The Washington Post reported that Trump made clear that he would reward those governors that are “appreciative” of him and punish those who were not.
Have we ever had a president who was so petty, so vain, so desperately in need of praise?
President Trump is a commander in chief dealing with a coronavirus outbreak in which many difficult decisions have to be made. And on Friday, he seemed to suggest some of those decisions could be made according to who has run afoul of him personally.
Appearing at the daily White House briefing, Trump disclosed that he has told Vice President Pence, who is leading the coronavirus task force, not to call the governors of Michigan and Washington state because those governors had been critical of Trump and the federal response.
“When they’re not appreciative to me, they’re not appreciative to the Army Corps, they’re not appreciative to FEMA, it’s not right,” Trump said.
He then added: “I say, ‘Mike, don’t call the governor of Washington; you’re wasting your time with him. Don’t call the woman in Michigan. It doesn’t make any difference what happens.’ You know what I say: ‘If they don’t treat you right, I don’t call.’ He’s a different type of person; he’ll call quietly anyway.”
Those states are particularly important. Washington state was the first real hot spot in the United States for the coronavirus outbreak. Michigan, which has among the nation’s highest rates of the virus, is also a key swing state in the 2020 election. You wonder if Trump’s comments about not wanting to communicate with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) during a crisis might be used against him in his reelection campaign.
Asked what more he wants from Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D), in particular, Trump said he just wants more gratitude.
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“All I want them to do — very simple: I want them to be appreciative,” he said. “I don’t want them to say things that aren’t true. I want them to be appreciative.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Scientists say the universe is made up of Protons, Neutrons and electrons, and even muons… but they forgot to mention MORONS!
LMAO!!! Good one, Susan!
To be fair, they did include “bosons” (🤡), which prolly covers it.
SDP: the Souix would include Bisons.
Is it possible for Trumpy Dumpty to go any lower?
I’m nodded yes as I write that question.
Of course, The Real Agent Orange helping spread the pandemic and handing out false advice based on whatever he hears from Fox of Limbaugh, advise that kills people, will find a way to go lower until the limbo bar is buried deep below ground and to get under it, Tremplestilt-thin-skin will have to have his children and deplorable hardcore supporters dig a tunnel for him to crawl that deep.
Oh, for those of little faith, OF COURSE!!! taking out my crystal ball”
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
IQ45 (wearing flak jacket and camo MAGA hat): Is this mike on? OK. Some of my people—Stephen Miller, here, good man—wanted me to read a speech from the teleprompter. And I respect that. I respect that. But I don’t read, and that’s what politicians do. I know. I know. Believe me. They read their Fake News, make stuff up. Democrats. Can’t trust them. You know who you can trust? You do, don’t you? Donald Trump. Never told a lie. So no. No teleprompter. I’m just going to tell you what I think, OK? Always have. Always have.
You know, I heard–they told me–this message is going out to the biggest crowd for a political speech ever. Biggest crowd. Well, those left alive. Obama ever get a crowd like that? Biggest ever.
Fortunately, when this whole thing started, we got behind it early. Great team. The best. I stopped it completely when I ordered that cruise ship to stay away. Done. Finished. People said to me, “Thank you, Mr. President. Great job.” Maybe the best job of any president ever. Nothing like it. Winner.
But then Hunter Biden came back from Ukraine with this Corona Flu and it started all over again. What’r’ya gonna do? What’r’ya gonnna do? I know. These people are crazy. They’ll do anything. Anything.
But I knew. I knew early on—because I had this uncle at MIT—brilliant guy—genius—this was going to get bad. How bad? Bad I said. That’s why I sent checks out to everybody. Signed “Donald Trump.” Biggest checks ever. But the Democrats and the Fake News blocked me all the way. Disgraceful. They’re a disgrace.
What’s why, effective immediately, I’m declaring martial law. And heading up this effort, as our new Secretary of Defense, will be my daughter, Ivanka. Isn’t she just something? Come over here, Ivanka? I tell you what, if I wasn’t her father. . . . woah. You’re gonna do a great job Ivanka. Thank you.
