KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEF: Does Anyone Really Believe the Polls Showing Biden Cruising to Victory? “It has become more than obvious that the Democrats are willing to keep Americans financially destitute in order to throw the election to Biden, and that may be what is reflected in the current polling. However, as we have noted a couple of times this week, the states that are opening up are looking better than the states that are remaining on arbitrary lockdown. If that keeps playing out like that, it will reflect better on Trump and the Republicans.”

IS SHAUN KING GETTING RED-PILLED? He certainly won’t get the usual headline attention with statements like this:

Well, criminal justice reform is a Republican project these days, which is why you don’t hear as much about it in the press. But wait, there’s more:

Though, to be fair, Shaun actually isn’t black.

THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE’S REOPENING PLAN IS HERE. Note that one of my demands has been met, as we’re replacing our poop-fan hand dryers with disposable paper towels. One lesson we’ve learned from this pandemic — see also the demise of reusable shopping bags — is that “green solutions” often mean death.

THIS IS CNN: Chris Cuomo’s COVID-19 Interviews With Andrew Cuomo Are Disgraceful.

On Wednesday, CNN primetime anchor Chris Cuomo interviewed New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), for the 10th time since the coronavirus pandemic began. The TV host’s hardest-hitting question for his older brother was whether the COVID-19 testing swabs are too small for his gigantic nose.

“[The nurse told me] that I have a little button nose,” the governor countered.

It was a moment that should have embarrassed CNN, whose journalists frequently—and often justifiably—criticize other networks for lobbing softball questions at President Donald Trump. And yet Chris Cuomo’s employers have decided to let his bad family comedy routine play out night after night, as the brothers fake-argue about which one is mom’s favorite, who would win in a fight, and where the tomato sauce recipe went.

Some viewers might appreciate an occasional light-hearted break from the constant stream of grim COVID-19 news, but this is getting ridiculous. The U.S. has now suffered an estimated 95,000 COVID-19 deaths, with 22,000 in the state of New York alone. Andrew Cuomo is the governor of that state, and the decisions he made have some bearing on that number. On March 25, for instance, Cuomo ordered nursing homes to admit seniors who had tested positive for the coronavirus: a wave of deaths in senior care facilities followed that decision. Grilling him about this misstep is no less vital than grilling Trump about his handling of the crisis—a task that CNN relishes.

Related:

● Why oh why is NY Governor Andrew Cuomo being praised for his coronavirus response?

● ‘Please Think About Others:’ Chris Cuomo Pretends He Didn’t Break Quarantine Already.

● The Cuomo Family Magic Coronavirus Cure. “In the first of many plugs for naturopathic professionals and ‘friends,’ Cristina [Cuomo] elatedly describes the arrival of what reads like a truck full of unpronounceable products delivered by one Dr. Roxanna Namavar, ‘who also does vitamin drips at home in the Hamptons,’ dressed head-to-toe in coveted medical protective gear. This special delivery, Cristina recognizes, may not be in every reader’s budget so she suggests the next best thing: bathing in Clorox bleach.”

CHANGE: Facebook says it will permanently shift tens of thousands of jobs to remote work. “Up to half of employees could work remotely within five to 10 years, CEO Mark Zuckerberg says.”

Why so slow?

RON DESANTIS IS LOOKING LIKE THE HERO OF THIS AFFAIR: How Florida’s nursing home strategy spared it widespread deaths seen in NY, NJ: As New York and Pennsylvania put coronavirus patients in nursing homes, Florida kept them in the hospitals.

INSANITY CONSISTS OF DOING THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER AGAIN WHILE EXPECTING A DIFFERENT RESULT: Byron York: Impeachment, continued: The Mueller wars go on and on.

HE’S NOW FREE TO LAND THAT SWEET GIG WORKING FOR BILL DE BLASIO: Top Ukrainian Police Official Who Demanded ‘List of Jews’ Fired From His Post.

WORSE THAN THEY’RE LETTING ON, WHICH MEANS PRETTY BAD IN LIGHT OF THIS: How Bad Are China’s Economic Woes? “On Friday, China said it wouldn’t be setting a target for economic growth for this year. That’s unprecedented – the Chinese government hasn’t done this since it began publishing such goals in 1990.”

But there are some positive economic signs: “And the pollution-free Chinese skies that we saw in the aftermath of the lockdowns there – well, they’ve disappeared as economic activity has picked up. China’s air pollution levels recently surpassed concentrations over the same period last year for the first time since the coronavirus crisis began, driven by industrial emissions.”

