During the Vietnam War, some critics used to say, “Why don’t we just declare victory and go home.”
That’s what Trump is doing after declaring himself a “wartime president.” Two months of battle was enough for him.
Dana Milbank writes that the United States has decided to abandon the war on COVID-19.
Now is the spring of our disgrace.
Around the world, countries are winning the battle against the coronavirus and beginning a responsible return to work, school and leisure, confident that their governments have the deadly virus in check.
But the United States plays the loser. Unwilling to do the hard work needed to beat the pandemic, we are quitting: forcing people back to work without protections people in other countries enjoy. The most powerful country in the world is failing.
In October, Johns Hopkins University rated the United States the country best prepared for an epidemic, as President Trump boasted in February. But this week, a Hopkins scientist told Congress we are “the worst affected country in the world.” How did the best become the worst?
Full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic
Trump has abandoned attempts to control the pandemic, though there is no downturn in cases. His administration ignores its own reopening requirements and shelves guidelines written by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Instead Trump applauds reckless reopening in a way that, as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, admitted, “will lead to an increase and spread. It’s almost ipso facto.”
This is state-sanctioned killing. It is a conscious decision to accept 2,000 preventable deaths every day, because our leaders believe the victims are the poor schlubs who work in meat-processing plants, not “regular folks,” as Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Patience Roggensack memorably put it this week.
It is deliberately sacrificing the old, factory workers, and black and Hispanic Americans, who are dying at higher rates. This comes after “stimulus” programs passed by Congress proved a bonanza to big business and billionaires but offered little to the nearly one-fifth of American children who are not getting enough to eat — a rate three times as high as during the Great Recession, a Brookings Institution study found.
The mindless reopening is as stupid as it is immoral. Does anybody truly believe Americans will return to work while the virus rages? Send our kids to schools without tools in place to stop outbreaks? Put our parents in retirement homes that, without adequate testing, are often death traps? Enjoy a restaurant, theater, flight to Disney World or trip to the mall, knowing it could kill us? Reopening masquerades as a political cause — LIBERATE! — but it is really a lazy unwillingness to do the hard work to defeat the virus, and to restore our economy.
It must be the bonespurs.
“…though there is no downturn in cases.”
We actually don’t know if there has been a downturn, uptick or flattening of the number of cases. We have no idea how many people have it or don’t since such a small portion of the population has gotten tested.
The numbers being reported are based on test results and some of those tests (I’ve read aout 15%) are flawed. That means the actual numbers are much higher, NOT lower.
Exactly. Get ready for the stories of discoveries of the bodies of elderly people living alone. EVERY disease is underreported in its early stages.
Pure idiocy built on the willful ignorance of one with a genetic predisposition to be only negative and contrarian. Facts and reasonable uncertainty be damned.
Seriously, Diane, he’s allowed to get away with this and I’m in moderation and he’s not???
Dienne, you are not in moderation. WordPress arbitrarily puts comments in moderation.
Every single one of my posts has gone into moderation since I posted inconvenient facts about a certain presidential candidate. WordPress has an odd sense of “arbitrary”. Furthermore, you specifically told me you won’t allow such facts to be published here, and the only way to prevent that is to put offenders in moderation.
Dienne,
You are not in moderation.
Let me add that I will delete every comment you or anyone else makes that is intended to derail Joe Biden and help Trump.
There is nothing you can say about Biden that will persuade me that Trump should get a second term. I would vote for anyone—including my dog Mitzi—rather than Trump.
So please don’t try to post an anti-Biden screed. Don’t waste your time or mine.
“Number of cases” is a terrible benchmark because it follows the number of tests. As testing ramps up, the “number of cases” will rise. Yet nearly every journalist and headline writer continues to use that framing. The coverage of COVID-19 is the most epic journalistic failure I have ever seen and hopefully will ever see.
Exactly.
Agree. And bending science and data to fit any theory. We’ll see what the American Statistical Association says about all this. This is just like VAM, voodoo science being passed off as gospel truth.
