Trump VS COVID-19 Threat

[KeepTalking]

Exactly what would you expect the Trump to do! A Moses like act of holding up his staff and parting the sea and stop COVID-19 in it's tracks? The Trumpet is doing exactly what most other world governments are doing and spending trillions of dollars to keep the country from complete collapse, similar as the Australian government is doing. Giving the most vulnerable people $750 payment to start with. A second stimulus payment later, Guaranteeing a $1500 payment per fortnight to small and medium companies for up to 2-3 million, perhaps more employees. Among a rush of other stimuli to try and salvage the economy. in Australia's case costing upwards of 380 billion AUD. for a total population of just under 25 million in comparison to 3+ trillion USD for 330 million Americans. The Trump has already announced much more, or whatever it takes to save America going down the gurgler. A semi senile Biden, or an outright loony Sanders lack the steel balls needed in this crisis in my opinion and the opinion of most Americans it seems by the Trump's latest approval rating.

We should have been rushing to build up testing capability, not throwing roadblocks in the way of developing it. Contact tracing up the wazoo, rather than the current situation where tests are being reserved for hospitals because there aren't enough to go around.

It's only been very recently that His Flatulence has started to take this at all seriously, despite the fact that the right wing knew it was going to be serious for much longer. It appears like a deliberate strategy to sacrifice granny for the economy and present it as a fait acompli.

Just because plenty of other world leaders took the same approach doesn't make it not vile.

President Trump warned America about the Coronavirus in early February

I am gonna go ahead and stop you right there, and show how wrong this statement is, by providing direct quotes from our President* during the month of February:

Feb. 2: “We pretty much shut it down coming in from China. It’s going to be fine.”
Feb. 10: “Now, the virus that we’re talking about having to do — you know, a lot of people think that goes away in April with the heat — as the heat comes in. Typically, that will go away in April. We’re in great shape though."
Feb. 23: “We have it very much under control in this country.”
Feb. 24: “The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA… Stock Market starting to look very good to me!”
Feb. 25: “CDC & my administration are doing a GREAT job of handling Coronavirus.”
Feb. 25: “I think that’s a problem that’s going to go away.”
Feb. 26: “So we’re at the low level. As they get better, we take them off the list, so that we’re going to be pretty soon at only five people. And we could be at just one or two people over the next short period of time. So we’ve had very good luck.”
Feb. 26: “And again, when you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that’s a pretty good job we’ve done.”
Feb. 26: “We’re going very substantially down, not up.”
Feb. 27: “It’s going to disappear. One day — it’s like a miracle — it will disappear.”
Feb. 29: “Everything is really under control.”

 

[southernhybrid]

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/01/us/politics/coronavirus-fauci-security.html

WASHINGTON — Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s leading expert on infectious diseases, who has become a regular at President Trump’s coronavirus briefings, will receive enhanced personal security after receiving threats following his repeated pleas for Americans to help slow the spread of the deadly pandemic, officials said on Wednesday.

Dr. Fauci has been the Trump administration’s most outspoken advocate of social distancing rules that have shuttered the nation’s schools, forced businesses to close, kept people in their homes and battered the United States economy.

That has made him a target of online conspiracy theorists who have accused Dr. Fauci, a longtime scientist and civil servant who has served presidents of both parties, of trying to undermine Mr. Trump during a year in which the president is fighting for re-election.

The Department of Health and Human Services granted the enhanced personal security for Dr. Fauci, 79, after the Justice Department signed off on a request for extra agents to guard him, officials said. Alex M. Azar II, the health and human services secretary, had grown worried that the threats against the doctor were increasing as more of the country shut down in response to the coronavirus.

Fucking idiots!

The hashtag #FauciFraud has been used by more than 70 Twitter accounts, some posting hundreds of times a day, according to an analysis by The New York Times. Criticism of Dr. Fauci has also come from leading conservative voices and supporters of Mr. Trump, including Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch, a conservative group; Bill Mitchell, the host of the far-right online talk show “YourVoice America”; and Shiva Ayyadurai, who has falsely claimed to be the inventor of email.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

While I'm certain there are Trump supporters that will believe anything and can create such paranoia themselves, I wouldn't doubt that there are trolls fanning the flames here. And of course, Trump has fanned the flames himself with all of his Easter bullshit and 'we need to get out' crap.