And, of course, we don’t want people handling ballots or using touch screens. Especially all those fake voters coming in from Mexico. So that’s why we’re suspending the elections until 2028. Just as a safety precaution during this health crisis. Because the safety of the American people is my number one priority. We love America. And America? America loves Donald Trump.
Coronaflu, we got you!
And yes, the incidents with the attacks on Chinese Americans and Democrats were bad, and I’ve issued a very stern warning to Aryans for a Lifetime Presidency about that. Some of them good people. Good people on both sides. The last thing we want is panic. And don’t worry, Ivanka is making sure that there will be plenty of ammo.
But if you want to get out of the country for a while, we’ve got this great club in Ireland—Trump International Golf Links and Hotel. And Ivanka, Ivanka? They will be getting military escorts to the hotel, am I right?
IVANKA: Yes, Daddy.
IQ45: So there. Another problem solved. They tell me, I’ve got a knack for this kind of thing. They call me up and say, “You know, I never saw anybody just knows what the right thing to do is. We’ve got scientists don’t know that.” See what I mean?
God Bless you. And Make America Grate Again.
For more on the breathtakingly vile and clownish Jabba the Trump/IQ45 Maladministration, go here: https://bobshepherdonline.wordpress.com/category/trump-don-the-con/
Admit it. You plagiarized that speech word-for-word from one Trump gave in the last few days.
No, not at all, Propaganda Minister Stephen Miller the Daft sent me a draft.
He behaves like a mob boss instead of a president. Everyone must tiptoe around his fragile ego, and everyone must kiss the ring. With a perceived affront to him, Trump becomes the ventilator Nazi. “No ventilators for you, New York and Michigan.”
Yes, & Illinois, as well. Gov. Pritzker tweeted that IQ45 should stop sending tweets & send supplies &, of course, what T did was send him a nasty tweet back.
We have been lucky, locally, w/adults in charge, here. In fact, Gov. Pritzker donated an extremely large amount (it was $1.5 or $2.5 million) of his personal fortune to help (wish I could find the actual Sun-Times article to fully explain). Mayor Lightfoot (who had also written to IQ45) just closed all the parks & beaches, as people were doing really stupid things–congregating & playing soccer & basketball.
& Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County President, just sent an e-mail w/info. for donations & reassuring words.
Gov. Pritzker does a daily, truthful briefing, & Mayor Lightfoot is also on air daily.
All of them are true public servants &, again, we feel lucky to have them in office at this time when it’s very evident that the states have been pretty much on their own.
BTW, Mayor Lightfoot has closed CPS through the end of April, & I’m quite certain the Gov. will continue the lockdown…despite what IQ45
does on/before Easter.
&…of 2 deaths here today, one was an infant.
Here is Trump consolidating his power with the use of half-truths (a well-known fascist ploy):
“’When they’re not appreciative to me, they’re not appreciative to the Army Corps, they’re not appreciative to FEMA, it’s not right,’ Trump said.”
THAT, and the below are great contradictory HALF-TRUTHS:
“I don’t want them to say things that aren’t true.” FALSE, but glued to the seemingly simple but TRUE: “I want them to be appreciative.”
He’s telling us exactly who he is and that, in his mind, HE IS THE TRUTH. Again, this is straight-up fascism. CBK
Trump believes he IS the government.
He IS the Army.
It’s all about him.
Rugged individualism has paid off for him. The least he can do, in the parlance of civility, is keep these thoughts private and not let them be said to the press.
The one thing I credit Trump for is that he is open and honest about how truly vile and evil he really is. I can’t at all say that for the DNC . . . .
Exactly, nailed it, Diane!
Trump is THE National Security THREAT of America.
At this point I should be inured to the idiotic and stupid toxic word dumps of the bloviator-in-chief. But his latest spewings against governors and reporters are jaw-dropping. I really can’t stand listening to him, so most of the times, I quickly change channels. Out of a sense of duty, I did subject myself to his latest attacks on decency, sanity and basic humanity. I will gladly vote for addle brained Biden because at least he is not as mean, nasty and heartless as addle brained Trump. Assuming the election isn’t postponed……. forever.
The really TRAGIC thing is that evidently, from what I read, his approval rate is high. I remember the London newspaper that posted after George W was elected for the second time something to the effect of; how can so many people [and they named the figure of our population at the time] be so dumb.
