Trump Has A Serious Case Of Covid And He’s Known It Since Before The First Presidential Debate

“The red death had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous… There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then [death.]             

“But Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious. When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his crenellated abbeys. This was an extensive and magnificent structure, the creation of the prince’s own eccentric yet august taste. A strong and lofty wall girdled it in. This wall had gates of iron. The courtiers, having entered, brought furnaces and massy hammers and welded the bolts.”

“The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allen Poe

On Saturday, September 26, President Trump introduced his Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, to 150 Republican luminaries.  The celebration took place in the White House Rose Garden (currently bereft of roses, all of which were dug up on the orders of the First Lady, who wanted a different look for the Republican Convention.)    

The dream of conservative ideologues was about to be made reality.  The replacement of Ruth Bader Ginsburg with a religious fanatic and conservative ideologue who promises to out-Scalia Scalia would give the Federalist Society control of the Supreme Court for a generation.  Every Republican who was anyone was there.  Social distancing was ignored and only a handful of those present wore masks.  It was a time for hugs, handshakes, and triumphant conversations.  We own the libs!  It was followed by more social interactions inside the White House.      

Since the event, at least eight of the attendees, including the President and the First Lady, have tested positive for the coronavirus.  The Red Death had made its way into the keep.

On the days following the Rose Garden event, the president met with Chris Christie (now hospitalized with the virus) and others to prepare for the first presidential debate on Tuesday,  September 29.  Although the participants in the debate had agreed they would be tested for the virus in the studio before the debate began, Trump arrived too late to comply with the agreement.  Although the auditorium where the debate was held required everyone other than the two candidates and the moderator to wear masks, Trump’s contingent refused to do so.      

On Wednesday evening, the day after the debate, the president held a rally in Minnesota attended by thousands of people.  There was no social distancing.  Masks were not required and very few attendees wore them.  

On the trip home from Minnesota Thursday morning, Hope Hicks became ill and was sequestered on the plane.  She tested positive for Covid.  Although the president had been in close contact with her and knew she had Covid, he flew to his Bedminster Country Club in New Jersey Thursday evening for a fundraiser with two hundred big-money contributors.  Tens of millions of dollars were raised.  Masks were not worn.  Social distancing was not observed.  The fat cats partook of a buffet meal, against the law in New Jersey during the pandemic.      

Shortly after midnight Thursday, the president tweeted that he and the First Lady had tested positive for Covid.  He had known he was ill for some time, but had not notified the Bidens.  They learned when we all learned.      

On Friday morning, we were told by the White House that the president’s symptoms were mild.  Later in the day, however, we were told that for precautionary reasons, the president would be helicoptered to Walter Reed Hospital.  An 18 second video was played in which a pale and scared-looking Trump faced the camera and said: “I think I’m doing very well, but we’re going to make sure that things work out.”      

The next morning, Saturday, at about 11:20 am EDT, the president’s personal physician, a Navy Commander osteopath named Sean Conley and two other treating physicians spoke to the press outside Walter Reed.  They were backed up by ten or so physicians in white coats, looking like they were auditioning for a commercial telling us how 9 out of 10 doctors prefer Camel cigarettes.  The show biz part of this saga had begun.         

Dr. Conley, reading from a prepared statement, said that “we are 72 hours into the diagnosis now”, which would have put the “diagnosis” sometime Wednesday morning.  Dr. Garibaldi, the therapeutics expert, spoke next.  He said that “about 48 hours ago”, the president received an experimental antibody cocktail made by Regeneron.  This would place that treatment as having occurred on Thursday morning, presumably after Trump and his doctors learned that Hope Hicks was infected.  Dr. Garibaldi also said that Trump had begun Remdesivir treatments the preceding day, Friday.     When a reporter asked when Trump had received his last “negative” test, Dr. Conley refused to answer. 

When a reporter asked about the “diagnosis” that occurred 72 hours ago, Conley said that “on Thursday afternoon” following news of Trump’s “close contact” with someone who had contracted the virus [presumably Hope Hicks] they conducted “tests” and confirmed later that night that Trump was infected with the coronavirus.      