 

[lpetrich]

When Trump warned of two "very painful" weeks, I thought that he had improved. But he didn't.

Michelle Goldberg on Twitter: "Those doctors and their insatiable appetite for basic protective equipment https://t.co/QiyWvRX62g" / Twitter
noted

Donald J. Trump on Twitter: "Massive amounts of medical supplies, even hospitals and medical centers, are being delivered directly to states and hospitals by the Federal Government. Some have insatiable appetites & are never satisfied (politics?). Remember, we are a backup for them. The complainers should..." / Twitter

Donald J. Trump on Twitter: "....have been stocked up and ready long before this crisis hit. Other states are thrilled with the job we have done. Sending many Ventilators today, with thousands being built. 51 large cargo planes coming in with medical supplies. Prefer sending directly to hospitals." / Twitter

What a weenie. He is in his second childhood - he acts like a big baby.

Some of his responses:

Daniel Goldman on Twitter: "A frontline doctor at a major NYC hospital told me he lost his first patient this morning to rationing of care — not enough ventilators to go around. The lack of supplies and testing is real — and costing lives — no matter what the daily reality show tries to sell you." / Twitter

Stephen Elpop on Twitter: "@danielsgoldman @Mimirocah1 And yet the President stated yesterday that scarves were as good as medical masks. Please can we all accept that President is unfit to lead in this time of crisis." / Twitter

Eiric Marro on Twitter: "@michelleinbklyn I served in Iraq as a grunt (Infantry) and if we ran out of bullets and requested more I doubt anyone would say we were playing politics. But I'm not a MAGA so facts matter to me" / Twitter

 

[Horatio Parker]

When Trump warned of two "very painful" weeks, I thought that he had improved. But he didn't.

Michelle Goldberg on Twitter: "Those doctors and their insatiable appetite for basic protective equipment https://t.co/QiyWvRX62g" / Twitter
noted

Donald J. Trump on Twitter: "Massive amounts of medical supplies, even hospitals and medical centers, are being delivered directly to states and hospitals by the Federal Government. Some have insatiable appetites & are never satisfied (politics?). Remember, we are a backup for them. The complainers should..." / Twitter

Donald J. Trump on Twitter: "....have been stocked up and ready long before this crisis hit. Other states are thrilled with the job we have done. Sending many Ventilators today, with thousands being built. 51 large cargo planes coming in with medical supplies. Prefer sending directly to hospitals." / Twitter

What a weenie. He is in his second childhood - he acts like a big baby.

Some of his responses:

Daniel Goldman on Twitter: "A frontline doctor at a major NYC hospital told me he lost his first patient this morning to rationing of care — not enough ventilators to go around. The lack of supplies and testing is real — and costing lives — no matter what the daily reality show tries to sell you." / Twitter

Stephen Elpop on Twitter: "@danielsgoldman @Mimirocah1 And yet the President stated yesterday that scarves were as good as medical masks. Please can we all accept that President is unfit to lead in this time of crisis." / Twitter

Eiric Marro on Twitter: "@michelleinbklyn I served in Iraq as a grunt (Infantry) and if we ran out of bullets and requested more I doubt anyone would say we were playing politics. But I'm not a MAGA so facts matter to me" / Twitter

All true, but his base doesn't care. I'd even guess that they enjoy the indignation.

 

[blastula]

Meanwhile in "Pelosi proves shes a big league'er".

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Wednesday that President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell "should not try to hide behind an excuse" in response to the suggestion from both the President and the Kentucky Republican that impeachment distracted the US government from the growing coronavirus crisis.

"We have a life and death situation in our country and they should not try to hide behind an excuse for why they did not take action, but it does admit that they did not take action," Pelosi said, adding, "Right now we have to work together to get the job done."