The only answer I can think of is that the Fox propaganda machine and other far right “news” organizations have so much coverage and are so good at promoting the Hitler like propaganda
Actually, Trump’s approval rating is questionable right now.
358 and Real Clear Politics are two sites that average all of the reputable polls.
Both have been fairly close for the last few years (since early 2017). I have been following them to see what Trump’s unpopularity average is. Every morning when I log on to check my e-mail and my blogs, I check those two sites to see what Trump’s always underwater popularity is.
358 uses different rules and grades the polling sites, adjusting their numbers accordingly.
358 also has three categories: 1. All polls, 2. Polls of likely or registered voters, and 3. Polls of Adults.
Real Clear Politics doesn’t do that and they only have one polling number for all the polls: Trump’s favorable/unfavorable spread.
The day after Trump announced that he was thinking of opening the country on Easter to save the economy instead of focusing on saving as many lives as possible, the two polling sites shot apart dramatically in their average numbers for All Polls.
Today, 358’s average for “All Polls” was a MINUS 3.9 percent.
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/
Real Clear Politics’ average was MINUS 9.1 percent.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/trump_favorableunfavorable-5493.html
I’ve never seen these two sites so far apart, and do not know what to make of it.
However, 358 offers a comparison of Trump’s popularity rating with every President starting with Truman in 1945, and every president since 1945 has been more popular than Trump. Trump’s average has been underwater, below 50-percent from day one. If you click the 358 link above, scroll down to find those comparisons.
None of you people seem to appreciate Donald Trump’s amazing ability to focus his attention in a time of crisis. He hasn’t wavered. He’s lived, eaten, breathed this. He has not for a single moment diverted his attention from . . . .
marketing Trump.
And hey, it’s almost Easter, at which time DT is going to make this all go away. “Like magic,” he said.
allow me to restate that:
And hey, it’s almost Easter, at which time this is all going to go away. “Like magic,” Dear Leader said, and you know, he always tells it like it is. Gotta love that, huh? Thank you, Mr. President, for your unrelenting commitment to the truth.
Marketing Trump became his habit decades ago as his business ventures kept failing or going bankrupt. Trump Marketing Trump is one of two things (#2 is illegally laundering money for Russian crime bosses and Saudi Princes) that has kept him living an opulent lifestyle with gold plated toilet seats, and molesting or seducing as many women as possible.
Since he lied taking the Oath of Office, what has replaced women to molest and/or seduce in his life? Hmmm, maybe that’s why Trump hasn’t fired Kellyanne Conway yet to punish her husband George for criticizing Trump every chance he gets.
https://www.snopes.com/news/2016/06/23/donald-trump-rape-lawsuit/
Meanwhile, in a parallel universe:
Yes, this will all go down in the history books. While the rest of the world suffered horribly, tragically, during the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020-21, and many millions died, the U.S. emerged relatively unscathed because its President, with canny foresight, listened to scientists from the very beginning and took this very seriously–invoked the Defense Production Act to get tests out across the country and to manufacture essential equipment like ventilators and masks, identified areas with infections, quarantined those, enforced a stay-at-home order nationwide for nonessential personnel, ordered a halt to evictions and foreclosures, ordered funding to cover tests and treatment and lost wages, mobilized the Army to set up field hospitals across the country, put people before corporations and the stock market, deferred to the experts, spoke the truth, however hard, about what was coming. What a great leader! The only thing he could be faulted for, of course, was spending so much time in the background, during this, huddled with the experts and letting those who knew what they were doing take the lead. But, hey, that’s just the kind of guy he was–humble, modest, a real man of the people.
So it’s late at night at the White House and Trump is sound asleep when he is visited by the ghost of FDR. He asks the ghost, “How do I make America great again?”
The ghost answers, “Put people ahead of profit.”
“Fake news!” Trump shouts before going back to sleep.
A while later he is visited by the ghost of George Washington. “How do I make America great again?”
Washington: “You must never tell a lie.”
“Eff that,” Trump mutters before rolling over and again going back to sleep.
Then he is visited by the ghost of Abraham Lincoln and asks the question again.
“Go to the theater.”
[The joke needs to add: “And take Pence with you.”]
OK. My new fav.
