It’s Wednesday, April 8th, 2020…but before we begin, Carl “The Great One” Polizzi forwarded this headline…

Baltimore Approves Spy-Plane To Surveil Entire City

…which elicited our response: the only way this will make a difference in Baltimore is if the plane in question is a AC-130…and large swaths of city are considered free-fire zones.

Now, here’s The Gouge!

First up, writing at AEI, Dan Blumenthal and Nicholas Eberstadt put their collective finger squarely on…

China’s deadly coronavirus-lie co-conspirator — the World Health Organization

“The fog of war obscures much about the novel coronavirus pandemic. But two facts seem absolutely certain. First, China’s Communist authorities have lied, concealed and misled about the origins of the epidemic and the toll of the virus in China. Second, the World Health Organization has acted as Beijing’s handmaid.

The result: The global toll of the tragedy will be much greater than it need have been.

We shouldn’t be surprised that the Beijing regime lies about the epidemic: It lies about, well, ­everything. From economic data to air pollution figures, the Communist Party doctors information to protect and promote itself. (With the willing, active support of many Fellow Travelers here in the U.S., including but not limited to figures from the worlds of sports, politics, business and journalism.)

Naturally, in the face of a grave national-health threat, the incentive for dissembling was tremendous. So Beijing spun and suppressed information about the outbreak and impact of the coronavirus.

…Far from sounding an alarm, however, the UN outfit was ­impassive while Beijing stonewalled international health ­authorities for weeks. (In fact, MONTHS!!!) Indeed, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praised the Chinese regime for its “transparency” in the crisis. Tedros, ­recall, was Beijing’s candidate for WHO chief and owes his job to China’s campaign for him at the United Nations.

At the end of January, when President Trump ordered a travel ban against entry to the United States from China and other coronavirus “hot spots,” Tedros, echoing Chinese authorities, roundly criticized the decision, insisting it would “have the effect of increasing fear and stigma, with little public health benefit.” By March 12, when the WHO finally declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, misbegotten deference to the Chinese government had ­incalculably impeded the effort to contain the contagion.

When the full history of this episode is eventually written, the Chinese Communist Party will bear massive responsibility for this plague that has swept the earth. So will a World Health Organization that seemed too interested in the health of the Chinese regime at the moment of truth.“

So here’s to the both of you, individually and collectively:

Editor’s Note: FYI, here’s a very informative summary of the nature and threat posed by the Wuhan virus versus the Swine flu, courtesy of Balls Cotton.

In a related item from George Lawlor, The Washington Times details how, despite the world knowing Beijing’s to blame for the COVID-19 catastrophe, it’s still…

Thanks for nothing: U.S. scientists say China hampering search for virus origin

“…Officials and experts in virology and epidemics tell The Washington Times that researchers need to learn the origins of the virus to find treatments and vaccines and to better prepare for future pandemics.

Robert G. Darling, a medical doctor and expert on biological weapons formerly with the Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Maryland, said it is crucial that researchers find out where the virus originated and how it spread. “It is imperative that we identify the origin of the SARS CoV-2 virus,” said Dr. Darling, chief medical officer of Patronus Medical.

“The Chinese almost certainly know but they have not shared it. By learning its origin it will better help us understand the biology of the virus and how it behaves.”

A senior State Department official said questions about the origin of the virus need to be answered and noted recent published reports about the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which houses China’s sole high-security virus research center, have raised questions about whether the virus may have leaked. “It’s the only Level 4 lab in the PRC, built in response to SARS in 2003, so the question is a valid one,” the official said…”

Since we’re on the subject of Xi Jinping and the ChiCom’s showing their true colors, as FOX News informs us…

China is forcing Italy to buy back the same coronavirus supplies Rome donated to Beijing a few weeks ago

This is particularly rich given, as detailed in the March 27th edition of The Gouge, Italy’s prior embrace of Chinese labor and capital is what put them in this position in the first place.

We wrap up our COVID-19 coverage with two examples of what we consider deliberate journalistic malpractice, as, writing at the WSJ and NRO respectively, A.G. Hamilton suggests the MSM owe Tom Cotton an apology, as he NEVER SAID China INTENTIONALLY released the coronavirus, though his suggestion the disease ORIGNATED in a Wuhan laboratory looks INCREASINGLY plausible, while David Harsanyi details The Left’s ugly reaction to Trump’s promotion of Hydroxychloroquine.

Again, this isn’t “journalism”, it’s pure Progressive prevarication.

Speaking of pure prevarication, also courtesy of NRO‘s David Harsanyi, we’re reminded…

“Consider this scenario: A federal lawyer is filling out applications requesting FISA warrants to spy on American citizens who work for a major presidential campaign to determine whether the campaign staffers are collaborating with a foreign power to steal the presidency of the United States.

They must know that such a conspiracy, should it be exposed, would be the most explosive in the history of the nation — towering over the piddling criminality of Watergate or the Teapot Dome scandal. And any genuine effort to ferret out criminality and sedition within one of the nation’s major parties — perhaps going a high as the future president himself — would be supported by unimpeachable underlying evidence and undertaken with abundant care and meticulous oversight.

So what are the chances that a good-faith investigation would botch nearly every request to spy on the campaign when the FISA court is already signing off on over 96 percent of applications? What are the chances that the FISA applications of a good-faith investigation would be riddled with errors and rely on “misleading and inaccurate” information based on a fabulist document paid for by the opposing political party?

You would think that this kind of potential abuse (“potential”?!?) by the Justice Department would pique the interest of mainstream journalists. No such luck…”

That’s because neither luck nor journalism has anything to do with the MSM’s lack of interest in the biggest political scandal in American history.  Rather, it’s as our featured cartoon from Rich Terrell suggests:

Which brings us, appropriately enough, to The Lighter Side:

Then there’s this little bon mot from Balls Cotton…

…along with these from Ed Hickey…

…and one more for the road from Speed Mach:

Finally, we’ll call it a wrap with the latest installment of the Entertainment Section, courtesy today of a complete has-been we didn’t even know was alive, let alone still appearing on cable television, as… 

Howard Dean says he’s boycotting MSNBC appearances until network stops airing Trump pressers

Dean’s threat reminds us of that apocryphal promotion offering the lucky winner an all-expense paid trip to New Jersey; second-place got two trips!

Reports every other television and cable channel on the planet just resumed or promised to continue airing The Donald’s nightly Wuhan virus updates remain unconfirmed.

Magoo