Like my grandfather said, smog means jobs and jobs mean smog.

OH: South Carolina election ballots reportedly found in Maryland this week.

THE CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE’S EFFORT TO REPEAL PROP 209 NEEDS TO BE STOPPED:  The Boston Globe‘s Jeff Jacoby on The Success of Prop 209: California’s Colorblind Mandate Was a Noble Landmark, But Some Lawmakers Want to Tear It Down.  The non-paywall version is here.

(Relevant background material here, here, and here.)

WELL, YES: Miranda Devine: Gov. Andrew Cuomo is a hypocrite on life, death and nursing homes.

In his daily coronavirus briefing on Wednesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo was as haughty and boastful as ever.

The difference this time was that the Albany press pack didn’t give him a free pass.

It’s incredible how highly he rates himself when he has presided over the most COVID deaths of any state in the nation by far — 22,976 as of Wednesday, some seven times more than California, 11 times more than Florida. New York still hasn’t come to grips with why that is. The disparity is not a random act of God, as the governor would have us believe.

Cuomo even tried to claim that the more-than-5,500 deaths connected to nursing homes in New York was a better toll, per capita, than most other states.

But the state Department of Health seems to have fudged the death toll, admitting it does not count nursing-home residents who ended up dying in hospital of the coronavirus, so the real numbers are much higher.

Asked about this convenient accounting, Cuomo returned to Trump: “The state followed President Trump’s CDC guidance . . . No numbers were changed.”

A reporter pointed out that Cuomo has shown a “willingness to thwart President Trump at other times.” Why not on his March 25 nursing-home directive?

Good question, which ­Cuomo couldn’t answer.

Instead, he switched to blaming the nursing homes.

I always thought Chris Cuomo was Fredo, but hey, why not both?

Related: Don Surber: Who Democrats Kill. Reducing the surplus population, as Ebenezer Scrooge said.

CHRISTIAN TOTO: ‘Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich’ Lets His Victims Speak. “Netflix docuseries tries to tar Trump while letting Clinton (partially) off the hook.”

SENATE CONFIRMS JOHN RATCLIFFE AS DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE.

Ratcliffe replaces acting DNI Richard Grenell, which is too bad; Grenell did an awesome job while serving as DNI.

Flashback: Gina Loudon: Grenell Deserves the Nation’s Gratitude.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: COVID-19 May Cause Higher Ed To Finally Confront Runaway Academic Spending, Including 67% Of Tenured Faculty Who Are Underproductive. Hmm. “Underproductive” senior faculty are usually underproducing research and publications; the higher ed bubble is more about teaching. I doubt many senior faculty teach fewer classes, as teaching loads are usually fairly uniform.

“EVEN?” WHAT A SHODDY, OBVIOUS JOB OF FRAMING A STORY BY THE AP: Job market remains grim even as U.S. tentatively reopens.

What this says to me is we ought to be a lot less tentative.

IS THIS JOE BIDEN’S BLACKFACE SCANDAL? Strong Echoes of Ralph Northam: “But campaigning in Alabama in April [of 1987], Biden talked of his sympathy for the South; bragged of an award he had received from George Wallace in 1973 and said ‘we [Delawareans] were on the South’s side in the Civil War.”

PHILADELPHIA DEMOCRATIC PARTY OFFICIAL PLEADS GUILTY TO STUFFING BALLOT BOXES IN ELECTIONS.

That must be fake news, as Stacey Abrams, the Democratic governor of Georgia, assures me that “Voter fraud is, by and large, a myth.”

IT WAS LADEN WITH PORK FOR PET DEMOCRAT PROJECTS INCLUDING STEALING ELECTIONS: Pelosi Accuses Senate GOP of ‘Political Retribution’ for Not Passing $3 Trillion Stimulus Bill.

NOT SO LONG AS BIDEN IS THE PRESUMPTIVE NOMINEE, BECAUSE #METOO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT HELPING DEMOCRATS WIN: Will We Investigate Tara Reade’s Claim? Survivors Are Watching.

APPARENTLY THE ONLY THING YOU NEED SUPER-INTENSE DOUBLE-BLIND EVIDENCE FOR IS HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE. EVERYTHING ELSE YOU JUST GO WITH YOUR GUT AND CALL IT ‘SCIENCE.’ Government scientific adviser says Britain’s two metre social distancing rule is unnecessary and based on ‘very fragile’ evidence.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: If you want to be happy, get married and become a Republican. It’s science!