Trump VS COVID-19 Threat

[lpetrich]

How we got here: One country, several nations | The Seattle Times

Washington, Oregon and California have banded together to coordinate policies for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, as have states in the Northeast. Meanwhile, several states in the South and the Mountain West have gone rogue, relaxing social distancing rules and allowing massage parlors, barbershops, bowling alleys and beaches to open up for business.

...
In our time, we are experiencing one bitter political clash after another — about the right to bear arms versus the right to safety in public spaces; about tightening borders versus welcoming immigrants; about protecting property and wealth versus extending health care and a living wage to all; and, yes, about employing the coercive powers of government to save lives in the middle of a pandemic versus risking those lives so that businesses can stay open and individuals can roam free. If Woodard’s premise is right, those searing debates and many more are merely the latest manifestations of a long historical dynamic. The way we confront today’s societal choices — right down to who we choose for president in November — depends on which collection of American nations prevail over the rest.

Then some discussions of Colin Woodard's American Nations concept, and how the US has been divided the allies of Yankeedom and the allies of the Deep South.

Yankee culture expanded into the upper Midwest and eventually sailed into the San Francisco Bay, the Willamette River Valley and Puget Sound. Though far from being a majority on the West Coast, Yankees were cultural and political leaders who encouraged education, entrepreneurship and devotion to civic duty. Even the old Puritan dream of creating a more perfect world echoed in the Left Coast’s latter-day utopian dreams, from the hippies of Haight-Ashbury to Earth Day environmentalism.

Author David Horsey also notes Washington State's division into Colin Woodard's nations. West of the Cascades is the Left Coast and east of the Cascades is the Far West. Oregon also has that division. This explains why Democrats are big in western WA and OR and Republicans big in eastern WA and OR, and why some inhabitants of E WA & OR want to secede.

Is it any surprise then that, in Left Coast Seattle, business leaders have rallied in good Yankee fashion to support hospitals and Gov. Inslee’s social distancing measures while, over the mountains in the “Far West” counties of Benton and Franklin, officials have tried to defy Inslee’s stay-at-home orders?

 

[lpetrich]

Eight surprises in House Democrats' $3T coronavirus relief bill | TheHill - grumbling again about how the Democrats constructed their bill without Republicans' input

• Inspector general protections
• Mandatory masks on Amtrak
• Provisions for pot businesses - "Tucked deep within the Democratic package is popular bipartisan legislation aiding the marijuana industry."
• Utility shut-offs - "Another, a ban on utility companies cutting off water and electricity during the crisis, flew largely under the radar."
• EPA study on pollution and health
• Nursing home ‘strike teams’
• Funding for the arts and humanities
• Aid for meat and dairy industries - "It would send emergency aid directly to livestock and poultry producers who have been forced to euthanize livestock due to disruptions related to COVID-19. It would also create a federal dairy donation program to prevent dairy producers from needing to dump their milk as millions of families go hungry."

Opinion | Donald Trump, Unmasked - The New York Times

Opinion | Nobody Is Protected From President Trump - The New York Times

I’ve heard of Muslim women in America being taunted for wearing hijabs, I’ve heard of Jewish men being mocked for wearing yarmulkes and now I’ve heard it all: A friend of mine was cursed by a passing stranger the other day for wearing a protective mask.

...
On Monday the White House belatedly introduced a policy of mask-wearing in the West Wing — but it exempted President Trump. See what I mean about mask as metaphor? Trump demands protection from everybody around him, but nobody is protected from Trump. Story of America.

 

[lpetrich]

Our Paycheck Guarantee Act thinks big enough to tackle unemployment - The Washington Post - by Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Haley Stevens (D-MI), Adam B. Schiff (D-CA), and Sean Casten (D-IL)

We must think bigger. We are sponsoring the Paycheck Guarantee Act, which offers workers as well as businesses, nonprofits and local governments of all sizes a better path forward in this uncertain environment. It ends mass layoffs, keeps workers in their jobs and connected to their health care,and prevents employers from being forced to close permanently. Many other countries — from Germany to Singapore and South Korea — have implemented similar programs to guarantee paychecks to workers and help employers weather the crisis.

They then described what they propose: backstopping of payrolls, covering much of employees' pay in exchange for keeping those employees on the payroll.

The authors claim that it would be cheaper than what's being done now - massive loans to business, paying unemployment, Medicaid, etc.

Opinion | We’re All Casualties of Trump’s War on Coronavirus Science - The New York Times

In 2004, “60 Minutes” aired a segment on what it called “virus hunters,” scientists searching for bugs that can leap from animals to humans and cause pandemics. “What worries me the most is that we are going to miss the next emerging disease,” said a scientist named Peter Daszak, describing his fear of a coronavirus “that moves from one part of the planet to another, wiping out people as it moves along.”

