South Carolina, Political Trolling, and Government-Approved Panic

In the wake of the last Democratic debate before South Carolina and Super Tuesday, the gang examines what challenges may or may not be left for Bernie Sanders on the path to the nomination. Matt argues there's an opening for Biden if he pairs a South Carolina win with an impressive performance on Super Tuesday. However, the debate did not seem to change much about the race. In fact, Matt argues, it may be that no debates actually matter, except for the ones where a candidate totally self-destructs.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg continues to lap the field in total spending, sticking his face on everything from the debate commercial breaks to Axios's newsletters. The media have given him near-constant attention since he started his ad blitz, which appears to be exactly the kind of special treatment that paved the way for a certain Donald J. Trump to win the Republican primary in 2016. This comes, of course, after the media worried incessantly about how to learn from the so-called tragedy of Trump's rise. Goldfarb has a touching reason why we should not be surprised or upset: "Take the media and love them for who they are because they can't change."

Looking across the Pacific to discern what danger the coronavirus actually presents, the gang wonders what government official would actually tell people to panic. The eventual answer shows that there's always another opponent of the Trump administration inside the Trump administration.

Free Beacon legal correspondent Victorino Matus comes in with updates on Harvey Weinstein and Michael Avenatti, who have both been convicted in New York but face more legal trouble out in California. And if you want to know about Floyd Mayweather's lackluster parties or "genius, avant-garde" names for gender-nonconforming babies, Kitty has you covered.

Perhaps the most disturbing story of all, however, is the "free birthing" movement, which may be the end of us all.