Politico wrote today about Mike Pence’s new stance on the coronavirus pandemic. Pence pretended to be thoughtful while he was head of the coronavirus task force. Now that the task force seems to have disappeared, he is free to echo Trump without any pretense of balance or thoughtfulness.
VEEP IN THOUGHT — Since February there has been a rift inside the White House between the scientists and the politicians over how to contain the spread of coronavirus. Anthony Fauci has been the consistent advocate of a forceful response and an opponent of any sugar-coating of the perils Americans face. President Donald Trump has been the reluctant warrior against the disease who took some major steps early on but soon grew impatient of the stay-at-home restrictions, the masks, and — most of all — the economic calamity that might jeopardize his re-election.
Vice President Mike Pence, the chair of the president’s coronavirus task force, often played the role of bridge between the factions. At the awkward task force briefings that dominated afternoon television in March and April, the three roles of the three men played out as theater: Fauci the doomsayer, Trump the misinformed optimist, and Pence the child of a troubled marriage trying to smooth things over during mom and dad’s public fights.
Pence abruptly reinvented himself as a coronavirus skeptic this week, with comments and an op-ed article that stray into pandemic denialism. In a conference call with governors, Pence incorrectly argued Monday that the spike in cases that almost half of the states are experiencing is simply a function of more testing. In a Wall Street Journal piece published today and headlined “There Isn’t a Coronavirus ‘Second Wave,’” Pence wrote, “The media has tried to scare the American people every step of the way, and these grim predictions of a second wave are no different.”
The op-ed cherry-picked a handful of positive statistics — there are of course bright spots — and emphasized the administration’s record in increasing testing and pumping up the manufacture of personal protective equipment. He boldly predicted a vaccine would be available “by the fall.”
Perhaps most telling, Pence made it clear that the effort to eliminate the disease before a vaccine is ready is not really the goal anymore. Instead, Pence argued that the White House now measures success by a lower level of daily deaths.
“In the past five days,” he wrote, “deaths are down to fewer than 750 a day, a dramatic decline from 2,500 a day a few weeks ago and a far cry from the 5,000 a day that some were predicting.” This purportedly tolerable rate of 750 dead Americans a day would equal 270,000 deaths in a year.
By this afternoon, the news pages of the Journal contradicted much of what Pence had to say. In an interview with the paper, Fauci reiterated that the jump in cases “cannot be explained by increased testing.” He warned that relaxed approaches to social distancing, such as congregating close to lots of people in large venues, and an aversion to mask-wearing would cause the disease to spread.
Pence is scheduled to be with Trump at a rally in Tulsa, Okla. on Saturday, while Fauci told NPR that he hasn’t talked to Trump in two weeks.
But Fauci did agree with Pence on one thing. “People keep talking about a second wave,” he told the newspaper. “We’re still in a first wave.”
Veep in Thought. As oxymoronish as it gets. More like Veep in Supine Sycophantic Groveling and Boot Licking.
36,000 lives. Collateral damage? Vietnam analogies are appropriate.
Hard to believe, but Pence is worse than Fearless Leader. He is more insidious.
I wouldn’t say worse. Six of one, half a dozen of the other. Peas in a pod, just different degrees of putrid scent.
Trump is so ignorant and so dumb along with his administration along with too many in the GOP that they do not know that if the death toll from COVID-19 keeps climbing, in a few months, it will be almost impossible to find an Ameican that hasn’t lost a friend or a family member to the virus.
Most of the survivors will remember and blame Trump, his administration, and the GOP.
We haven’t really finished the first Covid wave. This administration did not want to accept the fact that the pandemic is real. They addressed it far too late and wasted valuable time. The Northeast finally got a grip on the spread, but in the South cases are spreading among the young people that refuse to wear a mask or socially distance. The largest group of new Covid cases is in ages 18 to 35.
Trump and Pence refuse to accept the reality of the disease. Testing does not cause the virus. It merely detects its existence. Trump insists on holding his rallies despite the consequences. I read some lawyers are going to try to get an injunction against the rallies. Maybe they can stop the madness.
A judge turned down the request to stop the Tulsa rally.
They know the risks. They won’t wear face masks. As Trump says, let’s see what happens.
He may turn out to be the Typhoid Mary of coronavirus, spreading it to his base.
My same concern!
What if thousands or tens of thousands of people rally at about shoulder’s length next to each other or closer, and end up creating a dangerous and even fatal spike of COVID, bringing it home to their families, young children, and the elderly?
I’m serious. What if this results in a spike laced with death? Then what?
I could wax vicious and juvenile with nothing but truth jam packed into my own hostile, humorous discourse . . . or I can remain a humanitarian to these Trump supporters. I am choosing, for once, the latter because the virus does not discriminate. While the potential effects can thin out the herd a little and reduce the number of Trump voters, their dignity is something to consider. I feel so sorry for them. They’re like children nearing themselves to a creepy stranger with candy and toys.
Yet, I know – as I have relatives who are staunch Trump supporters – that people are going to do what they want to to do. Although, I know my relatives are smart enough to know not to participate in such an event.
America!
Land of freedom and the free . . . .
Free to sign waivers at a Trump rally and put your life at risk. Free to get ill. Free to die.
Hey, people attending the event: Live free or die . . . .
So sad. What a phenomenon that you can brain wire millions of people. I guess that’s the function and role of a good, well oiled propaganda machine. All the Hansels and Gretels seduced and captured by the witch. Only they never get to emerge from their cage . . . .
