I don’t know about you but I found tonight’s speech by Trump about the coronavirus to be extremely vapid. He praised the response of his administration to the crisis but didn’t say exactly what it was doing in real time. He did not mention the federal government’s failure to supply tests for the virus, which is a critical issue. Every major country in the world is testing more people per day than we are. We are not testing many people because tests are not available. After lavishing praise on his administration and the strength of our economy, he announced a travel ban with Europe, exempting Great Britain, which also has a coronavirus problem. Trump announced a variety of plans to help business, but investors were not reassured. According to reports on Twitter, stock futures plummeted after Trump spoke.
This is the way Joy Reid of MSNBC summarized the speech on Twitter:
Summary of Trump’s solutions to the coronavirus pandemic:
-ban European travel (though the virus is already here)
-business tax cuts
-payroll tax cut which cuts money from Medicare (the virus is most deadly to the elderly)
-bragging about the economy
-oh and wash your hands!
Business Insider reported this two days ago, and there is no reason that anything has changed in the past two days:
As the novel coronavirus spreads globally — more than 100 countries have reported cases — governments are ramping up testing.
South Korea and China have tested hundreds of thousands of cases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US has tested fewer than 2,000.
The US has performed five coronavirus tests per million people, compared with South Korea’s 3,692 tests per million people.
As of Sunday, 1,707 Americans had been tested for the novel coronavirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. South Korea, by contrast, has tested more than 189,000 people. The two countries announced their first coronavirus cases on the same day.
In the US, test-kit shortages have hampered health authorities’ ability to get a clear sense of how many Americans are infected. Compared with many other countries affected by the coronavirus, in fact, the US has done the fewest COVID-19 tests per capita.
South Korea’s testing total so far, when broken down into number of tests performed per million citizens, seems to be about 700 times as high than the US’s.
Ask yourself: What is the federal government doing to expand the supply of tests and distribute them across the nation?
Trump did not address this issue tonight.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The virus has already been in the United States spreading for several weeks and without the test kits, or enough of them, there is no way to determine how widespread it already is.
Nothing Trump listed will do anything to save lives or slow up the spread of COVID-19. He could close all of America’s borders for six months and that would do nothing to stop it.
Think of the theory “SIx-Degrees of Separation”, and that is how close each of us is to being exposed to COVID-19.
After three years of buffoonery, blundering, and bullying (all of which the billionaire boys, the angry white man’s base, and self-proclaimed victims of big government loved) the president now faces a bona fide crisis that requires a bona fide leader and that is not him.
He clearly cannot handle it – and can’t tweet and blame his way out of it.
Watching excerpts of his speech – it is obvious he is for once reading a script and not happy about what he was saying. And, that he is alone. He does not ask for or listen to advice, disputes doctors and experts, and now – for the first time he may realize he is not the smartest man in the room. He had no facts, no details, no substance. Why? Because he hasn’t listened to economic advisers, scientists, or anyone else and knows he can know longer make stuff up.
He can’t be the hero in this. He’s beyond being able to blame his usual suspects. It’s too late for scapegoats. And, unlike the Senators, the CDC, medical experts, economists, scientists and others don’t care what he tweets about them – this is life and death.
His impeachment may not have made it past 51 Senators – but if there was a secret senate “Vote of Confidence” right now – he’d lose by a landslide.
According to the reporters on Twitter, the speech was written by Jared Kushner and Stephen Miller. Kushner knows everything, and Miller hates everyone who wasn’t born here and didn’t vote for Trump.
Hee, hee. You nailed it!
So well said, Wait, What?
The people who backed tRumps run for POTUS did not want leadership, they wanted a figurehead and distractor in chief, one who would advance the agenda of those behind the curtain while attacking any and all opposition via a numbing onslaught of lies and unreality. tRumps public descriptions of the deep state, which most resemble the Turkish deep state of decades past is an example of this , he really is chaffing under the direction and control of those around him such as Kushner and Miller etc., in other words his actual handlers. Even the anti-qualified Betsy DeVoid gets to advance her agenda thru him. The reality check of Covid19 has put him in survival mode for the first time. I seriously doubt it was tRumps idea to delegate control to Pence, a loss of what little control he had that he can’t effectively blame others for without collapsing his house of cards. Never forget that tRump is nothing more than a figurehead, a semi-sentient puppet doing the will of others with games of golf and some financial gains as his reward.