“Number of cases” is the only empirical benchmark scientists and policy makers have available right now. The only one. Hence, responsible researchers, who know far better about this than anyone commenting here, myself included, are screaming for reliable tests. That’s why every CDC guideline begins with the word “interim.” Things will change. All we can do is act on the best knowledge available today. Journalists have failed on so many levels. But to cherry pick these three words is…
Not true. A short list of other empirical benchmarks are: number of new hospitalizations; number of ICU admissions; discharge rates; deaths caused by COVID-19; deaths of patients confirmed to have COVID-19; data regarding whether confirmed COVID-19 cases are symptomatic or asymptomatic; results from random sample antibody testing. Presumably a long list of other empirical benchmarks that I’m not aware of.
Oh, I forgot hospital capacity, ICU capacity, year-over-year all-cause-mortality counts. These are off the top of my head.
If it is half as bad or twice as bad as being reported, then so be it. The bigger question for me is the response. What is the efficacy of social distancing, is this the main factor or is housing density, or latitude, or some other unknown more of a contributing factor. What is the proper response next time, less, more, should all public transit in cities be shut down next winter? Should people be in food stores or get their rations delivered to their front door?
I question why schools in most areas were even shut down. But that is my personal opinion. If ideas, science, and data truly hold merit, they should be able to withstand the scrutiny of skepticism. I find it truly frightening on an intellectual level that opposing and skeptical thought is to be squelched. This seems Orwellian. I wonder what Gerry Spence, George Carlin, or Frederick Douglas think or would have thought of this. This seems like an assault on independent thought.
Ted: “I question why schools in most areas were even shut down.”
You really don’t understand why schools were closed down? What planet have you been on?
Teachers are adults and children can be carriers. Children congregate in groups and spread it to each other…then they go home and spread it to their parents and grandparents. Children also have gotten sick and died. This is a pandemic. That means people spread the disease to each other, get ill and many die. Is there something about this that is hard to understand?
Schools in other countries have also closed. This is not a unique thing ONLY done by the United States.
Give one good reason why schools should have stayed open.
I forgot that lawyers peddled in the faux trade of making distinctions without differences. Every example you cite is grounded in the concept of “number of cases.” And how’s about the news of children developing and some dying of a mysterious illness linked to COVID-19. As I remind everyone, as I believe I reminded you less than a week ago, the state of the best knowledge about the disease changes daily.
It is shocking that both those who adore Trump’s racist and xenophobic rhetoric and actions, and a small number of people on the left who say they don’t like that rhetoric are alike in that they still do not recognize exactly how dangerous Trump’s empowerment is to our democracy and any hope of having a progressive future. Both groups are alike in that they are both still trying to normalize what Trump is doing.
What surprises me the most are those who still believe they have no obligation to get Trump out of office unless they can replace him with someone who meets their high standards of perfection. Anyone lesser who does not meet their standards is falsely mischaracterized as no better than Trump to justify why they feel no urgency in removing Trump and his enabling Republican party from power.
Now I read that Trump is ordering anyone who comes near him to be tested every day for the virus, while he tells the public that they should go out and testing is not important.
Our country is in grave danger because not just Trump fans, but some who aren’t Trump fans, still think that his presidency is normal for this country. There are people who still believe having William Barr de-criminalizing any actions done by people whose goal is to help the far right take over this country is not a big deal. The parallels to Nazi Germany and the Aryans who in their privileged position focused their hatred on Hitler’s opponents and insisted that Hitler and the rise of Nazism was not a big deal did not suffer the way that those who recognized the need to stop empowering Hitler did.
The same thing is happening here. We live in very dangerous times and I don’t know what more Trump (and his consigliere William Barr) can do to convince some people that these are not normal times.
Believe Bernie Sanders and AOC. Trump and the Republicans need to be defeated.
“Blessed are the meek (that have enough common sense to stay home, keep their distance from others, even the Trumpist idiots not wearing masks that think the pandemic is a hoax, and also the meek wear masks while shopping for essential supplies): for they shall inherit the earth.” – Matthew 5:5
:o)
Amen
The decline of the United States…right in front of our eyes and it is accelerating.
Sad, sad days.
Yes. Every day with the Trump maladministration, it’s been a new low.
With the exceptions Ohio and Maryland, any state with a Republican governor, and to a lesser extent, if your state has a Democratic governor and a Republican (aka ALEC) controlled state legislature, the citizens of those states are at greater risk than those who are not. Louisiana, with a Democratic governor, might be be an outlier because he is too quick to appease state Republicans. The failure of a comprehensive federal response and the quashing of CDC COVID-19 guidance standards—which should be made mandatory—will prolong this pandemic and translate into more deaths, more strain on our medical infrastructure, and greater long term harm to the economy. It’s that simple. Calling them pro-genocide is not hyperbole. And should you be interested, here is the leaked CDC guidance document:
Click to access CDC-Business-Plans.pdf
Trump has simply thrown in the towel.