In the intervening years, Daszak became president of the EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit research organization focused on emerging pandemics. EcoHealth worked with China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology to study coronaviruses in bats that could infect humans, and, as Science magazine put it, “to develop tools that could help researchers create diagnostics, treatments and vaccines for human outbreaks.” Since 2014, the EcoHealth Alliance has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health, until its funding was abruptly cut two weeks ago.

That was because of a conspiracy theory spread by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), that that virus had escaped from that lab.

Until recently, it seemed as if Trump’s sabotage of efforts to combat climate change would be the most destructive legacy of his disregard for science. But the coronavirus has presented the country with an emergency that only sound science can solve. That means that the Trump administration’s disdain for expertise, its elevation of slavish loyalty over technical competence, has become a more immediate threat.

 

[lpetrich]

ABC News Politics on Twitter: "Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer tells @TheView protests make it more difficult to reopen state's economy.
"These protests, in a perverse way, make it likelier that we're going to have to stay in a stay-home posture." [url]https://t.co/TT4YhWU7jN https://t.co/StEcZP6bwt" / Twitter[/url]

Protests with Confederate and Nazi flags.

Hector Sigala on Twitter: "AOC's been saying this for months and we can't let it be forgotten: the White House, McConnell, and Congress KNOW there is a housing crisis looming. Do not let GOP lawmakers lie to the public and pretend they didnt see this coming. They know and are CHOOSING not to stop it." / Twitter

Seems as if the Republicans' big donors are paying them to avoid bailing out small businesses and ordinary people, so that big-money real-estate speculators can buy their houses and buildings.


Fauci warns reopening country too fast could be 'really serious' for states - POLITICO - "The warning from Anthony Fauci came as President Donald Trump pushes to quickly restart the economy in spite of a mounting death toll and few signs that the pandemic is subsiding."

Fauci fatigue sets in among some Republicans - POLITICO - "A growing number of GOP senators are tuning out the government's top infectious disease expert."

“There’s a spectrum of everything. And I think he’s on the overly cautious end of the spectrum,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said after parrying with Fauci at the hearing. “I don’t think he’s doing it because he’s a bad person, but if we’re overly cautious and we wait until all infectious disease goes away… we’ll wait forever and the country is going to be destroyed.”

A rather absurd caricature.

 

[lpetrich]

Pelosi unveils $3 trillion coronavirus relief plan amid squeeze from left and right - POLITICO

Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, are seeking to postpone any vote until next week so that members can fully digest the bill and potentially push for changes. CPC members have been advised to say they're "undecided" when party leaders conduct a whip check, according to a notice sent out to progressives.

MAGA speech clashes with coronavirus misinformation crackdown - POLITICO

In recent weeks, everyone from conservative commentator Candace Owens, to popular vloggers Diamond and Silk, to Trump booster and former Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke Jr., to Fox News personalities have had tweets deleted for running afoul of Twitter’s coronavirus misinformation policy. Lockdown protesters frequently post fears that social media companies like Facebook will delete the group pages on which they organize.

Then, over the weekend, the far-right fringe raised hell when Facebook and YouTube pulled down the film “Plandemic,” a pseudoscientific documentary that pushes baseless theories about the coronavirus, including that the flu vaccine contains the disease and that wearing masks could cause people to infect themselves.

Diamond and Silk - Zirconia and Polyester - Rocks and Burlap

 

[Ford]

At the moment, the US death toll is set to break 85,000. There's 30 million unemployed.

The Trump administration's response?

#Obamagate


I mean, if the USS Enterprise had deflector shields this strong, the Klingons, Romulans, and Borg would be no problem at all.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Jesus Christ. Dr. Fauci is officially in the crosshairs of Trump.

Coronavirus: Trump says Dr Fauci's warning 'not acceptable' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52656959

Why not start arresting people for treason who dare to bring up truth?

 

[angelo]

The blame game continues. But the facts are a little harder to explain/hide!

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/dip...-game-us-china-and-who-are-all-keen-pass-buck

Margaret Harris, a spokeswoman for the WHO, told US broadcaster CNN on Monday that at the time, “alarm bells were already ringing through the halls of the WHO”, and that it was “aware it was a very serious matter”.
As the number of cases rose, the WHO began issuing technical guidance, with its technical lead on Covid-19, Maria Van Kerkhove, saying on January 14 that it was “certainly possible that there is limited human-to-human transmission” of the virus.
But on Twitter, the WHO’s official account on January 13 and 14 continued to suggest there was “no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission”.

 

[Keith&Co.]

At the moment, the US death toll is set to break 85,000. There's 30 million unemployed.

The Trump administration's response?