Dr. Conley was extremely evasive about whether Trump had ever received oxygen, but he and another doctor made statements that strongly implied Trump had been on oxygen at some point.  Conley also evaded a question of whether Trump had experienced any lung damage, saying we “won’t go into specifics of lung damage” and evaded other questions put to him.        

The thrust of the Saturday morning “press conference” was not to inform, but to put a “happy face” on the situation, to let the public know that Trump was doing great, that he was walking around, taking care of business, and felt like he could go home that afternoon.  Conley said that apart from being “slightly” overweight, the president “is in great shape”.  Lots of smarmy smiles.        

Immediately after this charade, a White House source – initially unnamed, but later identified as White House Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows – notified some members of the press that: “The President’s vitals over last 24 hours were very concerning and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care. We are still not on a clear path to a full recovery.”      

Trump was reportedly furious that Meadows had stepped on the “he’s doing great” message.       

Either late Saturday or early Sunday, the White House issued a “clarification” stating that Dr. Conley had misspoken, and had meant to begin his Saturday presentation by saying “it’s ‘Day 3’ of the diagnosis”, not “72 hours into the diagnosis” and that  he should have said that Trump’s diagnosis was Thursday night (not Thursday afternoon as he said on Saturday). The “clarification” also stated that Dr. Conley misspoke when he said the experimental antibody medication from Regeneron was administered 48 hours ago.  He should have said “on Day 2”.  But this made no sense, in part because it was Dr. Garibaldi, not Conley, who had made the 48 hours statement and also because it was clear that Dr. Garibaldi had not “misspoken”.      

On Sunday, Dr. Conley held another press conference, at which he revised his account again, telling us that it was not until after he returned from Bedminster that president Trump began feeling unwell and tested positive for Covid.  Conley again refused to say when Trump received his last negative test, although he did admit he had lied when he said the president had not received oxygen.  He said the president had actually received oxygen twice and he misled the press only because he wanted to “reflect the upbeat attitude of the team” and emphasize how well the president was doing.  When asked about Trump’s chest and possible pneumonia, Conley said “we’re tracking but there’s nothing of clinical concern.”      

On Sunday afternoon, Trump made a four minute video during which he spoke to the camera about how well he was doing.  In neither that video nor the 18 second hostage video he had made on Saturday did he say anything about the 210,000 Americans who have died from the virus or the 7.5 million Americans who have been infected, many of whom have suffered serious, long term damage even though they survived.      

On Sunday, before she tested positive for Covid later that day, the White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, refused to give any information about the timing of negative and positive tests and refused “on privacy grounds” to disclose the number of White House staff people who had been infected.      

On Sunday evening, Trump made two Secret Service men drive around Walter Reed so he could press his stubby fingers against the car window as a “show of strength”.  Being confined in the car with him exposed the two SS men to infection.      

On Monday morning Dr. Conley held another press conference.  He refused on HIPPA grounds – complete nonsense – to disclose the results of Trump’s chest X-rays or CAT scans, but it was obvious in context that Trump had Covid pneumonia.  If the chest X-rays had been normal he would have said so.  He said the president was doing great and might come “home” to the White House that evening after his fourth Remdesivir treatment.      

Around noon Monday, Trump tweeted: “Feeling really good!  Don’t be afraid of Covid.  Don’t let it dominate your life. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!”      

The “I feel great” stuff is the steroids talking.  The advice to us not to “be afraid of Covid” is a completely self-absorbed man, who got treatment no one else in the world could get, talking.       

On Monday evening, after flying back to the White House, Trump walked to the balcony and we were treated to another “show of strength”.  His hair was coifed and frozen into the characteristic pompadour.  His orange makeup had been professionally applied.  Although climbing the stairs had caused him to gasp like some freshly-caught fish at the bottom of the boat, he gave his version of a steely-eyed “look of strength” and strode into the White House to infect more of the staff.  Proud Boys everywhere were thrilled.  To normal people, it was at once a pitiable and frightening spectacle.  I truly think the man is insane.