IF there was ever a good case for impeachment, this is further evidence that Trump is inept. I also blame Republicans (and centrist Democrats) as well, for cutting the budgets of key federal agencies. These cuts have decimated the expert centers that were in place to preempt this disaster.
Roy Cohn taught Trump how to attack a person or organization but not a virus. Trump doesn’t know how to insult and bully COVID-19.
this oaf, this ignorant cretin
“My fellow Americans, tonight I want to speak with you about our nation’s unprecedented response to the Coronavirus outbreak that started in China and is now spreading throughout the world.”
That’s the first line of his talk. His emphasis will be on how great his response has been, not on what his maladministration is now doing to contain the virus and save American lives.
Typical Trump. It’s always about him, how great he is.
Not to worry folks, the Medal of Freedom guy is on top of the situation:
RUSH: Folks, this coronavirus thing, I want to try to put this in perspective for you. It looks like the coronavirus is being weaponized as yet another element to bring down Donald Trump. Now, I want to tell you the truth about the coronavirus. (interruption) You think I’m wrong about this? You think I’m missing it by saying that’s… (interruption) Yeah, I’m dead right on this. The coronavirus is the common cold, folks.
The Drive-By Media hype of this thing as a pandemic, as the Andromeda strain, as, “Oh, my God, if you get it, you’re dead.” Do you know what the — I think the survival rate is 98%. Ninety-eight percent of people get the coronavirus survive. It’s a respiratory system virus. It probably is a ChiCom laboratory experiment that is in the process of being weaponized. All superpower nations weaponize bioweapons. They experiment with them. The Russians, for example, have weaponized fentanyl. Now, fentanyl is also not what it is represented to be. End nauseating quote
This man is really evil and has done so much harm to this country.
either evil or nuts. or both.
both, definitely
All too true but look at the bright side. Mr. Stinkbooger is setting up his brainless listeners and tRumps base to all be tied for first place in the Darwin Awards. Pardon my disdain, but I hope they all proceed as if Stinkbooger is telling the truth. Don’t you love it when a big steaming vat of karma gets served up to the deserving?
This was a distraction. It was filled with disinformation. This is all he knows how to do. But this is a real crisis, and decisions bced on lies and disinformation lead to disaster. This virus is coming for is presidency. I bet he will issue a ‘national emergency,’ on the day elections, and close down voting places to maintain distancing.
The testing situations a disgrace.
Also it will take over a year to develop and test a vaccine. By then, according to reliable sources, between 70 million and 150 million will have contracted the disease. I saw the charts on the geometric progression of the disease everywhere. Two links show this:
https://moneymaven.io/mishtalk/economics/coronavirus-geometric-progression-suggests-100-000-infections-in-a-week-jzcZTq6Je0GpmioumMXSyg
https://www.zerohedge.com/health/coronavirus-geometric-progression-suggests-100000-infections-week
The prediction of the outbreak progression is based on a very simple assumption that the counts will at first follow an exponential curve, at least at the beginning of the outbreak. Over time, instead, the s-curve shape will become dominant. The log scale chart of the time-series shows that growth of infected outside China is 15% per day (geometric progression). Since the parameters of the geometric progression are changing, the prediction is calculated using only the latest 5 data points.
The time-series graph in this link https://www.coronaviruschart.com
tracks 2019–20 Wuhan coronavirus COVID19 (2019-nCoV, SARS-CoV-2) outbreak originating in Wuhan, Hubei province, China.
The basic reproduction number is around 2.62 new infected per one sick. The most frequently reported symptoms are fever, cough, muscle aches, and tiredness. Time from exposure to developing symptoms (incubation) of the virus is 2 – 10 days.
Ton Hanks and his wife contacted it in Austrailia!
Listening to him read his speech tonight revealed (again) that his reading fluency is noticeably underdeveloped.
He speaks at a fourth grade level.
His reading skills not as good.
I was thinking, as I listened to this, that they must have had to run him through this many, many times. Miller and Kushner write at a reading level far beyond the Donald’s ability. All in all, he did pretty well, despite his clear unhappiness that he was having to do this. He actually got through this without mispronouncing many of the words.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, issued a dire warning to Congress today: “If we are complacent and don’t do really aggressive containment and mitigation, the number could go way up…many, many millions.”