That is quality passive-aggressive stuff there.

he should be impeached again for his actions on this, which were much like with ukraine, telling states they can have supplies if only they do him a favor though first of telling him how pretty he is.

Governors plead for medical equipment from federal stockpile plagued by shortages and confusion - The Washington Post

One White House official said Trump is attuned to the electoral importance of Florida in November, giving added weight to the arguments DeSantis has made to the administration that his state’s economy should reopen as soon as possible.

“The president knows Florida is so important for his reelection, so when DeSantis says that, it means a lot,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to be frank. “He pays close attention to what Florida wants.”

It is Ukraine, he's using the office to cheat the election again.

 

[lpetrich]

Kamala Harris on Twitter: "This was 50 days ago. https://t.co/zp4iuULd9R" / Twitter
noted
Kamala Harris on Twitter: "Unacceptable that no one from the Trump administration came before the Homeland Security committee today to discuss the coronavirus. We need public hearings so the American people can hear directly from officials leading the response to the crisis. https://t.co/i09ROQB5Is" / Twitter
That was back in Feb 12.
KH claims that those officials needs time to prepare talking points.

More evidence of negligence on the part of the Trump Admin.

California's SF Bay Area nailed coronavirus response, everyone should heed its lessons
Sarah Cody, Santa Clara County's Public-Health Officer. That county includes San Jose and Silicon Valley.

”She had just gotten off the phone with health officers Tomas Aragon from San Francisco and Morrow from San Mateo County. They debated the race-against-time decision, the consequences for faltering — the kinds of stuff of Hollywood scripts,” reported the San Jose Mercury News. “They compared the trend lines of COVID-19 cases in the Bay Area with Italy’s a week and a half earlier, just before the situation there turned dire. If they didn’t take bold action, the Bay Area could be next. ‘It was clear to me already how quickly it was moving, and that’s what gave me a sense of urgency,’ Cody said. ‘We just needed to embrace the risk and do it.’”

The Bay Area seems to be leveling off in new cases and deaths, while California is still rising.

Jared Kushner told Trump that New York didn't need all those ventilators

The hits just keep coming for Trump son-in-law, slumlord, real estate failure and so-called wunderkind, Jared Kushner. As reported by Vanity Fair, Kushner reportedly told Donald Trump that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was exaggerating the need for ventilators in his state. Trump then followed up by echoing this position on Fox News, suggesting that Kushner’s belief has guided the administration’s policy on the issue.

Jared has made a point of adding to his vast store of knowledge during the pandemic, so much that he now heads up a “shadow” coronavirus task force within the White House (apparently to keep the “real” White House task force honest). As Kushner has Trump’s erratic ear, this “shadow” task force is actually vested with more power than the original one, a fact which its leader has no qualms about emphasizing.

“The Campaign Panicked”: Inside Trump’s Decision to Back Off of His Easter Coronavirus Miracle | Vanity Fair

Trump’s impulsive decision—and its messy aftermath—consumed the West Wing during the critical week that governors were pleading with the White House to deliver medical supplies before hospital systems began to collapse. “It was totally crazy,” the Republican told me. Dr. Fauci, Senator Lindsey Graham, and others raced to convince Trump that an Easter opening would be a cataclysmic error that could cost millions of lives. “This is a very, very stressful situation for everybody, including me,” Fauci told me in a phone interview on Monday. By last weekend Fauci’s arguments broke through: Trump agreed to extend the social distancing guidelines until the end of April.

The COVID-19 virus was hitting close to home for him. Like infecting a close friend, 78-yr-old NYC real-estate mogul Stan Chera. He was in a coma in a NYC hospital. The virus was in danger of spreading into red states.

But he ultimately realized that as bad as the stock market was, getting coronavirus wrong would end his presidency. “The campaign doesn’t matter anymore,” he recently told a friend, “what I do now will determine if I get reelected.”

As if that is the only thing that could possibly count.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

he should be impeached again for his actions on this, which were much like with ukraine, telling states they can have supplies if only they do him a favor though first of telling him how pretty he is.