Some observations:        

1. Of course they are all lying and deceiving about when Trump showed symptoms and first tested positive.  Based on the timeline above, Trump was likely infected prior to the debate AND KNEW IT, but believed it would be political suicide to postpone the debate because he had been infected with Covid.  That’s the main reason neither the White House nor Dr. Conley will say when Trump received his last negative test.  Remember that this is a guy who claims he is tested “all the time.”  I’d bet a lot of money he was tested prior to the debate and it came up positive.  That’s why he arrived too late to get tested at the studio.
2. Knowing he was infected and contagious, Trump attended the Wednesday rally in Minnesota and the Thursday evening fundraiser in Bedminster because he was afraid that cancelling either of these events would make him look weak.
3. He finally agreed to go to the hospital on Friday afternoon because he was dangerously ill.  Not only had he taken the experimental Regeneron antibody drug, but he was also taking Remdisavir and at some point he had also been put on a powerful steroid, Dexamethosone.  The pretense that he was “doing fine” could no longer be maintained.
4. When Dr. Garibaldi said on Saturday morning that Trump had received an antibody cocktail “about 48 hours ago”, i.e., on Thursday morning, he sure looked like he was telling the truth.  But, of course, that would have meant that Trump was already showing serious symptoms of his illness by then.  The antibody cocktail he was given was experimental and required a “compassionate” exception to be administered.  The idea that this would have happened without Trump already being seriously ill is ridiculous.
5. When Conley said on Saturday morning that “we are 72 hours into the diagnosis”, i.e. that Trump first showed Covid symptoms Wednesday morning, he was likely telling the truth.  He was reading it from a prepared statement, which must have been approved by White House personnel.  He listened without demurrer when Dr. Garibaldi said the president had received an antibody cocktail “about 48 hours ago.”  When Conley revised the 72 hour diagnosis statement so as to set the time of the “diagnosis” as the result of “repeated tests” administered Thursday afternoon, he was placing the tests at a time after everyone knew Hope Hicks was infected, but before Trump flew to Bedminster.  When he revised it again, to say that Trump had not tested positive until after the Bedminster fundraiser, he was definitely lying.
6. All of this lying and kabuki was because Trump cannot bear to appear weak. He was willing to endanger the health of the people who prepared him for the debate, the Bidens, the attendees at the Minnesota rally, the heavy hitters at the Bedminster fundraiser, the Secret Service agents who drove him around Sunday night, and the hundreds of staff people and workers involved in all of these activities just so he would not look weak.  Well, he is weak and, as we’ve known for years, he is a malignant narcissist and a pathological liar.  He is a weak man’s idea of a strong man and a danger to everyone around him and to the United States of America every day he is in office.
7. Many more people will become infected with Covid as a result of Trump’s having attended the events identified above.  Chris Christie will be on a ventilator by the weekend.  Donald Trump will be back in the hospital by Sunday and he will have his ass handed to him on November 3.

“Those Who Do Not Remember The Past Will Be Condemned To Repeat It”

This famous quote by George Santayana is usually dusted off to remind someone of a historical mistake that took place decades or even centuries ago. But is our country so stupid that it cannot remember the huge mistake it made just two months ago?

After locking down much of the United States from mid-March to late April, Trump forced the national discussion to turn to the question:

“When can we re-open America?”

According to Trump, it “had to be done.” He wanted to do it on Easter, which he believed would invite invocations of the word “resurrection” and comparisons of him to God. When that plan was exposed as absurd, he and his lackeys continued to press for an early “reopen”. Mike Pence told us all of this virus stuff would be in the rear view mirror by the end of May. Jared told us it would all be over by June and that the economy would be roaring in July. Ivanka told people who have lost their jobs to get out there and “try something new”.

Trump himself was on TV regularly telling us that the virus would disappear, that everything was being handled beautifully, and even told us on July 4 that the U.S. had tested 40 million people and that 99% of the confirmed coronavirus cases were harmless. (I’m not making any of this up.)

Having abdicated responsibility for creating a reopening plan, Trump even urged his base to disregard the CDC’s guidelines for a safe reopening.