#Obamagate


I mean, if the USS Enterprise had deflector shields this strong, the Klingons, Romulans, and Borg would be no problem at all.

I still have to wonder how they squeezed in an amendment in 2017.
Trump's power, as president, is near-absolute. He can do no wrong, or at least, if the President does it, it's not illegal. But apparently Obama did not have the same constitutional powers during his administration?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

The blame game continues. But the facts are a little harder to explain/hide!

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/dip...-game-us-china-and-who-are-all-keen-pass-buck

Margaret Harris, a spokeswoman for the WHO, told US broadcaster CNN on Monday that at the time, “alarm bells were already ringing through the halls of the WHO”, and that it was “aware it was a very serious matter”.

China shut down a city in January. At that point we knew the virus needed some higher level methods to deal with it. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) was selling off his stocks in mid-February meaning the Senate knew it was serious stuff in mid-February. We know that other Senators were wanting more info in January and asking for the Trump Admin to do more in February. A cruise ship in mid-February had the disease go throughout it, so then we knew that it was a serious problem.

The President of the United States doesn't enact any domestic changes until after some states already announced the closure of schools, of which was being planned starting March 8/9. And even then, Trump just puts forth a social distancing protocol.

This attempt to blame WHO Is ridiculous.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

The blame game continues. But the facts are a little harder to explain/hide!

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/dip...-game-us-china-and-who-are-all-keen-pass-buck

Margaret Harris, a spokeswoman for the WHO, told US broadcaster CNN on Monday that at the time, “alarm bells were already ringing through the halls of the WHO”, and that it was “aware it was a very serious matter”.

China shut down a city in January. At that point we knew the virus needed some higher level methods to deal with it. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) was selling off his stocks in mid-February meaning the Senate knew it was serious stuff in mid-February. We know that other Senators were wanting more info in January and asking for the Trump Admin to do more in February. A cruise ship in mid-February had the disease go throughout it, so then we knew that it was a serious problem.

The President of the United States doesn't enact any domestic changes until after some states already announced the closure of schools, of which was being planned starting March 8/9. And even then, Trump just puts forth a social distancing protocol.

This attempt to blame WHO Is ridiculous.

It's not ridiculous if you are a right-wing Kool-Aide drinker.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

It's not ridiculous if you are a right-wing Kool-Aide drinker.

Not ridiculous as they think the virus is in the rear view mirror and they are onto the largest scandal in American history, [echo]OBAMAGATE[/echo]... the attempted non-attempt by the Obama Admin to keep Trump from winning the election by not umm... going public with any of the fucking information before the election!!!!

 

[Loren Pechtel]

The blame game continues. But the facts are a little harder to explain/hide!

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/dip...-game-us-china-and-who-are-all-keen-pass-buck

Margaret Harris, a spokeswoman for the WHO, told US broadcaster CNN on Monday that at the time, “alarm bells were already ringing through the halls of the WHO”, and that it was “aware it was a very serious matter”.
As the number of cases rose, the WHO began issuing technical guidance, with its technical lead on Covid-19, Maria Van Kerkhove, saying on January 14 that it was “certainly possible that there is limited human-to-human transmission” of the virus.
But on Twitter, the WHO’s official account on January 13 and 14 continued to suggest there was “no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission”.

Those two statements are not incompatible. This sort of thing is very common--the public statements are only what is proven (and human-to-human transmission had not been proven at that point), the stuff for technical audiences includes speculation.

 

[lpetrich]

Seems to me that Trump wants to deflect blame from himself. Both China and Trump can share in a lot of blame.

But look at who is doing something about it.

With two emails, Queens Rep. Ocasio-Cortez raises over $140K to purchase masks for essential workers - QNS.com

AOC recently raised $145,000 in donations to buy 200,000 N95 masks for essential workers and the like. Of these, 50,000 will be going to her district, while the rest will be shipped over the country.

Through two emails, the campaign received donations from about 3,890 people. Each donation averaged about $20, with the exception of two anonymous donors who gave a combined $70,000, nearly matching the donation total prior to their contribution.

To date, the Ocasio-Cortez campaign has raised nearly $500,000 toward direct relief for those affected by the coronavirus crisis, according to her spokesperson.

Jackson Heights Assembly candidate says more must be done for immigrant, undocumented communities during COVID-19 pandemic - QNS.com

Jessica González-Rojas’ days now consist of mutual aid calls, delivering groceries and basic needs to neighbors, and hosting informative webinars for the Jackson Heights community, one of the Queens neighborhoods hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

You may know her as a prominent candidate for New York State Assembly District 34, a seat held by six-term incumbent Michael DenDekker, but she’s shifted her campaign efforts to focus on the current health crisis.

