The countries of the Global North have to step up and assist the countries of the Global South in fighting this pandemic. Even if the latter countries have the political will, they have neither the resources nor infrastructure to combat the deadly virus. If we can’t extend assistance out of a sense of our shared humanity, own own national self interest should compel us to do so.

The suggestion that a Biden Presidency will be nothing more than neoliberalism with a human face strikes me as analytically empty and speculative in the worst sort of way.

Voting by mail should receive the sustained political and legislative attention of the Democratic Party and the larger democratic movement. In view of the present health care catastrophe, it seems to me that an obvious requirement if we hope maximize the participation and protect the health of the whole electorate this fall. Otherwise, millions of voters could be disenfranchised and their health put in jeopardy.

In thinking about how China responded with stringent (criticized at the time) measures, one has to keep in mind, among other things, that China is the home to roughly 1.5 billions people. And in recent decades it has become an urban people living in what we would consider densely built up mega cities. Anyone who visits China is immediately struck by the scale of so many things.

I understand from reports that Bernie is thinking about ending his primary run. I hope he does. As I wrote before, his standing and influence will be enhanced not diminished if he does.

Given the novel and catastrophic times in which we live and the existential danger of a second Trump term, the country would be well served if Joe Biden on the strength of his support in the primaries so far were declared the party’s standard bearer. That would allow Biden to speak with greater volume and to a larger audience as well as pick his running mate early on.

For Bernie to stay in the hunt for the purpose of changing a party rule or modifying the party platform, presuming that the convention takes place in August in Milwaukee, strikes me as an example of not seeing the forest for the trees and of small circle thinking. The game isn’t worth the candle at this point!

The pressing imperative is to unify the Democratic Party and the broader democratic movement and turn the attention of everyone now to the overarching task of electing Joe Biden in in November.