“Liberate Wisconsin!” “Liberate Minnesota!” “Liberate Michigan!!”, cried The Blonde Iguana, exhorting to action the yahoos attempting to invade state capitol building with assault weapons to show how pissed off they were that bars and bowling alleys were closed.

Republican politicians subservient to Trump did his bidding. Clowns like Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas and Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona closed their states late (if at all) and re-opened them early. They scoffed at states that acted responsibly. Trump and his toadies ridiculed warnings from Dr. Fauci and other experts of the potentially dire consequences of a premature reopening. “Get back to work and start spending again!” “The economy über alles!”

And a catastrophe ensued. We went from 20,000 new cases a day to 40,000 a day, to 60,000 new cases a day, and now to 67,000 new cases a day. It has gotten so bad that, in defiance of Trump, Republican governors of some southern states are even starting to recommend that their citizens wear masks. What courage.

Instead of learning from that recent history, Trump has initiated another potential catastrophe by ordering that all schools reopen within the next couple of months. To back up this directive, he has threatened to withhold federal funds from school districts that do not obey his order. He and his moronic Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, have no plan for how this is to be accomplished, other than to repeat over and over that: “The schools must reopen.”

For the past three or four weeks, the media, politicians, and school boards have been obsessed with discussions and debates over how getting our kids back in school can be accomplished safely. But this is like asking how to have a safe picnic in a forest that is being consumed by a raging forest fire. And here’s the answer: “It can’t be done.”

Schools can’t be reopened safely while we’re in the middle of an exploding pandemic that is producing 60,000 to 70,000 new cases every day. The NY Times just reported that internal CDC documents have been leaked, which warn that fully reopening K-12 schools and universities would create the “highest risk” for the spread of coronavirus. Can you imagine the reaction that would follow the spikes in infections and deaths among students, teachers and school staff members if we re-open our schools after this warning and in the middle of this conflagration?

The question our leaders should be asking is not: “How do we reopen our schools safely”, but rather: “How do we get the virus under control the way the European Union countries have done, so that it will be possible for our kids to return to school as their kids have done?”

And the answer to this question is, of course, that we must go back to a strict “shelter-in-place” for a period of time, close all non-essential businesses that require people to interact with each other, and require everyone to wear masks in public. Bars, massage parlors, bowling alleys, churches, and sporting events will have to wait until the virus curve is not only bent, but crushed. Efforts to “live with” the virus, as Trump urges, and come up with ways to resume a distorted version of our pre-Covid lives while the pandemic rages is nuts.

For example, the idea of having a football season at any level – high school, college or the NFL – is ridiculous under these circumstances. Why would any parent allow their son to play? And no governor in their right mind would let spectators attend a football game, except, perhaps, the governor of Alabama. I could imagine her letting Alabama and Auburn play each other eight times or until all players, coaches and spectators have been hospitalized. If a football season of any kind is attempted, virus outbreaks will immobilize team after team until the whole ridiculous enterprise will have to be abandoned, making America look even more foolish than it does now.

So, what to do? Trump will not change course. He’s insane and he thinks his one, desperate hope for re-election – besides relentless voter suppression – is to keep the economy from tanking before November 3. If getting there means 80,000 new Covid cases a day or 250,000 coronavirus deaths by the end of October, so what? That’s a price Trump will gladly pay to win re-election – especially since it is not a price he will be paying.

I believe the governors of our states talk to each other. They should agree to turn their efforts to truly “bending the curve” and then crushing it before any “reopening” of schools takes place. No letting each school district make its own decision and no face-to-face instruction in the Fall. \No football season and no high school or college sports of any kind until the virus is under control. But most of the Republican governors won’t do this because they are in thrall to Trump and terrified of what might happen to them politically if they cross him.

Of course, our big mistake was not booting Trump out of office in January, when we had the chance. We can thank 51 gutless Republican senators for that. But that’s water under the bridge and now we will have to wait until November 3 to vote Trump out and then wait an additional two and a half months until President Biden is inaugurated.

In the meantime, don’t do anything stupid and stay safe. Help is on its way.

Trump’s Leadership Has Been Terrible, But Have He And The Republicans Made It Impossible To Lead America?

