnant people seeking medical care.

In other unfortunate news, 
Trump is threatening to withhold federal funding, with potentially billions of dollars at stake, from California if the state continues to require private insurers to cover abortions. 

What does this mean?
Trump is trying to make it harder for women to access abortions by withholding health funds from states that allow private insurers to cover the costs of abortions from women in need.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said, however, “California will continue to protect a woman’s right to choose, and we won’t back down from defending reproductive freedom for everybody.”

An Apocalyptic Vision

2020 is off to a rocky start, as thousands in Asia have contracted the newly emerged Wuhan coronavirus, where 56 have died in a quickly rising fatality rate. 
The virus is a respiratory illness with symptoms including fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. Through this particular strain, however, many are vulnerable to contracting a severe, fatal case of pneumonia. 

Though the epicenter of the virus remains in Wuhan, China, the CDC has confirmed five cases in the US and dozens in several other countries outside of Asia, including Australia and France. 

In Wuhan, reporters describe life as a “scene reminiscent of an apocalyptic movie” with roads near infection hot-spots closed, streets entirely empty, and police, scanning passersby across the city for symptoms of the virus.

What are we doing about it?
China has initiated a travel lockdown that extends to 36 million people, instituted a quarantine on 25 million people, and have begun restricting VISA applications for the time being. In the US, the CDC will be screening passengers for the virus at major international airports, including LAX, JFK, and CHI.