90 Miles From Tyranny

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Activist Judges Blocked Trump’s Iran Travel Ban, Now NYC’s Outbreak is Due to Travel from Iran

Daniel Horowitz of Conservative Review made an interesting observation on March 16, 2020.

He tweeted, “Nearly the entire outbreak in NY came from a traveler from Iran, a place that was supposed to have a travel ban, but thanks to lower courts continuing to militate against Scotus decision, it was rendered moot. “

On March 1, 2020 New York did confirm its first case of the Wuhan virus.

“The patient, a woman in her late 30s, contracted the virus while traveling abroad in Iran, and is currently isolated in her home,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared in a statement.

The woman resides in Manhattan, and Cuomo reported that a lab in Albany confirmed her test.

“The patient has respiratory symptoms, but is not in serious condition and has been in a controlled situation since arriving to New York,” Cuomo stated.

He added that the case should not cause a massive stir.

“There is no cause for surprise — this was expected. As I said from the beginning, it was a matter of when, not if there would be a positive case of novel coronavirus in New York,” Cuomo said.

“There is no reason for undue anxiety — the general risk remains low in New York. We are diligently managing this situation and will continue to provide information as it becomes available,” he continued.

Lower courts have tried messing with Trump’s sensible travel ban from several Islamic countries.

Thankfully, the Supreme Court has stepped in to uphold these bans.

Nevertheless, the U.S. still has work to do on immigration and travel restrictions in such sensitive times.

When countries like Iran are already plagued with so many cases of the Wuhan virus, it makes zero sense for...

The official who once ran the White House pandemic program dismissed a false Democratic talking point that Trump eliminated the pandemic-response team and criticized reporters for parroting the claim in news stories.

"No, the White House didn’t ‘dissolve’ its pandemic response office. I was there," wrote former National Security Council adviser Tim Morrison for the Washington Post on Monday.

"It has been alleged by multiple officials of the Obama administration, including in The Post, that the president and his then-national security adviser, John Bolton, ‘dissolved the office' at the White House in charge of pandemic preparedness," Morrison wrote. "Because I led the very directorate assigned that mission, the counterproliferation and biodefense office, for a year and then handed it off to another official who still holds the post, I know the charge is specious."

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said in a March 1 interview that Trump "eliminated that office." Journalists soon began taking up the former vice president's talking point as fact. The Boston Globe picked up the narrative, running a piece titled, "Trump attacks CDC over coronavirus preparedness, though he eliminated an office dedicated to pandemic prevention." The accusation was a particular favorite of the Washington Post, which furthered the narrative by running an op-ed from former Obama NSC staffer Beth Cameron headlined, "I ran the White House pandemic office. Trump closed it." Not including Cameron and Morrison's op-eds, the Post mentioned the accusation in five other op-eds or pieces.

As part of an effort to slim down the historically bloated National Security Council, the directorate of global health and biodefense was merged with two other positions—not eliminated—according to Morrison.

"If anything, the combined directorate was stronger because...