“The truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn’t there?”
— V For Vendetta

By June 27, 2.5 million cases of Covid-19 had been confirmed in the United States, causing 125,000 deaths. These are by far the world’s highest numbers – 25 percent of the world’s totals from a country with 4 percent of the world’s population. By contrast, Thailand, a country of 70 million people, had 3,162 confirmed cases and 58 deaths. Vietnam, a country of 90 million people, had an even better record – 350 cases and no deaths.

While America’s horrific record in dealing with this pandemic is primarily attributable to the abysmal leadership of Donald Trump, one must also assign some responsibility to the attitudes of those Americans who comprise his base. Their hatred of government and mistrust of expertise, combined with their rejection of science and exaltation of perverted notions of “liberty” and “freedom”, have made it nearly impossible for our country to mount an effective, bipartisan response to this – or any – crisis. These attitudes, shared by tens of millions of Americans and encouraged by Trump, have been nurtured by the Republican Party for three decades and have now been turbocharged by the worst president in American history. The result is a catastrophe that will get a lot worse before it gets better.

Thailand and Vietnam showed that preparation for the possibility of a virus-driven pandemic is essential. They were prepared and once the threat arose, quick and decisive leadership came from the top. Actions to fight the virus were coordinated throughout the country. The danger of the threat and the steps necessary to combat it were clearly and candidly communicated to the nation. Then the people of those nations had enough trust and confidence in their leadership and institutions to comply with government directives. The combination of excellent leadership and the Thai and Vietnamese peoples’ nearly unanimous compliance with their governments’ directives respecting physical distancing and wearing of masks in public allowed both countries to suppress the pandemic.

By contrast, the Trump Administration failed in every respect.

The outgoing Obama Administration had tried to prepare the incoming Trump team and warned of the danger of an airborne virus, which they viewed as inevitable. As you might expect, Trump and his minions didn’t listen. Instead, they literally threw away the 69 page playbook the Obama Administration had prepared for use in the event of a pandemic. Because he is a very stable genius with a big brain, who listens to his gut (which is also very big), Trump defunded and disbanded the departments responsible for dealing with such a crisis. When news of a dangerous coronavirus emanating from China came to the attention of his administration, Trump ignored it because it did not conform to his plan for presiding over a vibrant economy, that would put him on a glide path to reelection. So, instead of responding to the problem, he praised China for its work and transparency (which he knew was unjustified and which we now know was simply a ploy to suck up to Xi to get a trade deal.) He ignored the danger posed by the virus and took no action other than to halt plane flights from China.

I won’t try to recount all the ways in which Trump screwed up. You’ve read about them all. After ignoring the problem for weeks, he told the press that there was nothing to see here, that it was only one guy from China, that it was only 15 cases, soon to be zero, that the situation was entirely under control, and that the virus would disappear in April. All of this was contrary to the guidance he was getting from government experts and American scientists.

The United States didn’t declare a national emergency until March 13, and never imposed a nationwide lockdown or ordered the wearing of masks. After declaring that he had complete authority, Trump then declared that he would exercise that authority by delegating the job of fighting the virus to the governors of the individual states. They were on their own, while Jared Kushner tried to corner the market in PPE equipment. There was never a national plan or any attempt to coordinate the states’ efforts. Indeed, as some state governors tried to implement shutdowns and emphasize the importance of physical distancing and wearing masks in public, Trump sabotaged their efforts by minimizing the danger posed by the virus and by refusing to wear a mask or practice social distancing himself. Even worse, he continually urged governors to reopen their states while the virus was continuing to expand out of control, because he wanted “to get the economy moving again.” He knew that his reelection would be dependent on a strong economy and he was prepared to gamble with the lives of American citizens to try to make this happen. The result: 125,000 deaths so far, and an explosion of new cases.