Governors plead for medical equipment from federal stockpile plagued by shortages and confusion - The Washington Post

One White House official said Trump is attuned to the electoral importance of Florida in November, giving added weight to the arguments DeSantis has made to the administration that his state’s economy should reopen as soon as possible.

“The president knows Florida is so important for his reelection, so when DeSantis says that, it means a lot,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to be frank. “He pays close attention to what Florida wants.”

It is Ukraine, he's using the office to cheat the election again.

Honestly, part of me ponders if the pandemic going into November is a goal, to stop the election in the first place.

 

[blastula]

He could try to cancel it, but that would only mean he's still out on January 20 though, and then we could have President Pat Leahy, my first choice all along.

If coronavirus delays election, VT Sen. Leahy could become president - Burlington Free Press

 

[lpetrich]

(outrage at Trump's assholishness)

All true, but his base doesn't care. I'd even guess that they enjoy the indignation.

I wouldn't be surprised. I've seen Trumpies gloat over outrage from previous actions.

Corporate Medicine to doctors and nurses: "We saw you were on fire, so we brought this gasoline..."

(about a pay cut for medical personnel, including laying off of "nonessential" ones)

Here is a chart, showing the number of jobs in the healthcare sector from 1970 to 2009. Now granted, this study is 10 years out of date, but I suspect the curves are pretty unchanged.

Want to know where your healthcare dollars go?

The red area is physicians. Not much growth in the time frame is there?

The yellow zone is healthcare ‘administrators’. Yeah. Can you say ‘metastatic’?

I haven’t checked yet, but with the bailout money they’ll be getting from the government...I would bet their stock is up this morning.

Coronavirus Sidebar: Engineer deliberately ran train off tracks in attempt to smash the USNS Mercy - because he thought that the ship's real purpose was something else.

Praise the Lord and Pass the Coronavirus: Kentucky Revival Meeting Infected 28 and Killed Two.

I live in Colo Springs - the heart of evangelical America - the local GOP chair just blew my mind

The county chair had also posted on her personal Facebook page that the Coronavirus is a hoax (and was not taking it down as far as I know). Her defense was that the post on the GOP website was intended “to make people think, but if they don’t want to and get offended” she would take it down because “this is not the hill I want to die on”. BTW, she has also posted on here personal Facebook page “This is the time for civil unrest”

 

[lpetrich]

Dr. Fauci Receiving Threats, Requires Enhanced Security - Updated

They have been spreading rumors about Dr. Fauci, making all kinds of false claims about him, characterizing him as a Hillary supporter, natch, and an avatar of The Deep State, and now he’s being threatened. Additionally he has a fervent fan club and the enthusiasm of their regard for him has become a concern.

...
Social media is part of the problem but it’s hardly the whole problem. The article mentions Lou Dobbs, who somewhere along the line became a hatemonger. The whole FOX enterprise is responsible for poison and lies and polarizing the American people. Gateway Pundit and American Thinker are also mentioned as having inspired rage against Dr. Fauci.

The Emperor's nakedness has turned deadly. Where are the mass calls for resignation?

PZ Myers 🕷 on Twitter: "This is going to be a growing genre: assholes who are trying to throw their history of disinformation down a memory hole. https://t.co/DxYFbBgAxK" / Twitter
noting
JM Rieger on Twitter: "JESSE WATTERS on March 3:
"I'm not afraid of the coronavirus and no one else should be that afraid either.”
JESSE WATTERS on April 1:
Democrats and the media repeatedly downplayed the coronavirus threat https://t.co/4F4Phnw8WD" / Twitter

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Exactly what would you expect the Trump to do! A Moses like act of holding up his staff and parting the sea and stop COVID-19 in it's tracks? The Trumpet is doing exactly what most other world governments are doing and spending trillions of dollars to keep the country from complete collapse, similar as the Australian government is doing. Giving the most vulnerable people $750 payment to start with. A second stimulus payment later, Guaranteeing a $1500 payment per fortnight to small and medium companies for up to 2-3 million, perhaps more employees. Among a rush of other stimuli to try and salvage the economy. in Australia's case costing upwards of 380 billion AUD. for a total population of just under 25 million in comparison to 3+ trillion USD for 330 million Americans. The Trump has already announced much more, or whatever it takes to save America going down the gurgler. A semi senile Biden, or an outright loony Sanders lack the steel balls needed in this crisis in my opinion and the opinion of most Americans it seems by the Trump's latest approval rating.