And it’s clear why — the coronavirus is disproportionately affecting District 34 (which encompasses Jackson Heights, parts of Corona, East Elmhurst and Woodside), much like it is other neighborhoods in New York City that are mostly made up of low-income and people of color communities.

District 34’s population is 88 percent people of color, 60 percent of whom are Latin or Hispanic, and 62 percent foreign born.

 

[lpetrich]

Manchin says Trump 'totally wrong' on testing | TheHill

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) dismissed President Trump’s claims of widely available coronavirus testing in an interview Thursday with The Hill’s Steve Clemons.

Trump is “totally wrong … he is absolutely wrong,” Manchin said, in reference to the president's claims that “anybody who wants a test can get a test.”

“I've had poor people, people over West Virginia call me, say Joe — I need a test, I want to get a test,” Manchin said. “They said, well, bring your insurance card and get your doctor's referral. These are people that use emergency rooms, they don't have a family physician and you want them to get a doctor's referral before you’ll test them? Come on.”

So much for Trump's happy talk.

 

[angelo]

The blame game continues. But the facts are a little harder to explain/hide!

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/dip...-game-us-china-and-who-are-all-keen-pass-buck

Margaret Harris, a spokeswoman for the WHO, told US broadcaster CNN on Monday that at the time, “alarm bells were already ringing through the halls of the WHO”, and that it was “aware it was a very serious matter”.

China shut down a city in January. At that point we knew the virus needed some higher level methods to deal with it. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) was selling off his stocks in mid-February meaning the Senate knew it was serious stuff in mid-February. We know that other Senators were wanting more info in January and asking for the Trump Admin to do more in February. A cruise ship in mid-February had the disease go throughout it, so then we knew that it was a serious problem.

The President of the United States doesn't enact any domestic changes until after some states already announced the closure of schools, of which was being planned starting March 8/9. And even then, Trump just puts forth a social distancing protocol.

This attempt to blame WHO Is ridiculous.

Which government endorsed the present commo head of WHO way back then? Who was it that dismissed travel from China, and in particular Wuhan when the Trump acted to stop it and called it unnecessary?

 

[blastula]

the idiot in chief thinks that testing causes covid.

Trump: Coronavirus testing may be ‘overrated’ and reason for high U.S. case count - POLITICO

“And don’t forget, we have more cases than anybody in the world,” he added. “But why? Because we do more testing. When you test, you have a case. When you test, you find something is wrong with people. If we didn’t do any testing, we would have very few cases.”

this is why we suck at testing, he'd rather not know about it. his vain idiocy is getting people killed.

 

[Patooka]

Which government endorsed the present commo head of WHO way back then?

All of them. I haven't heard of a single government condemn the WHO in the last ten years at any UN summit.

Who was it that dismissed travel from China, and in particular Wuhan when the Trump acted to stop it and called it unnecessary?

Fucking hell, can you at least not be so incoherent with your use of pronouns? What are you trying to say? If you're trying to say Trump's ban of Chinese people was effective, let me be the first to say you are dead fucking wrong. Banning people from a country to enter whilst allowing others to return with no fucking quarantine protocols does not contain an outbreak. It accomplishes two things:

1)jack

and

2)shit

If you are referring to something other than Trump's ineffective ban please clarify.

 

[angelo]

Which government endorsed the present commo head of WHO way back then?

All of them. I haven't heard of a single government condemn the WHO in the last ten years at any UN summit.

Who was it that dismissed travel from China, and in particular Wuhan when the Trump acted to stop it and called it unnecessary?

Fucking hell, can you at least not be so incoherent with your use of pronouns? What are you trying to say? If you're trying to say Trump's ban of Chinese people was effective, let me be the first to say you are dead fucking wrong. Banning people from a country to enter whilst allowing others to return with no fucking quarantine protocols does not contain an outbreak. It accomplishes two things:

1)jack

and

2)shit

If you are referring to something other than Trump's ineffective ban please clarify.

Yea, sure, the pandemic throughout the world is all Trump's fault! And WHO was never China's mouthpiece!

 

[fromderinside]

Who do you think was doing anything about covid-19 but China back in the day. So who do you think WHO should be paying attention to back then. Certainly no US. US had dismissed it's pandamic group by then. Anerica was totally unprepared. We were mostly nodding our heads to China's tune like bobblehead dolls back then.

Trump wanted 'good trade' not 'shut our trade down' talk. He was going to ride it to re-election. When Europeans blew up myths from China,Trump was shocked. Business had to remain good. After all it was his ticket to election. He didn't deserve it since he was riding Obama's coattails of good government ship. But americans don't pay attention to such as that. They look at what is happening now right in front o f their lying eyes.

Now Trump's paying the piper and squirming out blame for everyone but his own self. Lovely for us to see from the other side.

Trump's death numbers are his alone.