The president of the United States has never worn a mask for fear it would sully his manly image. He thinks it would make him look weak. He ridicules people who wear masks and has made refusal to wear a mask mandatory for his followers, a statement of moronic political machismo. Before the rally in Tulsa, his campaign workers removed social-distancing stickers placed on the seats by the operators of the arena so Trump could present the illusion of a packed arena. (Sorry, Donald, that you threw a party and nobody came.) He moved the Republican Convention from North Carolina (which was unwilling to guarantee him the traditional convention of a packed arena) to Florida, whose governor slavishly follows Trump’s wishes.

Last Thursday night, Trump participated in a hard-hitting “town hall” session with Sean Hannity. He and Sean touched on the usual themes – the press are horrible, dishonest people, the FISA warrants were obtained by fraud, Obama is a traitor – before Trump began bragging about what a great job he has done in responding to Covid-19. Why, he imposed a ban on travelers from China on January 31st! Since he had no other action to boast about, he turned next to bragging about how much testing was going on now (finally, but still inadequate and without any coordinated plan), but complained that all this darned testing was making him look bad. As he told Sean:

“If we didn’t do testing, we’d have no cases. If we didn’t do tests, we’d look great.”

He bragged that “our mortality rate is among the best in the world”, a blatant lie. Only a few countries have a higher rate of death per million inhabitants, and we’re on track to surpass them shortly. And he promised a vaccine “before the end of the year” and declared that the economy is “coming back much faster than anyone thought possible.” This last statement will come back to bite him.

Then, after answering a softball question from the audience about what he was most proud of in his 3.5 years in office, he called it a night.

The next day, Mike Pence held the first public meeting in two months of the Coronavirus Task Force, of which he is nominally in charge. These daily televised political rallies had been abandoned after Trump had turned them into a joke by suggesting that perhaps the virus could be contained by ingesting bleach or inserting a special light down one’s throat or up one’s butt.

At the unveiling of the new Coronavirus Task Force – sans the president – Pence repeatedly praised the president’s leadership for the great progress that has been made in fighting the virus:

“As we stand here today, all 50 states and territories across the country are opening up, safely and responsibly. . . We have made truly remarkable progress in moving our nation forward. We’ve all seen the encouraging news as we open up.”

According to Pence, without the president’s incredible leadership, the U.S. would have suffered between 1.5 million and 2.2 million deaths from Covid-19, rather than the measly 125,000 deaths we have suffered so far.

On June 27, the U.S. had 45,722 new confirmed cases, breaking the recored of 44,702 cases set on June 26, which had broken the record of 39,327 new cases set on June 25, which had broken the previous single-day record of 38,115, set on June 24. As I write this late in the evening of June 28, the U.S. has already recorded 40,000 new cases today.

Pence did mention the explosion of new cases, but only as an aside – not as a problem. It was merely the reason the president asked him to hold a televised Task Force session. Pence immediately followed the concession of this inconvenient fact with more bullshit like “think about how far we’ve come” and how, “under the president’s outstanding leadership” – the mandatory introductory phrase to nearly every Pence utterance – “we slowed the spread and flattened the curve”, delivered billions in supplies to the states, and “disclosed a plan to safely reopen and awaken the economy.” (We must not forget that this is the same Mike Pence who told us in mid-May that all of this nasty virus stuff would be over shortly after Memorial Day.)

As for the increase in new cases, Pence declared that “it is inarguable that more testing is generating more cases” and that we “should take comfort in the fact that the daily number of deaths is declining”. The first part of this statement is an absurd lie. Testing doesn’t “generate” new cases; it identifies them. If you stuff yourself with cheeseburgers and watch your ass grow to Kardashian-like dimensions, as Trump does, the pounds are there whether you weigh yourself or not. Weighing yourself does not “generate” the weight gain. And while the second part of Pence’s statement is true – daily deaths have declined during the past couple of weeks – this is not something in which we should take comfort. The current shocking increase in new cases will translate into an increase in the number of deaths per day three to four weeks from now.

Watching Pence was like watching the captain of the Titanic tell the passengers that the massive ocean liner had arrived at this point in the Atlantic far ahead of schedule and was the biggest, safest passenger ship ever built. And, oh, by the way, that scraping sound you heard? We brushed against an iceberg, but dinner tonight will be lobster and the orchestra will be performing in the ship’s ballroom. It was a master class in turd-polishing.