So, Putin is visited by the ghost of Stalin. Putin asks Stalin if he has any advice for him. “Yes,” says Stalin. “Kill all your enemies, and paint the Kremlin blue.”
“Of course. But why blue?” asks Putin.
IQ45 met with the fellow whom he referred to in a tweet as “The Prince of Whales.” He explained to the Prince that climate change was “just weather.” And then he went home and gutted EPA regulations of greenhouse gasses. That climate change is a “hoax” has been a recurring theme in Trumpty’s tweets and rallies.
So, where did Covid-19 come from? Well, it’s proximate source was probably a wet market for live, wild animals in Wuhan. But how did it get into those animals? Most likely from bats, who are known to be carriers of these coronaviruses that cause Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Covid-19.
So why now? Why all these diseases from bats? Here’s what’s happening: many bats like to roost in the canopies of trees, but these are being heavily damaged by climate change. And they eat insects, also being heavily affected by climate change and by pesticides. And the eat fruit, but as humans encroach on their habitats, there is less fruit, and there are fewer roosting places. And so, where before the bats went about their lives, for the most part, in these isolated wild regions, increasingly climate change is driving them, and the wild animals they infect, closer to human habitations.
So, climate-change denial by the likes to Donald (he of little brain) Trump is a culprit, here.
cx: its, not its
“he of little brain”
I thought he didn’t have any brain – just an empty space under his puff of orange hair
He dyes it to look just like his mother’s. Pathological.
Since he copied her hair color, he must have had her brain scooped out after she died and injected into his vacant skull.
https://www.boredpanda.com/funny-donald-trump-queen-elizabeth-photohop-trumpqueen/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic
If Prince Philip saw those images, he would be afraid to sleep. He might wake up and see Trump’s face in bed beside him and then Philip would have a massive stroke and die.
This exchange is quite the intellectual discourse . . .
🙂
I must be missing out. Were those not all photos of the actual Queen Elizabeth, past and present?
Look closely at the faces. Everything else but the face was Queen Elizabeth but someone that’s really good at editing photos replaced her face with his mug. it must have taken a lot of time.
Chris Christie’s team shut down bridges jeopardizing lives- the plot targeted Dems. Christie’s been rewarded with a network news job defending Republicans.
Trump’s behavior is run-of-the mill for Republicans and aligns with conservative religious values.
Ok – not everyone on this blog is a fan of Governor Cuomo… however… How about New York, Illinois, and Washington schedule a STATES UNITED FOR AMERICA VIRTUAL GOVERNORS’ PRESS CONFERENCE (They could get Make States United Again blue hats).
Governor Pritzker and Governor Cuomo and dozens more would be a national force that could not be ignored. Shield and support the governors of Michigan and others – – – – and include PATIENTS needing representation in red states. GUILT the red state governors to stand up. Some did for Obama-care and medicare.
The goal: Get the president off the podium. Demand a MEDICAL press conference every day. Demand a military deployment press conference every day. Demand an Industrial Leaders’ press conference on mass production (yeh, even the 1%ers of the 1%ers).
Demand that Senators get a clue. Demand the cabinet read the 25th Amendment.
Demand the cabinet read the 25th Amendment.. Amen to that!!!
And this is a brilliant idea, Wait what.
YESSS, I’m all for it. Cuomo has multiplexed my respect for him over the last 2 wks. Who knew? He had some Mario in him after all. Include govrs of CT & NJ; they’re working with him. Have you been watching CSPAN? They’ve been featuring many govrs’ press conferences. Even a couple of red-state govrs performing admirably (& all outshining IQ-45). I’ve found it heartening to see how much quality leadership we actually have in this country.
No surprise here. Hard times bring out the worst in those of weak character.
Trump is the result of a long history of Republican pandering to bigots, including for example, Judge Roy Moore, twice removed from the bench, but embraced by the Republican party. Or consider President Nixon who had no problem reporting he could get cash to payoff postential informants about the Watergate break-in. No one is perfect but like many here, I cannot fathom why Republicans and evangelicals still support him as if he is god-like.
Jefferson said, “In every country, in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot abetting his abuses in return for protection of his.”