He was getting bad press.
He needs to have a roaring economy going into the election.
He is willing to accept a higher death toll to get the economy going.
As usual, it is all about him, not us.
It was fun to play “wartime president,” but every time he discovered a “game-changing” cure, it failed.
It wasn’t fun anymore.
Time to change the subject and move on.
I think Trump has a drug problem or untreated ADHD. He is unable to concentrate, focus or string together a coherent sentence for being such a stable genius with an Ivy League education.
Yes, Diane, I agree, but it won’t work. His daily pep rallies backfired so he turned his fleeting attention elsewhere. The economy is not going to get going. There will be a little burst and then, within a month, the COVID-19 curve will turn sharply up, many more people will die, the meager business that started to recover will implode, and we’ll have the same situation but with more corpses.
Nailed it, Diane. Every bit of information that enters Trump’s tiny brain is filtered through the “how does this relate to Trump” filter.
You forgot New York and New Jersey.
No I didn’t, the governors are doing the best jobs possible with respect to responding to the virus, especially given the lack of federal support and so many of their own citizens.
Cuomo is not an idiot and he has presence in front of a microphone, and his press coverage has been glowing. But his handling of this is hotly debatable. And on its face, the statement that the citizens of states with republican governors and republican-controlled legislatures are at greater risk than the citizens of New York and New Jersey is untrue. If the metric is the measure of risk for myself and my family, I would much rather be in Florida than New York City.
The governors are doing the best job possible …!
Really?
Not all the governors. Some of the Turmpist GOP governors are doing what Trumpty Dumpty wants them to do — put the economy before people’s lives.
Let’s see how that works out when most of the consumers do not leave isolation and restaurants and bars stay mostly empty except for the minority of deplorable Trump followers that ignorantly think the pandemic is a hoax.
I think the governors of New York and New Jersey are doing admirable jobs.
Lloyd, what would you do if you didn’t constantly misread my comments? Or do you read them in the first place? Let me put simply for you: with the exception of Ohio and Maryland, Republican governors are hazardous to their citizens’ health.
As others have stated more eloquently than me, Cuomo’s response to education is very scary. But his day-to-day management of the health situation is quite good.
I read an article the other day and I’m sorry I didn’t post it because I can’t recall where I saw it. It said that the various public health agencies had developed a protocol for conveying news about major health events to the public.
Rule 1 was that updates should be based on science and evidence, not speculation. The limitations of data should be noted.
Rule 2 was that public briefings should be conducted by medical professionals, not elected officials. The reason is that the public should trust the person delivering the briefing.
The article pointed out that President Obama never led briefings during the swine flu crisis but let the public health professionals lead.
I thought of the article as I watched Trump make a fool of himself pushing his favorite theories and quack remedies. But I also thought about it as I see Cuomo’s daily briefings and DeBlasio’s daily briefings. Who is the public health director for the state and the city? I don’t know. They are silent.
Diane: I’ve watched some of the live news briefings given by Pritzker [a billionaire governor D-IL]. He lets his chief medical officer speak whenever he doesn’t have the answer to questions. She always starts the briefings and does speak in English first and then Spanish.
Pritzker has done his homework and is knowledgeable on exactly what is happening in the state. He speaks concisely and gives out statistics.
I was surprised because I inherently don’t trust wealthy businessmen. [Guess why?] He wears a mask and has said that our leader should do that. He isn’t afraid to label Trump when the facts warrant. [I’m surprised Trump hasn’t jumped all over Pritzker.]
His briefings come live at 2:30PM each day though the Chicago Tribune.
WATCH LIVE: Daily Coronavirus Briefing From Illinois Health Officials at 2:30 p.m.
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/watch-live-daily-coronavirus-briefing-from-illinois-health-officials/2234359/?_osource=db_npd_nbc_wmaq_eml_shr
I have been impressed with Pritzker, too. He isn’t afraid to admit his mistakes or the shortcomings in the state’s response. He follows up on criticism rather than sweeping them under the rug. It’s so nice to have a governor who doesn’t let his ego get in the way of governing.