Trump has done the exact opposite of “really aggressive containment.” He’s spent weeks minimizing coronavirus, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/us-isnt-ready-whats-about-happen/607636/?emci=60bcdf16-df63-ea11-a94c-00155d03b5dd&emdi=df1d241a-e163-ea11-a94c-00155d03b5dd&ceid=649417
contradicting health experts, lying to the public, https://americanindependent.com/donald-trump-coronavirus-campaign-rally-deaths-vaccine-covid-19/?emci=60bcdf16-df63-ea11-a94c-00155d03b5dd&emdi=df1d241a-e163-ea11-a94c-00155d03b5dd&ceid=649417
as well as hampering efforts to address the crisis. Lab tests for the virus are in short supply. And today, Trump’s Republican allies in the Senate blocked an emergency bill to provide paid sick leave to workers during the coronavirus crisis. https://twitter.com/CAPAction/status/1237812059980673024?emci=60bcdf16-df63-ea11-a94c-00155d03b5dd&emdi=df1d241a-e163-ea11-a94c-00155d03b5dd&ceid=649417
The guy I watched last night live from the oval office was the “Donald Trump Being Held Hostage” persona.
We’ve seen this act before. And, Diane is absolutely correct. Trump has depleted his repertoire and many millions of Americans are utterly exhausted and disgusted by his carny freak show
Being a courageous, wise and inspiring leader is not in cards. It’s not one of the masks that Trump can pull out of his bag of tricks. Of course, a large swath of the nation recognized that fact years ago.
The “Donald Trump Being Held Hostage” persona is a odd thing, though. He’s like one of those soldiers who was held hostage by the North Koreans and made to mouth false slogans and platitudes. Are we to believe that a performer like Trump can’t muster more than a zombie-like drone and cardboard cutout delivery? Where’s the guy who stands up at those anger-infested rallies and whips up crowds? And what’s with his repeated wheeze? It sounds like a ventilator machine.
He was phoning it in last night. Playing serious while he’d rather be playing golf.
But I have to wonder if it’s one big dog whistle to his rabid followers. Like he’s signalling, yeah, I gotta say this crap but you know what I’m really about. (Wink, nod, tweet.)
Meanwhile, I’m sure there are some fellow citizens out there who actually might believe this guy. (“Gee, honey, the president really cares. Okay, now we can sleep at night.”) How sad can it get?
Well, a whole lot more, God help us.
This administration’s response is a failure of leadership of the highest order. Barely any action at all when they had plenty of time and knowledge beforehand to mount some type of defensive strategy. This *****le’s stark incompetence, narcissism and profound ignorance is costing this country dearly, nay, the world perhaps. Gross, gross negligence of a criminal.
https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2020/03/12/dr-sam-fink-coronavirus-italy-ski-trip-patients-ac360-sot-vpx.cnn
This doctor shares his experience. 13 people exposed to the virus. 13 caught it. Not elderly people. People in their 40s and 50s.
Angela Merkel of Germany, in stark contrast to our president, is an educated person. She holds a PhD in quantum chemistry and has published scientific papers in her field. Today, she predicted that 60-70 percent of the German population would become infected with the coronavirus. As goes Germany, so goes the United States. WHO recently stated that the virus appears to have a 3.4 percent mortality rate. So, let’s take more conservative numbers.
0.60 (infection rate/morbidity rate) x 0.034 (death rate/mortality rate) x 329.45 million (U.S. population in August of 2019 according to Census Bureau) = 6,720,780 dead.
Let’s hope the infection rate isn’t even close to that 60-70 percent that Merkel predicts for Germany.
We might be early enough in this actually to contain it, if we were taking very, very aggressive steps now: CLOSING ALL SCHOOLS, forbidding public events, rapidly ramping up the creation of test kits and testing facilities and hazmat suits for health workers and setting up of health facilities (e.g., field hospitals), training paraprofessional responders, etc.The time to do this is NOT after the spread. It’s now.
We are doing none of this.
None of it.
And we have Dense Mikey non-Pensee and Jared Kookner and Don the Con in charge.
The Merkel comment has been the subject of some significant criticism, but in context some suggest 60 – 70 percent was an estimate based on no intervention, no mitigation.
Yes. This is the figure from which you start. This is the problem to be dealt with, to be mitigated.
And this morning, after mouthing words about bringing the nation together, Trump started the day with a twitter attack on Nancy Pelosi. He needs to be quarantined from all social media.
My prediction: After all this is done, Donald Trump will be remembered as by far the worst leader in American history–a vile, ignorant, psychologically disturbed oaf who cost the lives of millions of Americans.