Chris Christie regularly attends church. Mitch McConnell relies on the evangelical/Catholic tribalism in Kentucky to be elected. Rand Paul is a “devout Christian”. Top management at Catholic University of America welcomed the Koch’s on campus. Trump’s base is the alliance of evangelicals and Catholics.
Distorting the truth and exploiting crises- business as usual for politicians and churches.
Linda I don’t want to get into it with you again because I think your mind is tighter than a tick about those awful Catholics.
But let me ask others here to remember that Nancy Pelosi is Catholic, for instance, and many, many others who, like me, do not share such ideas as you are constantly harping about on this site.
Unfortunately, the 17th century-minded ultra-conservative right-wing in the Church is very organized and has a bigger and uglier public face at the present time. For myself, I wish they’d spend more time working on their own evil, like their hiding pedophiles, than trying to destroy public education and secular government. And their are less short-sighted ways to deal with abortion than destroying women’s rights in the process.
My point is that Linda’s paintbrush is too broad and covered with only one color paint.
Also, while I’m at it, K-12 Catholic education (which Linda mentioned in an earlier note, as if they were equivalent to right-wing evangelical schools), though they have problems just like public education, was here long before the charter-bandwagon got going and long before the rich saw it as a new horizon for marketers.
Like Montessori schools, however, Catholic schools have a long-time excellent reputation for developing the whole child, and for providing a liberal arts/ethics-rich core education under the requirements of state and federal guidelines.
I know many Catholics and non-Catholics who pay to send their children there precisely because of the public school problems in their area–e.g., crowded classrooms, gangs, poor curriculum, etc.
And as most here probably know, I am FOR public education, but still am aware of the problems public schooling presents to parents in many areas.
But to lump K-12 Catholic education in with the present privatization and anti-public-school movement, or as a direct arm of ultra-conservative Catholics-only is an ignorant-of-the-facts thing to do. CBK
“Chris Christie regularly attends church.”
Surely you can do better than that.
Linda,
There should always be a separation of church and state, and how disgusting that some religious organizations have been anything but Christian. Not all religious people support the hyper capitalism that we have in the USA. If anything, the Catholic church should be speaking out against this president left and right!
Either way, I have always maintained that religion is the opioid of the masses. Very few faiths allow for a broad range of questioning and debate.
Religion is the unacknowledged invention of man. It has been used to oppress and conquer people, to control them, to exploit them. However, that does not make followers of a faith oppressive; but it can show potentially that they are far more filled with religiosity than intellectualism and autonomy. Jim and Tammy Fay Baker are perfect examples of that dynamic.
And that’s one of the historical reasons why the United States is so far behind other nations. Our founding fathers and mothers fled from England to seek religious freedom, but they also went to war with England because the King was outlawing slavery and the colonists wanted to retain it. So much for their Christian spirit . . . .
Robert Rendo . . . a thoughtful note. One issue, however, about when you say: “Very few faiths allow for a broad range of questioning and debate.”
I wouldn’t be too sure about that. (My experience with two orders of faith over a long period of time reflects a quite different reality.) Also, there is as much contempt for the Tammy and Jim kind of “faith” in those communities as with others–again, in my experience of it–but only that–I haven’t taken a poll. It’s just that most are a bit less noisy about their faith living, on the principles of their own faith itself; and my thought is: much differently motivated.
But also for many, I think your appraisal–about the rampant hypocrisy of many (again, not all) who claim Christianity as their own while taking such positions on the poor or the “other”–is true (as examples). It’s very human in that regard, especially when we compare those who claim democracy/ republicanism while making life-and-death war on its institutions. On that, the common note that “we are all sinners” is rightly an analysis, but wrongly an excuse. CBK
Commenters could inform the discussion by citing national media who have broadened their coverage from evangelical exposés to the alliance of evangelicals with the USCCB and, its extended political arm, state Catholic Conferences.
Absent that coverage, there is a duty to give it visibility.
At this blog, disinformation is a legitimate target for criticism. When a state Catholic Conference posts info from American Federation of Children, they invite rebuke. When the Conferences cite “research” papers with dubious funders or dubious connections and they make unsubstantiated claims, there is a duty to give it visibility.
A protected special interest group gains influence when it has backing from plutocrats and there is fear to call out its leaders. The religious group wins when their opposition is silent and lacks the influence derived from significant funding.