Good lord, he’s even attacking Lloyd.
GregB. I’m from MD. Yes, Hogan is doing a remarkable job with the virus but he can afford to play this part because he is term limited….and he is in his 2nd term. He has not been friendly to public education, ever. Just today, he cut education spending for public education (Kirwin) and HBCU’s. That’s not sitting well with a lot of people here. I can understand the cuts. The casino’s have been shut down and that’s where the funding was to come from. This is just the beginning of the cuts and I’m sure that more are to come. I wouldn’t be surprised if he pushes for more online learning (Gates initiative).
Don’t be too sure about Flor-uh-duh, Flerp. Our Trump Mini Me governor is going full speed ahead with reopening. And he has ordered the state’s medical examiners not to report Covid cases and deaths anymore. Why? Because he knows that reopening will come with big spikes in both.
If you sort the Worldometer for the U.S. by deaths by 1 million population, the eleven states that are higher than the national rate are New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Louisiana, Michigan, DC, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and Illinois.
The States with the lowest per capita death rates are Hawaii, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Utah, West Virginia, Oregon, Arkansas, South Dakota and Tennessee.
Trump is a disaster in almost every conceivable way, all amplified in a national emergency.
That said, the idea that people’s desire to get back to work is an “unwilling[ness] to do the hard work needed to beat the pandemic” is, dare I say, offensive. It’s akin to saying that someone’s desire to inhale oxygen is an unwillingness to do the hard work of asphyxiation.
Mark Twain wrote the best response to this throughly illogical analogy, “Ah, heavens and earth, friend, if you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could to-day.”
Yes, I’m very stupid, you make that point routinely.
Not stupid, ignorant. And hysterical.
Thx
Yr wlcm
“That said, the idea that people’s desire to get back to work is an “unwilling[ness] to do the hard work needed to beat the pandemic” is, dare I say, offensive.”
That wasn’t how I read the Milbank post. “Reopening” refers to “mindless reopening” at the top of that para, which refers to the theme, Trump’s dropping the push for testing et al, emphasizing reopening while scuttling CDC guidelines on safe reopening & cheering those who would reopen w/o observing even the guidelines his own admin has published.
This is an excellent point.
I posted a longer reply that got held up in moderation, and I request to Diane to please just delete that one if at all possible. Thank you.
In order to start opening up again, we need widespread testing–enough testing to test everyone regularly–and superb contact tracing and PPE such as masks and shields. Which means that we need
a. the President to use the Defense Production Act to convert companies to manufacturers of tests, testing equipment, N95 masks, and protective shields
b. the President to use the Defense Production Act to make a large company (Alphabet?) create a single national database for contact tracing
c. the President and Congress to create agencies for 1) test and PPE distribution and 2) for contact tracing and to hire large numbers of people to do this, including investigators, clerks, drivers, etc.
But Trump is, in addition to his many, many, many, many other failings, an extremist ideologue. Magic markets are supposed to take care of everything.
You forgot New York and New Jersey.
Meant to have this be a reply to Mr. Greg B. above.
It is being reported that in some states that are opening up the economy, that there are no people willing to participate in the “free market” activities. Store owners opened up and didn’t have customers and some restaurants opened and had no customers. Sounds like “the people” have made a decision to stay safe….Oh, but “we” will just be called lazy for wanting to sit at home and live off of that big stimulus check. There’s always an excuse for Trump and his death army SMH!
A third of renters couldn’t pay their rent in April. I don’t know what the figures are, yet, for May. Many people couldn’t afford a trip to the yoga studio or gym or a meal in a restaurant, right now, even if they were willing to risk their lives for it.
The “hoax” put out by Democrats is getting closer…closer…closer….
……………………………………..
3:37 PM (8 minutes ago)
The Washington Post
Democracy Dies in Darkness
News Alert May 8, 4:37 PM
Vice President Pence’s press secretary tests positive for coronavirus
Katie Miller was notified Friday about the result, according to people familiar with the situation. Miller confirmed to NBC news that she tested positive and said she was asymptomatic.
Why was ANYONE who was “asymptomatic” getting a test?
Oh yes, I forgot that anyone who comes near Trump and Pence must be tested every day because they both tell us that there is no need for testing and we should all just go about our business.
Fact 1: Pence’s press secretary just tested positive.
Fact 2: Pence does not wear a mask.
