Mad Quickies: The President Committed Crimes and Killer Fungus Among Us
Fascism and fungus are not a good combo.
As I type this Robert Mueller is testifying to Congress about the report he created as Special Counsel. The main takeaways, that those of us who read the report already know, is that President Trump obstructed Justice and can be charged with a crime when he leaves office. Here are some relevant clips:
Rep. Richmond: "So it's fair to say that the president tried to protect himself by asking staff to falsify records relevant to an ongoing investigation?"
Mueller: "I would say that's generally a summary." pic.twitter.com/GhZepIkn7y
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) July 24, 2019
Robert Mueller has now said multiple times that President Trump could be indicted as soon as he is no longer president. What a thing.
Rep. Buck: Can you charge the president with obstruction of justice after he is out of office?
Again, Mueller without hesitation says "yes."— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) July 24, 2019
CONGRESS: The only reason you didn't indict Donald Trump is because DOJ rules prohibit indicting a sitting president?
MUELLER: Correct.
CONGRESS: But you can indict him once he leaves office?
MUELLER: Correct.pic.twitter.com/IbdfnEmsCO
— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) July 24, 2019
This seems…big. Thanks to Republican Ken Buck for getting this on the record:
Buck: "Could you charge the president with a crime after he left office?"
Robert Mueller: "Yes" pic.twitter.com/47SRauY7cz
— Pod Save America (@PodSaveAmerica) July 24, 2019
Nadler: Did you actually totally exonerate the President?
Mueller: No pic.twitter.com/H7V5PeAtSF
— ALBΞRT MacGloan (@AlbertMacGloan) July 24, 2019
In somewhat related science news, since this president is convinced that there is no such thing as global warming, likely because it’s not profitable for him to understand climate science… I bring you NEW killer fungus. There is a new study that says climate change is likely responsible for a rise in a deadly drug resistant fungus. As temperatures get hotter organisms will evolve and adapt- or die off. One thing that is happily evolving in the heat, is a fungus. And not the happy mushroom fungi we like to stuff with cheese or put on pizza, but the kind of fungus that’s wants to eat your face- or more specifically, your inner ears. The study published by the American Society for Microbiology says killer fungus is evolving.
From the abstract:
The most enigmatic aspect of the rise of Candida auris as a human pathogen is that it emerged simultaneously on three continents, with each clade being genetically distinct. Although new pathogenic fungal species are described regularly, these are mostly species associated with single cases in individuals who are immunosuppressed. In this study, we used phylogenetic analysis to compare the temperature susceptibility of C. auris with those of its close relatives and to use these results to argue that it may be the first example of a new fungal disease emerging from climate change, with the caveat that many other factors may have contributed.
Candida auris is coming for us. It was first discovered in 2009 in a human ear and has shown resistance to treatment and resistance to heat. It’s evolving. Just one more reason we need to acknowledge and address climate change. Time is running out.
Apologies to all the good fungi out there. I did not mean to correlate pizza toppings with current fascist presidents.