One needs only to look at the Espinosa’s case, the erosion of abortion rights, a confirmed attorney general who wants to introduce religion at every opportunity and, the inability of gay rights to get a legal foothold, to understand the American theocracy about which Jefferson warned.
When media writes about (1) Jefferson’s warning and (2) the political influence of the most politically organized of the two major U.S. religions, and gives it as much reverence as unfettered markets, I will give thanks and believe my obligation to inform is lessened. IMO, Instead of circling wagons, the religious should expect more of themselves as Americans in a democracy for which much has been sacrificed.
When Catholic Vote (a U.S. organization) praises Hungary’s Orban, thinking people recognize the threat.
Pelosi is not the strongest argument. How have the 99% fared during her tenure? Recently, she backed a conservative, male representative who voted with Trump 70% of the time against his female Justice Democrat opponent. During Pelosi’s strong presence in the House, has she effectively championed campaign finance reform?
BTW- before these blog discussions, were the readers of comments aware of the substantial political involvement of the Catholic hierarchy and its shared agenda with leaders of evangelical compounds or were they ignorant about the info?
Linda . . . I think your extremist complaints border on the un-rational and are ruining your stated purpose (some of which I happen to agree with, as I tried to say in my note) . . . by harping, cherry-picking, broad-brushing and purveying misinformation–as with your innuendo/ over-generalization about the K-12 Catholic Schools. And you can’t even say something good about Nancy Pelosi–who is a great source for good in the House, because she you have to hate all things Catholic? Come on . . . CBK
CBK,
I agree with you.
I am married to a devout a Roman Catholic who spent 35 years as a public school teacher and principal.
I have many wonderful Catholic friends, who are kind, compassionate, and committed to a just society.
I am friendly with nuns and priests who are great people with strong moral and ethical principles.
I have visited excellent Catholic schools.
I strongly oppose public funding of any religious schools.
Linda,
Are readers aware of the history of Catholic Church’s key role in helping to conquer lands, cultures, people, and convert “savages to civilized Christians”? That’s about 500 year’s worth of savagery, and not from native peoples.
Look at what the Spanish Inquisition did. The list goes on and on . . . . The abuse of children by priests . . . .
Ughhhhh!
CK-
“We are all sinners is a rightly analysis” – substantiation?
Two Catholic education systems-
(1) Cristo Rey, a chain that has a prototype with 60 students. Students are required to work 1 week a month. Their pay can be returned to the school to offset costs, providing additional money for an institution that taxpayers fund.
(2) Catholic schools that Laura Chapman reports don’t take vouchers.
Linda: . . . **tighter than a tick . . . ** Every time I read “Linda” here I also see bashed “Catholic.” But stick to your guns . . . it apparently gives you great pleasure. SCBK
Robert-
You’re correct.
If it wasn’t tragic, it would be amusing to observe that two religions are very similar, while one of them enjoys a reputation for intellectual and moral superiority- “The one true church”. I give a nod for worse citizen to the Catholic contingent. The hierarchy pretends they support policy which turns out to be de facto, Republican candidates and, they wield more political power through an organized structure that contrasts with the evangelical compounds. And, thirdly, media gives Catholic politicking a pass.
Followers of both religions expect schtick talking points from Christ’s teachings. It hides the naked power grab.
Clever that- the hierarchy uses the PR of different “factions” to assuage the dissonance originating from belonging to a group that wields political power for male, plutocratic privilege.
The meditation practices, placebos, tradition, everlasting life and the idea that a plea will result in action from a super power is compelling stuff. Tack on the prestige of being “devout”, belonging to a group that reinforces a sense of superiority and, its power is stronger than American democracy.
“Chris Christie attends church regularly” while his team was hell bent on punishing a Democratic stronghold. A bridge to medical care was shut down and the commenter’s admonition to me was it was a below the belt criticism of either Christie or church goers. ugh…..
CNK, Linda, and Diane,
The participants in a faith are not necessarily of the same milieu as the religious institutions they partake in. Personally, I think some religions need to modernize themselves big time, but they don’t. Priests and nuns should be able to marry and have families.