Fact 3: Pence stands close to Trump— daily, for long periods of time.
Fact 4: Trump does not wear a mask.
Fact 5: Both Pence and Trump are in the high risk group.
My reply to the 5-facts you listed:
Pray!
Pray a lot!
Pray to any god or God you believe in even it that god is Mother Nature.
And do not pray to save Trump and Pence.
LeftCoastTeacher: I LOVE the thought. The Democratic ‘hoax’ will have come home.
My husband’s “gallow’s humor” is that Nancy Pelosi just made an appointment to measure for new drapes in the Oval Office.
Wouldn’t it be ironic if…?????
Some say that karma’s a ______. But she’s just fair.
I wonder for how long countries will ban travel from USA?
I am going to do my best to avoid this blog. My comments serve no purpose here. My family is under extreme stress. I identify with no regular commenters anymore except Dienne (which is interesting, as our politics differ in significant respects). I am depressed and suicidal, and the time I spend here is a poor allocation of my time and resources.
I am sorry you and your family are under a great deal of stress. These times are uniquely scary for all. Please seek help if you feel as though you can’t cope. I always enjoy reading your comments on this blog. I hope you feel better soon.
I too am sorry that you feel like that. It is not my intent to exacerbate this. The Mayo Clinic recently released treatment guidelines for the type of cancer I work with and they specifically advised all people to take care of their mental health and call https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/current-events/supporting-your-emotional-well-being-during-the-covid-19-outbreak/ if one has these thoughts. We’ll get through this. Of that I’m confident. You should be too.
Ferp..
In one brief comment today you referred to a lot of metrics that could be reported and are not. All of those metrics could also be examined in relation to hospitalizations unrelated to the virus, length of stay, discharge, return rates and more. We are living in a fog of disinformation and much posturing about data-driven decisions, but with not much good information to act upon.
Your basic point is spot on. I am reminded that the data dashboards and record keeping for teachers–measures of productivity, efficiency, and outcomes–are really out of proportion to their usefulness. The reverse is true for reporting on the pandemic.
Please continue to comment as you are able and with the sure knowledge that your comments are read and appreciated as thought provoking.
Please find some help on stress reduction and depression. I regret that I am not a person who can help on that.
FLERP if it’s any help you are not alone. I have been struggling daily with depression, so is one of my two sons. Retaining a measure of sanity only by switching mid-morning from blog/ news to classical music, & keeping old TCM movies on captioned mute…
I would hate to have you go from here & would very much miss your comments. FWIW, I admire your [& Dienne’s] willingness to stand up and poke holes in what sometimes feels like a cascade of PC echo-chamber sentiments. (& keep in mind it’s only a couple who routinely land on you/ misread/ hairsplit, in a kneejerk response to seeing your moniker.). How the heck would we have debate w/o regular challengers? We’d have to depend on the periodic drive-by newcomer who drops a bomb & disappears forever after getting stomped in the return fire 😀 … HOWEVER– that said, you must protect your wellbeing. If being here just makes you feel worse, don’t do it! I’ll try to be braver about speaking up.
I know we often disagree, but you clearly are a very good person and you try to back up your opinions with facts and explanations about why you think as you do. I respect that, and I also appreciate many of your informative posts.
I am very sorry you are feeling as you do.
I just wanted to add that all of your posts reveal what a wonderful and caring parent you are and your concern for your children’s education is truly admirable. Whether your children realize it already or whether it will take a few more years of them growing up, I am certain that they will be incredibly grateful that they were lucky enough to have you as their parent.
(And if you are experiencing the same stress that many of us parents of teen children are feeling, please know that you are not alone.)
I hope things get better.
“I am depressed and suicidal, and the time I spend here is a poor allocation of my time and resources.”
I was depressed continuously for 10 years before getting any help. It is very hard to live with depression. Please keep commenting. There are many of us who read and respect what you say.
Times now are very hard. Hope you have someone to talk to on a regular basis.
That you read and comment here is a sign that you care about life. And we care about you. That is for Carol and Flerp. In this crazy time, know that we see you and value what you have to say. Much love to you and others who are suffering during this very difficult time.
Steve Nelson: I’m fine now but I do understand how difficult it is to live with depression.
I had therapy twice a week for five years. Fortunately, my therapist only charged $20 an hour when the official rate at that time was $150. She saw me twice a week for an hour and sometimes an hour and a half. There was no strict monitoring of time.
