Coronavirus daily update: Friday, Nov. 20

Rudy Giuliani Edition

Let’s take a look at what the last 30 days have wrought on former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani — America’s mayor!

• In late October, he put his hand down his pants in the new Borat film.
• Just a week ago, in what seemed like a booking error, he held a press conference to protest the vote in Philadelphia at Four Seasons Total Landscaping — the one by the dildo shop — during which the election was called for Joe Biden and everyone left.
• Then there was this week’s literal meltdown, floating a plot about election hacking involving China, Hugo Chavez and a bit from My Cousin Vinny (no shit) while hair dye (mascara?) running down his face.

But Giuliani’s always been a mess. This is a guy who divorced one of his wives via press conference. This is the guy who sued the Duke University Men’s Golf Team when they wouldn’t let his son play. This same kid now works in the White House and today tested positive for COVID-19. But I’ll always remember him this way.

True, Giuliani cleaned up New York — or, at least, he was at the helm when things started to get better. Honestly, you should have seen Times Square in the 1970s and ’80s. But the rub on Giuliani back then — which jibes with his position on the Trump team — is that he was always a bit of a fascist. And maybe that’s what New York City needed way back when.

But right now, Giuliani has nothing that anybody needs. Except punch lines.

Some news

• Georgia is set to certify its election for Biden, after a recount.
• Activist Rev. Greg Drumwright is being charged with felonies in Alamance County weeks after his last protest action there.
• Greensboro has been ranked as one of the “deadliest” cities in the nation. Using math. Calling bullshit.
• Tim Gunther won his seat for Wake Countuy District Court judge. But then he was ruled ineligible because he never lived at his stated address.
• The NC Supreme Court Chief Justice race between incumbent Cheri Beasley (D) and Paul Newby (R) is not yet settled. Pending a recount, Newby leads by 406 votes.

The numbers

• In North Carolina, we have 10 “red” counties and 43 “orange,” including Forsyth. Guilford is a “yellow.”
• We have 3,688 new cases in NC, making 311,772 (another 17,074 have tested positive for the antigens).
  • 4,979 deaths (+33)
  • 8.3 positive test rate
  • 1,571 hospitalized (new record)
• Guilford County adds a reasonable 97 cases, first down in double-digits in a while. 14,111 total
  • No new deaths (217)
  • 1,531 active cases, 143 hospitalized.
• Forsyth County has 146 new cases (11,723) and three new deaths (156)
  • 1,982 active cases.

A diversion

I’ve been thinking about what a whack-job Rudy Giuliani has turned into, and then I saw Kevin Nealon’s tweet of a portrait of Chris Farley, who died in 1997. If you clicked on my Andrew Giuliani links before, you’re gonna love this. But I can;t embecd this video as it’s from NBC, so instead I went on a random YouTube dive and came up with this: Attack of the Puppet People, from 1958. Looks terrible.

Program notes

• For tonight’s featured image, we’ve got “The Boulevard Montmartre on a Winter Morning,” from Camille Pissaro, 1897. Taken from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s public-domain collection.
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