If Trump ever leaves this life, the loss will not be missed. If Pence becomes the president then the nation/world will not be better off. If Pence in turn leaves the world his replacement will be just as bad as Trump and Pence. This nation/world and its peoples will always be come out on the short end of life’s stick as long as this administration and currently elected Republications remain in office.
We are all so, so tired of the bad clown show. Please, please, let it stop.
I wonder when we’ll see a disinfection station at the White House? Monkey see, monkey do.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/russia-disinfection-tunnel-to-protect-putin_n_5ee9e033c5b6e63de82c6c40
If you were to spray or bathe Trump with bleach, he’ll give the bleach COVID.
😂🤣😅
If we abandon social distancing and wearing masks etc. then the second wave will be hard to distinguish from being a continuation of the first. Call me a cynic but based on past behavior, e.g deficits, the Replutocrats know that tRUMP has lost and care not about leaving Biden with the biggest pandemic problem & death count that they can so they can claim that they alone were trying to save the economy and its all the democrats fault. If somehow tRUMP wins they’ll say much the same thing.
Is Trump Trying to Spread Covid-19?
By Thomas L. Friedman June 16, 2020
Does he start each day wondering what expert advice to ignore next?
…We know that countries where everyone wears a mask outside the home sharply reduce the spread and that people who practice strict social distancing infect fewer people and are infected less often. And we know that people who avoid “superspreading” events — large, prolonged social gatherings, religious services and crammed nightclubs and workplaces, where one highly contagious person can quickly spew the virus to many others — are less likely to get infected…
And yet we have a president who, instead of wearing a mask, turns defiance of mask-wearing into a heroic act of defiance against liberals; who forces 1,100 West Point cadets to travel back to campus, and quarantine for two weeks, so he can get a photo op addressing their graduation; who is planning a mass rally in Tulsa, Okla., on Saturday — where the most notable precaution is that you sign a legal disclaimer that you “voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to Covid-19 and agree not to hold Donald J. Trump for President Inc.” liable — and who hails governors who open bars and restaurants for people to crowd together.
It is absolutely devilish — like Trump wakes up every morning and asks himself: What health expert’s advice can I defy today? What simple gesture to reduce the odds that the coronavirus continues to surge, post-lockdowns, can I ignore today? What quack remedy can I promote today?…
The Ostrich Policy: Trump ready to Kill Hundreds of Thousands to avoid bad Coronavirus Optics for Election
JUAN COLE
06/16/2020
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump and Pence on Monday were busy trying to spread the Big Lie that the only reason the US coronavirus numbers are spiking is increased testing. Trump is embarrassed because our situation is so dire, and it is in some large part his fault. More and more of it will be his fault if he goes around the country staging 20,000-strong rallies, as he plans to start doing soon (beginning at Tulsa). No, I repeat, no other world leader is acting this irresponsibly, and there are some real wack jobs heading up the 195 countries…
The United States has about 4 percent of the world’s population but about a fourth of its coronavirus cases and the same proportion of its deaths. In short, cases and deaths here are 6 times what they should be.
Trump tried to blame the disparity on the US testing apparatus, which he says is better than that of other countries. The problem is that this is true for some countries but not for others. South Korea tests much more than the United States, and reported its first case the same day the US did. But South Korea has had just over 12,000 cases. Given that the US is 6 times more populous, that would be like 73,000 US cases. But US cases are about 2 million. That disparity cannot be explained by the US testing more.
On June 12, in the US 1.25 tests were performed per 1,000 people, or about 400,000. Medical experts say we need to be testing about 900,000 people per day, and find new positive cases, and then warn their friends and acquaintances that they’ve been exposed. We need 100,000 contact tracers to do that. In May we had less than 6,000 nationwide, though progress is being made. California hopes to have 10,000 by July 1. Other states, not so much. Even if the five most populous states succeed in their plans to ramp up contact tracing they’d only get to about 66,000, 2/3s of what is needed.
The difference is that the national leadership of South Korea cares about its citizens and has invested in its public health system, and so has been able to do massive testing and contact tracing. Also, South Koreans are not addled in the pate and wear masks when they go out. A mountain of evidence has accumulated that if 100% of the population wear masks when they go out, the rate of transmission falls below 1 and the number of cases dwindles. One reason large numbers of American’s won’t wear a mask is that they are following Trump’s lead…
Read More Here: https://www.juancole.com/2020/06/hundreds-thousands-coronavirus.html
Some early evidence shows us it’s important to keep wearing face coverings when we can. Wearing one can decrease transmission by about six-fold, according to one study. The researchers found that someone not wearing a mask has a 17.5% risk of transmission, compared to a 3.1% risk for someone who is wearing a mask.
There Isn’t a Coronavirus ‘Second Wave’
June 16, 2020
Michael R. Pence
Vice President of the United States
…The truth is that we’ve made great progress over the past four months, and it’s a testament to the leadership of President Trump. When the president asked me to chair the White House Coronavirus Task Force at the end of February, he directed us to pursue not only a whole-of-government approach but a whole-of-America approach. The president brought together major commercial labs to expand our testing capacity, manufacturers to produce much-needed medical equipment, and major pharmaceutical companies to begin research on new medicines and vaccines. He rallied the American people to embrace social-distancing guidelines. And the progress we’ve made is remarkable…
https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/vice-president-mike-pence-op-ed-isnt-coronavirus-second-wave/?utm_source=link