I don’t want to say that this is what everyone needs. it was what I needed and it helped. My mother, who didn’t know better, was severely emotionally and mentally abusive. I have forgiven her because she tried her best.
So, I know how it feels to be depressed but the work that I did helped. I learned what was the problem and then learned how to move on. I did this work in my early 50’s. [I’ll be 76 in a couple of weeks. Oh dear!!]
Dear FLERP,
You have been a valued participant in discussions here for a long, long time. I’m sorry that you are under stress these days. I sensed that the shutdown hit you especially hard, for a variety of reasons, and that you are eager to see it end. We all want to see it end, we all yearn for a return to life as we knew it before mid-March. I hope you know that I value your opinions and your voice. I would hate to see you leave us. You are a regular, and you have many virtual friends on this blog, including me.
Diane
FLERP!
May 8, 2020 at 4:52 pm
Yes, I’m very stupid, you make that point routinely.
GregB
May 8, 2020 at 5:07 pm
Not stupid, ignorant. And hysterical.
No moderation huh?
Butt out, Ted. We don’t need you to stir up antagonism.
This is my living room, and you risk being shown the exit.
To Ted: if you don’t know the difference between the definitions of stupid and ignorant, I can’t help you. The argument you pose can be distilled into this: “My selective reading of news reports and selective interpretation of of statistics makes me as or more qualified than scientist who have devoted their lives and careers to scientific inquiry. The fact that scientists don’t know what will happen and the lack of verifiable testing shouldn’t stop me from doing what I want to do to move freely and earn money because I don’t think it will affect me and my loved ones and I’m willing to risk letting others die as long as I’m left alone.”
FLERP!
I hope you feel better. I have suffered through a lot of emotional pain in my life. It is very difficult, but I am better now. Please don’t feel that nobody cares about you. I always read your comments. Do not lose hope. There are hotlines you can call 24/7.
Flerp, I have long, long appreciated coming to this blog and benefiting from your keen intelligence. Your presence here would be sorely missed by me. Please, please, please, if you are having such thoughts, which are normal enough–many have had them–seek counseling. It’s not something to be embarrassed about. We all need help sometimes. Love to you and yours, Flerp. –Bob S.
Flerp: For a long time now, I’ve visited this blog daily, and I always pause with a little excitement when I see a post from you because I know that it’s going to be rational, warranted, and thought-provoking. You have a rare and beautiful mind. Thank you for sharing it, and please, please, please, take care of it and of yourself. You have many friends here, said Diane. I am one of these.
Propaganda Minister Stephen “Goebbels” Miller’s wife, a press secretary to Pence the Dense, just tested positive for the virus. IQ45, in his usual toddler English, said,
“So, she tested positive out of the blue. This is why the whole concept of tests aren’t necessarily, right.The tests are perfect but something can happen between a test where it’s good and then something happens and then all of a sudden, she was tested very recently and tested negative.”
Trump’s peculiar response was discussed on CNN. Trump seemed to draw a lesson that the tests are no good because one day Katie Miller tested negative, and the next day she was positive. Dr. Sanjay Gupta said Trump completely misunderstood. She was well one day, sick the next. The test confirmed it.
What Trump clearly has not understood is that people can be asymptomatic for some time. They can be so asymptomatic, in fact, that they have the disease but it hasn’t yet propagated enough in their systems to show up on tests. But we are months into this thing. People have been explaining this stuff to him for quite a long while now. Or perhaps they haven’t because they are so afraid of him, which is even worse.
Bob, there is a third possibility. People explain it to him but he doesn’t understand or doesn’t listen.
Here’s another thing: Trump is clearly very, very afraid. He’s in survival mode. He knows that if he loses this election, he will be buried under a mountain of criminal and civil legal cases that people haven’t been able to move on because the DOJ has ruled that a sitting president can’t be indicted. Many of these cases are quite serious, and for many there is significant evidence of his misconduct. It seems very likely that barring (oh the irony in that word given the current head of the DOJ) an action on the part of Congress to protect ex presidents from going to jail or prison, that’s exactly where he is heading should he lose the election. So, in addition to being delusional, he is out of his mind with worry, I think.