After three times asking the America people to pray for a solution to the crisis, Pence did get around to encouraging Americans to follow the recommendations of local public health officials. But when asked by a reporter why the president never wears a mask and why he defied the recommendations of public health officials in Tulsa and Arizona by holding indoor public rallies where no one wore a mask, Pence replied with the following non sequitur:

“I want to remind you again that freedom of speech and the right to peaceably assemble is enshrined in the Constitution of the United States and even in a health crisis, the American people don’t forfeit our constitutional rights.”

He declared that the president’s decision to hold rallies where his followers could own the libtards by not wearing masks was a matter of “freedom and personal responsibility”. Pence said that the president will continue holding such rallies because an election is coming up. He somehow managed to get through the entire ordeal without once saying the word “masks”.

Having thus explained the “remarkable progress” achieved by Trump’s magnificent leadership, Pence returned to his office, hoping that the president would scratch his belly.

At about the same time, we learned that Trump has decided to defund testing centers across the states experiencing spikes in new cases and that his Justice Department has asked the Supreme Court to abolish Obamacare, leaving 23 million Americans without health coverage in the middle of a pandemic, including more than 500,000 Americans who have signed up for Obamacare after losing their jobs caused them to lose their health insurance. Pence calls Trump’s leadership incredible; Nancy Pelosi describes it as unconscionably cruel.

Like most responsible Americans, I’ve been thinking that had President Obama or President Hillary Clinton been in charge, we would be much better off. They would have reacted quickly and led a coordinated, centralized federal response, which would have included national directives to shelter in place and wear masks in public. But then I realized that although America’s response to the virus would have been much better, it would still have been inadequate because our country is broken.

For more than 30 years, the Republican Party has told Americans that government doesn’t work and can’t accomplish anything. It has attacked our institutions and welcomed racists, extremists, and crazies like the Tea Baggers into its ranks. And I realized that in today’s America, a coherent national policy announced by a competent leader would have been ignored by the 35 percent or so of Americans who base their reality on what they hear from FOX “News”, from conspiracy-oriented nuts like Alex Jones, and from despicable elected representatives like Matt Gaetz and Jim Jordan.

They believe global warming is a Democratic hoax. Their “freedom” and “liberty” to carry assault weapons onto the grounds of state capitols and into their local Olive Garden will not be infringed by some pointy-headed elites from the Coast! And no one will make true patriots like them wear masks and re-breathe the CO2 that God intended to flow out into the winds of freedom.

Spend two minutes watching the video of a recent Palm Beach County, Florida, Commissioners’ meeting and you will realize that once the coronavirus crossed our shores, we were screwed.

Discussion of Trump’s magnificent leadership in responding to the protests following the murder of George Floyd will have to wait for another day.

And, by the way, “V For Vendetta”, an excellent and timely movie, is now available on Netflix.

The Right Wing’s Attempt To Rehabilitate Dr. Trump’s Views On Light, Heat and Disinfectant As Weapons Against The Coronavirus Is Pathetic

Last Thursday, April 23, those masochists among us who still watch Trump’s “Coronavirus Task Force Briefings” were treated to this:

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. So I asked Bill a question that probably some of you are thinking of, if you’re totally into that world, which I find to be very interesting. So, supposing we hit the body with a tremendous — whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light — and I think you said that that hasn’t been checked, but you’re going to test it. And then I said, supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way, and I think you said you’re going to test that too. It sounds interesting.

ACTING UNDER SECRETARY BRYAN: We’ll get to the right folks who could.

THE PRESIDENT: Right. And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning. Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that. So, that, you’re going to have to use medical doctors with. But it sounds — it sounds interesting to me.

So we’ll see. But the whole concept of the light, the way it kills it in one minute, that’s — that’s pretty powerful…

THE PRESIDENT: …I have to say, it covers a lot more territory than just this. This is — this is probably an easy thing, relatively speaking, for you.

I would like you to speak to the medical doctors to see if there’s any way that you can apply light and heat to cure. You know — but if you could. And maybe you can, maybe you can’t. Again, I say, maybe you can, maybe you can’t. I’m not a doctor. But I’m like a person that has a good you know what [gesturing towards his head, which for most people, is the repository of the brain.]