However, participants in certain faiths stand to be under-informed about the history of what they partake in, and are therefore duped.
But there don’t have to be any rules. There are very religious and devout Catholics who are outright immoral and hypocritical (same for all other faiths).
There are atheists who I would trust my life with because they are so morally oriented.
There are those who are spiritual but not religious.
There are those who follow the ceremonies of the dogma of their church out of tradition but don’t reflect the rigidity of that dogma in their daily lives and political practices.
There are those who are very religious and stand for equity, redistribution of wealth and power, and economic and social justice.
And then there are those, alas, who use religion as a cloak to fortify their righteousness and make themselves feel anointed or look moral when in fact, they are hiding their hypocrisy. Look at all the conservative religious GOP and more “liberal” Democrat voters who proclaim right by “God”, who pray for their own personal circumstances, who but said and did nothing about children being separated from their parents down at the border. This is diabolical and permanently unforgivable in my mind!
As the sage French have said per their successful history, “Chacun pour soi, et Dieu pour tous!” . . . . . . Each man is out for himself only and God is for all . . . . How very ironically American. The French have re-designed their society over the years. We have not for the most part . . . .
Ignoring the Catholic vote is tantamount to the re-election of Trump.
The case is made by Nicholas Rowan, 3-13-2020, in the Washington
Examiner.
Thanks Robert for your comments. You are more diplomatic than Jefferson.
Did you know that Biden is a devout Catholic?
Lloyd-
Yes-reportedly, he was refused communion.
I hope you don’t buy into CK’s depiction of me as a person who thinks all Catholics have similar politics. Like Diane, I have loved ones who have Catholic faith and who vote Democratic. Some support Bernie, the candidate advocating positions most like WWJD.
Because I respect a number of Catholics, that anecdotal evidence doesn’t alter the actions of the USCCB, state Catholic Conferences and the current Attorney General, the signing of the Manhattan Declaration, and the 3-24-2020 letter condemning Planned Parenthood sent to the Secretary of HHS. Nor will it influence the decisions of SCOTUS on the occasion that a decision reflects religious basis.
Linda writes: “I hope you don’t buy into CK’s depiction of me as a person who thinks all Catholics have similar politics. Like Diane, I have loved ones who have Catholic faith and who vote Democratic. Some support Bernie, the candidate advocating positions most like WWJD.”
That’s the first I’ve heard of it. By omission and by error, it’s been your own depiction of your own views all along. CBK
Biden is a devout Catholic.
My opinion- building an argument against encroachment of theocracy on the foundation that the people with whom one associates, are personable – not even knowing how representative they are- has no defense. Those associates are likely characterized by power limited to their own voting.
What is known by fact is what the USCCB and state Catholic Conferences state and do, what the Attorney General states and does, what the basis for the decisions that SCOTUS makes is, what Trump’s campaign states and does, what organizations like Catholic Vote and Catholic League state and do, what Nuns on the Bus state and do, etc., factoring in the resources each has to achieve their goals.
CBS reports that hedge funder Bill Ackman bet on the market crash and reaped $2.6 bil.
Forbes posted in 2018, “The Easiest Money Bill Ackman has made lately is in a bunch of charter schools”.
Money resulting from investments in charter schools and from the crash, regardless of who it belongs to, should be forfeited.
Here’s what history will say: Trump, because he was a sick, self-focused, ignorant man, fiddled around until the pandemic became endemic in the United States. And then. . . . well, it was bad. It was really, really bad.
History will also say everything about the intellectual capability, mindset and life experiences of those who voted for him, regardless of their economic status. Inside that voter pool is an unsettling narrative, even if based on perception.
Who would have thought that marriage to close relatives was still so prevalent?
No marriage factors here, Bob.
People are fed up with the status quo, and Trump feeds into their fear and anger like a cold hand and custom-tailored glove. A veritable perfect storm, not unlike Nazi Germany . . . . In our case, I think it’s because no one really represents and stands up for the average Joe any more, which makes a Trump election viable, if not sustainable. How horrible. Playing easily into fear and ignorance are an effective way to victory for plutocrats and fascists. The writing is on the wall, and it’s multi-lingual at this point . . . . It affects everyone!
Goodness . . . WHY are you in Florida?