A thought to ponder:
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I read that Congress made a deal and allowed the Trump White House to have control of handing out $500 billion pandemic money without any oversight. The last time I read about this money, no one knows where it is going or if it is going anywhere.
Now, fast forward to November, and Trump loses the election. Before January 2021, when the new president takes the Oath, Trump flies off to Russia to see his buddy Putin. After Trump lands in Moscow, he Tweets that he is not returning to the United States because he is a great businessman that America does not deserve, and Trump is now the richest man in the world with $500 billion because he is a stable genius with an incredible gut that everyone should listen to.
Congress insisted on oversight but Trump announced as he signed the bill that he would ignore oversight.
If it wasn’t for Moscow Mitch and the corrupt, traitorous GOP majority in the Senate, that would be grounds for another impeachment.
I wonder if anyone is keeping score of all the laws Trump has broken that could get him impeached again, and again, and again.
Flerp, as has been more evident in recent days, stress is doing a number on many of us. I hope we will continue to see you among us even if you need to take a break. I second the idea of drowning in some good music once in awhile. Take care of yourself.
Time for a break. [I think I saw the car that was my used on my first date. His mother was driving and picked me up because we both were too young to drive. That was a
L-O-N-G time ago.]
A great look back at the 1950s and 1960s that should bring back fond memories for anyone that grew up in that era.
This is a great video….
So, enjoy it. For those of you who experienced the iconic 1950’s and (early 60’s), a decade that will never be repeated .
The cars are fantastic.
The music was nostalgic.
We were rich and did not know it!
We were innocent and thought we were experienced.
We were very fortunate to have lived in such an era.
Enjoy the past as revealed here.
Who knows what the future will bring?
That was a nice trip, Carol, thanks. My first car, in 1966, was my bachelor great-uncle’s two-tone green& white ’56 Chevy. He’d only put 17k mis on it. A great ride. As a tyke in the ’50’s I regularly attended the stock car competitions out in the sticks where my dad & his mechanic/ auto-parts-biz buddies raced. My mom won the powder puff derby. (She was also handy with the early double-clutch Ford models.)
Trump University Management Training, Model Responses
“I am a wartime President. I am Commander in Chief. I am in charge.”
“I take no responsibility.”
“When somebody is the president of the United States, the authority is total and that’s the way it’s got to be.”
“The governors are responsible for testing.”
“PPE? Try getting yourselves. We are not a shipping clerk.”
Some say they will and some say they won’t
Some say they do and some say they don’t
Some say they shall and some say they shan’t
And some say they can and some say they can’t
……
Some say there’s nothing and some say there’s lots
Some say they’ve started while some say they’ve stopped
Some say they’re going and some say they’ve been
Yes, some say they’re looking and some say they’ve seen …
(1969) (brooker / fisher / reid)
……
And we sit and drink our coffee
Couched in our indifference, like shells upon the shore
You can hear the ocean roar
In the dangling conversation
And the superficial sighs
The borders of our lives
…..
And we note our place with book markers
That measure what we’ve lost…
And how the room is softly faded
And I only kiss your shadow, I cannot feel your hand
You’re a stranger now unto me…(Simon and Garfunkel)
It was way past midnight
And (s)he still couldn’t fall asleep
This night the dream was leavin’
(S)he tried so hard to keep
And with the new day’s dawning
(S)he felt it driftin’ away
Not only for a cruise
Not only for a day…
Too long ago, too long apart
(S)he couldn’t wait another day for
The captain of his/her heart…(Double 1985)
And you may find yourself
Living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself
In another part of the world
And you may find yourself
Behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house
With a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself, well
How did I get here?
….
And you may ask yourself
How do I work this?
And you may ask yourself
Where is that large automobile?
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful house!
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful wife!
….
You may ask yourself
What is that beautiful house?
You may ask yourself
Where does that highway go to?
And you may ask yourself
Am I right? Am I wrong?
And you may say yourself
“My God! What have I done?”
….
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Letting the days go by
Same as it ever was
And here the twister comes
Here comes the twister…(Talking Heads 1984)
You’ve always been the captain of your heart/soul.
The impact of your perceptions is proportional to the weight/value, you give them.
“Rise above it all, or drown in my own shit…”
Close schools debated above.Yes – kids are not getting this and may not be carriers. Would you open your schools based on that generalization? Heck no. You want facts and expert guidance and then let those organizational experts develop plans. But the WH and GOP want to raise distrust in experts and they bury the expert recommendations.
