Dispatch from the land of COVID-19
By 
As you may have seen, the school where I currently work as well as other universities in Seattle will be mostly closed (including all classes meeting remotely) for several weeks. This will obviously present a lot of logistical challenges, but it’s unquestionably the right thing to do, particularly given the lack of competent management or reliable information coming from the federal level. Cancelling Comic Con was also unfortunate but clearly necessary.
Speaking of the current federal leadership:
President Donald Trump Friday called Gov. Jay Inslee a “snake,” puncturing the feeling of bipartisanship in the wake of the vice president’s visit to Washington in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Vice President Mike Pence flew to Washington Thursday, to meet with Inslee and Washington’s congressional delegation to discuss the response to the virus.
Thursday’s roundtable, news briefing and public statements featured praise by Pence, who thanked Inslee, health officials and others for their response to the outbreak. The governor, in return, was cordial and welcoming to Pence.
That good-spirited collaboration apparently proved too much for Trump, who on Friday toured the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
The president and his administration have come under fire repeatedly from Inslee, in public barbs, lawsuits and at least one in-person confrontation with Trump.
When asked Friday by a reporter about Pence’s visit to Washington , the president said he told Pence not to be nice to the governor.
“So I told Mike not to be complimentary to the governor, because that governor is a snake, Inslee,” said Trump. “And I said, ‘If you’re nice to him, he will take advantage.’ And I would have said no.”
“Let me just tell you, we have a lot of problems with the governor, the governor of Washington … we have many problems,” Trump added. “So Mike may be happy with him, but I am not.”
I don’t understand — Trump probably already has the votes of most of the people who like to use snake emojis online anyway!