Only two simple words @realDonaldTrump could have spoken tonight would have reassured America: I resign.
–John Weaver
The problem is that the leadership in this country is more obsessed with keeping the total number of people who have this disease under counted so that he can brag about what a fantastically, great job he is doing.
We all know whom I am talking about. No, Mr. Trump, you are NOT doing a fantastic job. I weep for the people who believe you. I weep for the thousands of people who will get ill but that the US isn’t prepared in either the number of hospital beds, the ventilators or just plain things that are needed to protect the workers who have to come to work every day and be around infected people. The US continues to brag daily and it makes me ill. I want someone who is responsible and has the knowledge to do something useful.
My wish is that all of those Fox watchers would realize that they are being indoctrinated daily.
I stopped listening to him years ago. He lies all the time. He’s not a credible person.
It HAS been encouraging to watch some of the governors step up and fill the void left by the Trump Administration’s ignorance and incompetence.
I would suggest we operate like there is no US President and big sections of the executive branch no longer function. That’s the truth. They simply cannot perform the minimum functions of the jobs they have- most of them aren’t qualified and even if they were qualified they’re all so dishonest they can’t be trusted.
We still have state and local government and a Congress. That may be enough.
How interesting that we are ALL printing in bold black today. Trump is looking out for himself. We should be surprised at that?
…………………………………….
Ban Excludes Countries Where He Has Golf Courses
Barbie Latza Nadeau
Correspondent-At-Large
Published Mar. 12, 2020 7:07AM ET
David Moir/Reuters
When President Donald Trump announced his 30-day travel ban to Europe Wednesday night, he excluded the United Kingdom, even though it has 456 cases of the novel coronavirus, far more than many countries under the ban, including Portugal and Poland.
What the U.K. does have is Trump properties, including Turberry and Trump International Golf Links in Scotland. He also has another in Doonbeg, Ireland—another country not restricted by the White House.
In his Wednesday night national address, Trump referred to the novel coronavirus as a “foreign virus,” even though multiple American cases and deaths have been reported in the U.S.
The total ban includes 26 countries that are part of Europe’s Schengen Area, including Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
Read it at Business Insider
I was wondering, why he exluded the UK. Now I know.
My own governor, Mike DeWine, seems to be doing a good job. He’s not as subservient to the Trump Administration as so many Republicans seem to be, for which I am grateful.
But the people Trump hired in the federal government? They’re useless. They’re all afraid of him- they’re incapable of performing their jobs honestly and in good faith in fear he’ll attack and then fire them. You’ve all seen the press conferences where Trump lies and they all go along. They’re cowards.
I just listened on BBC to part of Trump’s speech that was given yesterday. He drones on listlessly. Obviously he didn’t care about this very much. There was no emotion shown. It is obvious he was reading something. It is hard for him to read complete sentences.
What an oaf.
He lacks any empathy or compassion.
“Richard N. Haass
There is no good or complete substitute for the executive branch when it comes to national crisis, but one takeaway to last 2 months & tonight’s speech is that Congress, governors & mayors, private sector, & civil society will need to step up to get this country thru this ordeal.”
The US Congress and state and local governments are about to be tested- let’s hope they pass the test the Trump Administration failed. I don’t have a lot of hope for Congress but I think we may be pleasantly surprised by state and local.
I have become constitutionally incapable of listening to anyone from this morally cretinous administration.
Trump missed a great opportunity to reassure the nation. He could have done this with two words:
I resign.
I have NO DOUBT that dump and his gangsters want to “make a profit” off of COVID19 test kits and the fall out.
NOTHING surprises me.
There should be NO PROFITS from test kits or the Coronavirus.
I can only imagine the drooling mouths of the RePUGni-cans thinking of turning a profit from the Coronavirus while people suffer and die.
Everything about Trump is for himself. He has lied about how the coronavirus is similar to flu and now won’t declare a national emergency even though that would free up funding and resources for states.
…………………………
Trump fears emergency declaration would contradict coronavirus message
3/11/2020
President Donald Trump is reluctant to declare an expansive emergency to combat the escalating coronavirus outbreak, fearful of stoking panic with such a dramatic step, according to three people familiar with the situation…
Any emergency declaration would go significantly beyond that move, bringing in the Federal Emergency Management Agency and freeing up funding and resources for states struggling to contain the rapidly spreading virus.