We should have been rushing to build up testing capability, not throwing roadblocks in the way of developing it. Contact tracing up the wazoo, rather than the current situation where tests are being reserved for hospitals because there aren't enough to go around.

It's only been very recently that His Flatulence has started to take this at all seriously, despite the fact that the right wing knew it was going to be serious for much longer. It appears like a deliberate strategy to sacrifice granny for the economy and present it as a fait acompli.

Just because plenty of other world leaders took the same approach doesn't make it not vile.

President Trump warned America about the Coronavirus in early February, when much of the MSM was downplaying the virus. Today much of the MSM is falsely accusing President Trump of downplaying the virus in it’s early stages, in the hope that will prevent him from being re-elected. President Trump is 100 percent correct: the MSM is the enemy of the people.

https://gellerreport.com/2020/04/hypocritical-media-downplays-wuhan-virus-for-weeks.html/

Those are headlines, they aren't what His Flatulence is saying. I'm specifically talking about what he's said.

(And note that many right-wing news sources repeated his lies. It sure looks like they attempted to downplay it until the sacrifice granny route was a fait accompli.)

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

He could try to cancel it, but that would only mean he's still out on January 20 though, and then we could have President Pat Leahy, my first choice all along.

If coronavirus delays election, VT Sen. Leahy could become president - Burlington Free Press

Of course, the trouble is, who enforces that this happens? The right-wing certainly wouldn't have it and would start shooting people in the streets.

 

[lpetrich]

Mary Beth "flatten the curve" Williams on Twitter: "So millions have lost their jobs and thousands are sick or dying from C-19, and you're cheering the fact that everything from gas for their cars to medical plastics for their vents will be more expensive and increase profits for MBS and Putin. Great job there, Donny. https://t.co/xS2XQo1yJy" / Twitter
noting
Donald J. Trump on Twitter: "Just spoke to my friend MBS (Crown Prince) of Saudi Arabia, who spoke with President Putin of Russia, & I expect & hope that they will be cutting back approximately 10 Million Barrels, and maybe substantially more which, if it happens, will be GREAT for the oil & gas industry!" / Twitter

Another reckless Republican:

Andisheh Nouraee on Twitter: "A stunning admission of deadly ignorance from Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who says he only just learned that asymptomatic people can transmit #Covid19. “ndividuals could have been infecting people before they ever felt bad, but we didn’t know that until the last 24 hours.” https://t.co/T7NZWk2GDR" / Twitter
noting
Jordan on Twitter: "In addition to stealing the Governor's election from Stacey Abrams, Brian Kemp just showed he is unfit to serve.
He JUST found out you can have Coronavirus but be asymptomatic? Georgia residents should be recalling him immediately. HIS IGNORANCE IS DEADLY https://t.co/nW7gG51c4J" / Twitter

Signal Boost on Twitter: "Guest @SenKamalaHarris told @ZerlinaMaxwell & @jess_mc that there's definitely a crisis of leadership coming from the White House in the wake of the #coronavirus outbreak
FULL CHAT: [url]https://t.co/kdgdFEb7ft https://t.co/HFPD64TIkW" / Twitter[/url]
noting
Sen. Kamala Harris talks coronavirus protections, Equal Pay Day | Signal Boost with Zerlina Maxwell and Jess McIntosh | Listen on SiriusXM
"The president either has the ability to act or sit on his you-know-what and do nothing." (a paraphrase of KH's remarks)

KH noted that mayors and governors have shown much more leadership than the President.