Superintendents, mayors, county executives, and all the other lay people in our PUBLIC arena are not experts in medicine and a whole bunch of other things. They make plans routinely for millions of people and are looked to guide them through crises. And, now they need expertise to make plans to phase in reopening safely. HOWEVER – too many of their constituents carry doubt because the national message from the WH and GOP is that this is not so bad and they can’t access expertise because the WH buries CDC reports, scapegoats WHO, fires doctors, and lies.
While we debate just how bad the virus in the white house is (and that is what he is) – creating distrust of the accurate counts. Are tens of thousands of people are really dead?
Inflated? Underestimated? Cases we don’t know about. “SO WHAT?” you say. The fall is gonna kill you. TENS OF THOUSANDS of people have died and are dying. So – if that’s only nines of thousands, or a few thousand what difference does it make? People dying is people dying.
The man has gone from this is a hoax to firing doctors to scapegoating to burying the CDC report and scientific plan for gradual “reopening.” And, he has successfully convinced millions of Americans along with those who don’t care about anything – are racist – or only care about money that this is not bad. He has cast enough doubt that gun toting people across the country are storming state houses – not because they are out of jobs – but because they want to have a freaking beer and wave their rebel flags.
We have a deadly virus that was known to all months ago and it was dissed and dismissed by the WH and GOP lackeys. The virus spread to the most vulnerable (who they don’t care about anyway) and doubt prevails among their loyalists. State and local leaders are caught in the middle while they actually want to lead an plan.
We are in dangerous territory.
Trump is getting labeled by the Chicago Tribune. Good for them. [Access is free on this article. ]
………………
Fact check: Trump not even remotely true on coronavirus death toll, testing
By CALVIN WOODWARD AND HOPE YEN
ASSOCIATED PRESS |
MAY 09, 2020 | 1:21 PM
| WASHINGTON
Truth can be a casualty when President Donald Trump talks about deaths from the coronavirus in the United States.
He’s claimed that the United States is on par with Germany in keeping down COVID-19 deaths, which is not the case in mortality reports. He’s brushed off projections that deaths in his country will double from earlier forecasts, misrepresenting how the numbers were calculated.
These distortions emerged over the past week alongside his relentless bragging about the U.S. testing system, which failed in the crucial early weeks and remains globally subpar. Pushing to get the country back to normal, Trump also suggested that children are safe from the coronavirus. ignoring the several thousand kids known to have been sickened by it, some gravely.
A look at his remarks and how they compare with the facts:
Death counts
TRUMP on pandemic deaths: “Now, Germany — we’re very close to Germany. We have a very good relationship with Germany. Germany has done very good. They have a very low mortality rate like we do. We have a low mortality rate also.” — remarks Thursday in meeting with Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas.
THE FACTS: The U.S. is not in Germany’s league in this regard.
The U.S. is experiencing far more reported COVID-19 deaths as a proportion of its population than is Germany. The U.S. has reported COVID-19 deaths at a rate of 234 per 1 million people. For Germany, that rate is 90 deaths per million. The U.S. surpasses many other countries in reported deaths per million, too, and it leads the world in deaths from the virus overall.
For example: The state of Iowa has more confirmed coronavirus cases than the nation of South Korea, where early testing was far more prevalent. The death rates in both places are nearly the same.
But, because countries track COVID-19 deaths somewhat differently, exact conclusions can’t be reached when comparing nations.
The mortality rate is a different measure from deaths per million. It refers to what percentage of people who get the disease die from it.
The answer is as yet unknown, and there are several reasons for that.
First, the count changes every day as new infections and deaths are recorded. More important, every country is testing differently. Knowing the real denominator, the true number of people who become infected, is key to determining what portion of them die.
Some countries, the U.S. among them, have had trouble making enough tests available. A test shortage means the sickest get tested first. Even with a good supply of tests, someone who’s otherwise healthy and has mild symptoms may not be tested and thus go uncounted.
TRUMP: “And, frankly, if you took New York out of the equation, we would really have a low mortality rate.” — remarks with Abbott.
THE FACTS: New York — being part of the United States and home to its largest city — cannot be subtracted from it to make the numbers look better….
https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-nw-fact-check-president-trump-coronavirus-20200509-q23dfqwzdfharj4mymoampnetm-story.html