Trump’s concern at this point is that going further could hamper his narrative that the coronavirus is similar to the seasonal flu and could further agitate Wall Street, said the three people familiar with the discussions.
“The president isn’t persuaded because [an emergency declaration] contradicts his message that this is the flu,” said a Republican who speaks to Trump.
Health experts have rigorously disputed any assertion that the coronavirus is equivalent to the seasonal flu, noting it is much more lethal and particularly dangerous to the elderly and those with other health conditions.
Trump is walking a fine line as coronavirus cases in the U.S. sail past 1,000. As the president ramps up for a 2020 reelection campaign, he is trying to simultaneously signal calm to the American public, comfort businesses whose customers have disappeared amid self-isolation directives and ensure there‘s enough money to combat the still-new disease.
At the White House, some of Trump’s closest aides have debated whether an emergency declaration is needed to ensure those resources are available. But they have yet to make a recommendation to Trump, according to two the people familiar with the situation.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar is pushing for the designation. But Vice President Mike Pence, who Trump tapped to lead the administration’s coronavirus response, is wary it could trigger an economic tailspin, they added…
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/11/trump-emergency-declaration-coronavirus-message-125902
Heckuva job, Trumpy.
LOL
There is hope. As I’ve said before, I think Trump needs to have an ego rally in Wuhan. He needs to learn first hand how the Chinese love him.
………………………..
The Washington Post
Democracy Dies in Darkness
News Alert Mar 12, 11:36 AM
Brazilian official who met Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday tests positive for coronavirus
Fabio Wajngarten, a spokesman for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, tested positive for covid-19, Brazilian officials said. Wajngarten stood next to President Trump in a photograph with Vice President Pence.
Posted from the WH:
“Big and bold, optimistic and compassionate. President Trump’s Oval Office address was exactly what America needed to hear. This is what it looks like when a president rises up to meet a crisis head-on,” Michael Goodwin writes in the New York Post.
Interesting statement since just a week ago, our Orange Chieftan called the virus a hoax.
“We are not testing many people because tests are not available. ”
Many hospitals can make up a test kit. I am told that it’s not difficult to make it. The problem is that they are not authorized to do it. Maybe lifting this requirement on authorization would solve the testing problem since then all local hospitals could work out a test.
As usual, John Oliver is very education and funny. This is one week old but still relevant
The U.S. Coronavirus response will be abysmal not because of failure on the part of our frontline responders but because of our healthcare system’s DESIGN.
Medicare for All, now!!!
And, of course, our response is already a failure because of the idiocy and incompetence of the IQ45 maladministration. While we should have been ramping up production of tests and hazmat suits and creating field hospitals around the country, as well as passing emergency legislation to ensure pay for sick and laid-off workers and to ensure that everyone will have access to free testing and treatment, Don the Con has been lounging about in his orange-faced clown suit congratulating himself on stopping the virus and telling people that it’s been contained and soon will go away.
Utter ignorance. Utter incompetence. Psychopathic narcissism. It’s all about him.
And as a result, millions of Americans will die.
Report from the Coronal Office on Corona virus
“I am happy to report that Coronavirus is contracted ONLY by drinking Corona beer and therefore avoiding such beer will completely stop the spread.”
SomeDAM Poet: “I am happy to report that Coronavirus is contracted ONLY by drinking Corona beer and therefore avoiding such beer will completely stop the spread.”
Oh my goodness. I’m sure that Supreme Court Bret K will rule against that statement.
Brett K________ Really, Really Likes Beer
You are treading on very dangerous territory!!
Hoo-rah!!!! FEEL THE BERN!!
The Washington Post
Democracy Dies in Darkness
News Alert Mar 12, 3:54 PM
Sen. Bernie Sanders wins Democratic presidential primary in California
Sanders’s lead over former vice president Joe Biden narrowed as more votes were counted, but he has won the biggest prize from Super Tuesday, according to Edison Media Research. Biden maintains a delegate lead in the race.
&–once again–did anyone notice that the orange one still has no pictures of his family on the table behind him? (Yes, now–finally–he does have some pictures, but they appear to be old photographs of his parents, maybe.) Where are Baron & Melania?
Tiffany? Surprisingly, I didn’t see even Ivana & Jaren–I especially noticed no grandchildren. (Don’t expect to see Don Jr. & Eric/wives & children–er, in Don Jr’s case, ex-wife.)
What kind of a person doesn’t recognize/prize his own GRANDCHILDREN??
Don’t answer that…it’s rhetorical.