 

[lpetrich]

Democratic National Convention pushed back to August - CNNPolitics - now scheduled for August 17

The Associated Press on Twitter: "BREAKING: US unemployment claims hit 6.6 million -- another record high -- as layoffs accelerate in face of coronavirus. https://t.co/z1EgXNq4xT" / Twitter
and
The Associated Press on Twitter: "More than 6.6 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, double the record of 3.3 million reported for the previous week. The layoffs have led many economists to envision as many as 20 million lost jobs by the end of April. https://t.co/Zylsl5A6gm" / Twitter
then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "10 million people *that we know of* are newly unemployed in the US.
This is an unprecedented crisis.
The Federal gov has the power to guarantee healthcare, housing, & basic income.
Yet conservative officials are resisting doing the bare minimum to save lives. It’s a betrayal. https://t.co/YshBMvjrTR" / Twitter

Neil Irwin on Twitter: "6.648m people filed successfully for unemployment insurance benefits last week, double the previous week, which itself was 4x the previous worst week on record." / Twitter
then
Jeffrey Stein on Twitter: "How could states' Medicaid budgets possibly handle anywhere close to millions and millions of new claims? https://t.co/6Jb5IASKvR" / Twitter
then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "They can’t. We need Medicare for All. https://t.co/c3dsCGiFuu" / Twitter
Or at least a public option.

 

[ZiprHead]

He could try to cancel it, but that would only mean he's still out on January 20 though, and then we could have President Pat Leahy, my first choice all along.

If coronavirus delays election, VT Sen. Leahy could become president - Burlington Free Press

I couldn't read the article because it wanted me to turn off my ad blocker but no senator is in line for the presidency. It goes to the speaker of the house, Nancy Pelosi.

 

[blastula]

But there would be no House member without an election. Just read this thread.
https://twitter.com/imillhiser/status/1240108944422506498

 

[lpetrich]

The Hill on Twitter: "Rep. @AOC: "Unemployment takes a huge emotional and mental toll... This is not just an economic issue. It's an issue of health. It's an issue of stress. It's an issue of mental health." https://t.co/w5pYLXnnrx" / Twitter
From a town-hall video appearance she did yesterday. She also assured her watchers that they were not alone and that they could get help for their psychological issues.

Martha McSally calls on WHO director to resign - POLITICO

The Arizona Republican said on Fox Business on Thursday that Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus should resign over the organization's handling of the virus, which originated in China. While China has claimed it has essentially flattened new cases of the deadly virus now killing thousands of Americans, new reporting has questioned China's rosy data.

"I’ve never trusted a communist. And their cover-up of this virus that originated with them has caused unnecessary deaths around America and around the world," said McSally, who is up for reelection this fall. "The WHO needs to stop covering for them. I think Dr. Tedros needs to step down. We need to take some action to address this issue. It's just irresponsible, it’s unconscionable what they have done here while we have people dying across the globe."

That's why I trust South Korea much more than China.

 

[lpetrich]

More broadly, underreporting is a potentially serious problem, with testing sometimes being limited to people with symptoms or even to people with strong symptoms. Related to this is why Germany has a low COVID-19 death rate -- one hypothesis I've seen is that it is an artifact of Germany's massive testing efforts.

So I doubt that China is especially villainous there.

Behind the scenes, Kushner takes charge of coronavirus response - POLITICO -- he is someone with actual management ability, as opposed to the Toddler in Chief. But in his management of his rental properties, he is not much more than a slumlord, so he's likely short on moral scruples. So Prince Jared is Lawful Evil and Trump is Chaotic Evil.

Republican fundraiser looks to cash in on coronavirus - POLITICO - "A longtime campaign operative informed clients that he was leaving politics behind for a new line of work: selling critical medical supplies."

Poll: Kelly opens up double-digit lead against McSally in Arizona Senate race | TheHill - so she might not last long. Mitch McConnell also has a Democratic challenger who has been getting a lot of buzz.

 

[ZiprHead]

Navy relieves captain who raised alarm about coronavirus outbreak on aircraft carrier

That's some bullshit right there.