Someone should explain to him that it’s not his money, his government, his largesse, so there is no reason to be grateful.
Amen to that!
You may count me among the unappreciative. Governors Cuomo and Murphy are out there every day pleading for ventilators and protective equipment. Our country is woefully unprepared for a pandemic. Warnings were not heeded. We had months to prepare tests. In the meantime, Trump wavers back and forth between appropriate messaging and idiocy. As a teacher, I recognize the importance of preparation. Winging a lesson by not reading the text under discussion does not bode well. For the last many years, teachers have heard an unending cacophony of allegations of ineptitude. Our honorable legislators cannot even master the art of maintaining a six foot distance. We are sending huge sums of money to industries, which have little regard for public safety. In the midst of a pandemic, millions are without health insurance. Count me among the unappreciative, Mr. President. Americans are dying in great numbers and we are not at the apex.
Now we have the TRUMP VIRUS. He was right about one thing… I’m tired of winning…
LOL. Yes.
The Trump Administration are kidding themselves. This is just getting started. They can punish Michigan and New York all they want- it won’t matter. They didn’t do anything to prepare for this catastrophe and next week it will be moving on to people and states they care about – Florida or Georgia or Tennessee. It’s already moved. They’re 2 weeks behind the virus and they’re all incompetent because they were unqualified when they were hired and they certainly haven’t gotten more qualified.
The virus doesn’t respect their political machinations. It doesn’t care. This is Georgia:
“A rapidly growing rate of coronavirus infections has Albany under siege. Its main hospital is so overrun with sick and dying patients that nurses at one point had been told to keep working even if they tested positive themselves, and the administration turned to the underground market to try to find essential supplies.”
We’re going to have to watch the US Department of Education distribution of disaster funding to public schools. DeVos is a mindless Trump loyalist- reliably parrots the (required) fawning praise of The Leader and she’s ideologically biased against public schools and public school students.
We’ll have to watch that they do the jobs we’re paying them to do honestly and don’t punish students for the political sin of attending a public school.
You’re all paying these federal employees. You’re entitled to demand that they do at least the minimum of their jobs, no matter whether they support public school students or not. At minimum they should be able to manage equitable, lawful distributions of public funds in a somewhat professional manner.
They didn’t do anything to prepare for the disaster and they haven’t done anything to help- at the very least we can and should expect them to distribute federal funds so state and local leaders can do the jobs the feds didn’t bother doing.
Not much of a work ethic in Trumpworld, though. These are not people who are accustomed to working. Two weeks prior to this catastrophe they were all partying at Maralago. They’re a bunch of people who inherited wealth, bought prestigious education credentials, never competed for a job (those were given to them) and have never had to work for anything. It shows.
The biggest disappointment to me has been the CDC. I knew the Trump people were unqualified and incompetent but I’m shocked at how poorly the CDC has performed. They were supposed to be an independent agency- a prestigious science-based institution. Their work has been garbage. Were they always this bad and we just didn’t know it?
My daughter and son in law are front line health care workers. I’m just sick that no one in the Trump Administration even bothered to prepare to provide additional gloves and masks. They had months. They did nothing.
We will lose nurses and physicians and techs and cleaning and support people in hospitals because the people Donald Trump hired were too lazy and incompetent to lay in basic supplies for an emergency. It is inexcusable. They should be prosecuted. Instead we’re all paying their salaries. The whole miserable lot should be fired. They failed and what’s worse is they didn’t even try because they’re too incompetent to even understand the problem.
They’re all happily and safely working from home while the millions of health care workers they FAILED to protect are working at great personal risk. They think we’re expendable. They have utter contempt and disregard for the public they supposedly serve. People will die needlessly as a result of their incompetence.
Thank you, Chiara.
I worry for your daughter and son-in-law. Your “real” story is frightening.
We need a revolution, Chiara! I am sorry you own close ones are going through this!
Here is professor Kim Woo-joo from Korea University Guro Hospital re: covid19 ….
thanks for the post-
From the video- wearing glasses and masks helps prevent the droplets’ spread. US government and WHO statements about the failure of masks to protect a person are false and were crafted to prevent hoarding so that scarce masks are available for health workers.
30% of infected lose sense of smell and taste