IT’S MORE OF A KAKISTOCRACY, REALLY.

HE’S NEW AT THIS, AND IT SHOWS.

You watch these guys and you think they’re so awful anyone could do better. But in fact, not just anyone.

And no, I’m not liveblogging these debates, I just checked in to see if they were as bad as people were saying. (Spoiler: Worse). Check out Stephen Green’s drunkblogging. I can’t consume enough alcohol to get through these and still maintain my chiseled physique. Steve can, because he’s younger, and has a bionic liver.

ANALYSIS: TRUE.

OPEN THREAD: Find something to discuss, if you can.

BERNIE: I’m not paranoid, but those nasty tweets from my supporters are probably actually by Russian agents.

Meanwhile, everyone on the Dem debate stage seems unbalanced — they look so angry that they’re about to either hit someone or burst into tears. It’s bizarre.

UPDATE: Ouch.

Plus:

Shocking denouement — after losing the race, Bloomberg decides Dems are too crazy to rule, endorses Trump for general election. . . .

GOOD IDEA: STOP LYING ABOUT OUR SONS.

MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: Drunkblogging the Debut Dem Debate with Mini Mike. “From where I sit, the nomination still looks like Bernie’s to lose, and so far he’s taken a pulled-punches approach to personal attacks on his fellow Democrats. But Bloomberg has been going after him on the airwaves, and the Sanders camp can’t afford to respond in kind. If Sanders is going to knock Mike off his box, he’ll have to do it in person.”

Tonight it’s not business; it’s personal.

Earlier today I wrote a little something — well, kind of big, actually — for our PJMedia/Townhall VIP members, answering the question on everyone’s mind: What does a Stalin-era Soviet luxury hotel embellished with a different facade on each wing have to do with China’s laggard and hamfisted approach to dealing with coronavirus?

If you’ve been thinking of becoming a member, that VODKAPUNDIT promo code still earns you a nice little discount.

If not, please enjoy tonight’s drunkblog.

UTTERLY BELIEVABLE AND YOU’RE A RACIST IF YOU DOUBT IT: Disheveled And Covered In $100 Bills, Bernie Sanders Claims He Was Attacked By A Group Of Billionaires.

Sanders said he was out in the streets of Reno at 2 a.m. to purchase a can of beans to eat when suddenly he was approached by two billionaires in ski masks and expensive tailored suits who shouted, “This is billionaire country!” The billionaires began pelting Sanders with stacks of one hundred dollar bills while yelling derogatory things at him, like, “You’re just a millionaire; that’s only one step above being poor!”

“Billionaires are a menace!” yelled a shaking Sanders to a crowd of supporters. “They’re after me, and they must be stopped!”

Some have questioned the details of the attack, as it was extremely unusual for Sanders to still be up at 2 a.m., since he usually goes to bed at 6 p.m. after his 4 p.m. dinner.

Ouch.

TRUMP NAMES RICHARD GRENELL AS ACTING INTELLIGENCE HEAD.

Related: “Lefties are freaking out that a ‘Trump loyalist’ would be appointed to such a high position…But if Grenell were a Democrat they’d be celebrating the elevation of a gay man to such a high position in the administration.”

21st CENTURY HEADLINES: Whitney Houston hologram concert tour set to begin.

I’m still holding out to see Elvis Presley’s Coat at the New Jersey Civic Coliseum.

Elvis Presley’s Coat from Walter Williams on Vimeo.

HOT, HOT, HOT OFF A VERY COLD PRESS!: Today the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights released its long-delayed report on the conflict between the First Amendment and the Department of Education’s enforcement of sexual harassment law. At least that was what it was supposed to be about when the Commission undertook the report way back in 2013. Many delays followed. When, in December of 2016, President Obama appointed his out-going Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights to head the Commission, the report evolved into more of a defense of the Obama-Era Office of Civil Rights than a critique. My dissent is here. I hope to write much more on this topic in the future. Right now this little dissent will have to do.

JIM TREACHER: Trump Accuser E. Jean Carroll Says She’s Been Fired by Elle Magazine. I’ll Give You One Guess Who She’s Blaming.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE: Coronavirus 20 times more lethal than the flu? Death toll passes 2,000.

Coronavirus quarantine on Diamond Princess cruise ship ‘chaotic,’ Japanese expert claims. “The cruise ship was completely inadequate in terms of the infection control.” Plus: “Complaining that the ‘bureaucrats were in charge of everything,’ Iwata said he tried to relay his concerns to officials in charge of the quarantine, but he was ‘removed’ from the ship instead.”

How Coronavirus Creeps Into A City.

Coronavirus ‘spike’ protein just mapped, leading way to vaccine.

Democratic senators urge Trump administration to request emergency funding for coronavirus response.

How coronavirus is affecting the world economy.

No US coronavirus cases were caught by airport temperature checks. Here’s what has worked.

iPhone 9 release date in jeopardy due to coronavirus outbreak.

Apple Analyst Says Cupertino’s Semiconductor Suppliers Caught At Center Of Coronavirus Outbreak.

Qantas cuts flights to Asia as coronavirus hits profits.

Coronavirus Response Reflects China’s Lack of Transparency. “The lack of government transparency from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in dealing with the coronavirus global public health emergency is contributing to the international community’s inability to resolve the crisis.”

UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE HISTORY: Video: Fort Sanders Street Party, 1972. This was before my time, but I recognize the locations.

This, on the other hand, was from my era. I worked at the Antique Photos shop, and the Insta-Wife — who I knew then, but wasn’t yet dating — worked at a nearby fried-vegetable kiosk. I spent a lot of after-hours time at the Australian Pavilion’s Downunder Pub, and the Strohaus.

AT AMAZON, save in Car Care.

Plus, deals in Pet Food and Supplies. Stock up!

THEY GET THE FUNNIEST LOOKS FROM EVERYONE THEY MEET: Monkey menace at Taj Mahal could spoil Donald Trump’s trip.

HARSH, BUT FAIR:

KURT SCHLICHTER: Burn Down The DOJ And Start Over.

IT’S NEVER ENOUGH: Leftists Angry That Jeff Bezos Donated Only $10 Billion To Fight Climate Change.

BAN ALL THE THINGS! List: 32 Bloomberg Bans as Mayor of NYC.

OH, TO BE IN ENGLAND: Paddington Green: inside the anti-terror HQ taken over by climate anarchists.

“Freud called it displacement.”

CAPITALISM: THE UNKNOWN IDEAL. Does Anyone Really Believe Free Market Fundamentalists Are ‘Running the Show?’

(Classical economics reference in headline.)

THE CORBYNIZATION OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY CONTINUES APACE: Of Course Bernie Sanders Has a Jeremy Corbyn Problem — His indifference to anti-Semitism among some of his prominent supporters is a blot on his candidacy.

DISPATCHES FROM THE EDUCATION APOCALYPSE: The Nietzchean “Will to Power” Meets the Puritans.

21ST CENTURY PROBLEMS: Porsche Taycan EV Goes up in Flames in Florida Garage. “It was spectacular and scary, but here’s a friendly reminder that gasoline-powered cars also catch fire.” A neighbor lost his house some years ago when his fairly new pickup truck caught fire in his garage; I don’t think they ever figured out what went wrong.