Q: But, sir, you’re the President.

THE PRESIDENT: Deborah, have you ever heard of that? The heat and the light, relative to certain viruses, yes, but relative to this virus?

DR. BIRX: Not as a treatment. I mean, certainly fever —

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.

DR. BIRX: — is a good thing. When you have a fever, it helps your body respond. But not as — I’ve not seen heat or (inaudible).

THE PRESIDENT: I think it’s a great thing to look at. I mean, you know. Okay?

The internet went wild lampooning and ridiculing Trump, e.g.: A Spponful of Clorox by Randy Rainbow and How to Medical by Sarah Cooper

In response, the Right Wing went to DudCon 1 [“Dud” is short for “dudgeon”]. The Buffoon-In-Chief must be defended.

One writer huffed that Dr. Birx had “apparently… not heard about” a pioneering light treatment, which the bio-tech firm Aytu BioScience had announced on April 20, stating that Aytu BioScience was partnering with the FDA and Cedars-Sinai on a UV light treatment to kill the coronavirus in intubated patients through the use of a novel endotracheal medical device that would enter the body through the mouth and use UV rays to kill viruses. Gotcha, Sucker!

The significant point here, of course – and one that none of the commentators has mentioned – is that Trump didn’t say on April 23 that:
“I have been told that there is a company that is working with Cedar-Sinai to develop a novel endotracheal medical device” and continue with his question to Dr. Birx.

No, he said:
“And then I said, supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way, and I think you said you’re going to test that too. It sounds interesting”, trying to make it sound like this concept was something HE had come up with.

I would bet a lot of money that during the three days between April 20 and April 23 someone mentioned this technology to Trump and he figured he would present it as an insight that had occurred to HIM, rather than something that actually existed. Could a nomination for the Nobel Prize in Medicine be in the offing?

Trump’s desperation for adulation, recognition, approval, and praise exceeds that of any human being on earth over the age of three. Remember how he told us in early March (when he falsely said anyone who wanted a test could have one) that all the doctors he talked to were amazed at how quickly he understood epidemiology:

“I like this stuff. I really get it. People are surprised that I understand it. Every one of these doctors said, ‘How do you know so much about this? ‘ Maybe I have a natural ability.”

You’ve all seen the cabinet meeting where they go around the table and everyone is expected to lavish praise on Trump? And how Pence and other members of his administration kiss his ass at every possible opportunity? This is the man who asked Japanese Prime Minister Abe to recommend him for the Nobel Peace Prize. This is the man who asked his staff whether he could award the Presidential Medal Of Freedom to himself. (He’s already degraded the Medal by awarding it to people like Rush Limbaugh, Sheldon Adelson’s wife and Art Laffer.)

I know I’m right about this. Trump’s ignorance and insecurity radiates from the TV screen.

Breitbart also joined the fray with a piece entitled: “Fact Check: No, Trump Didn’t Propose Injecting People With Disinfectant”

In this article, Breitbart writer Joel Pollack argued that we should ignore the words Trump spoke because “Trump was speaking generally about new information about sunlight, heat, and disinfectant killing the virus” and was ‘quoted out of context — as usual — by left-wingers on social media” who are accusing him of suggesting injecting people with disinfectant as a way of curing coronavirus infections’.”

According to Mr. Pollack’s “Fact Check”:
“Trump used the word “inject,” but what he meant was using a process — which he left “medical doctors” to define — in which patients’ lungs might be cleared of the virus, given new knowledge about its response to light and other factors… At no time did Trump actually propose injecting patients with disinfectant.”

But, of course, Trump did actually propose injecting patients with disinfectant and he blew Mr. Pollack’s “Fact Check” out of the water by conceding on Friday that while he WAS talking about injecting disinfectant into the human body, he was proposing this “sarcastically” in response to a “sarcastic” question, another flagrant lie. In any event, Breitbart felt obliged to publish a retraction of its “Fact Check”, stating:
“This piece was erroneously framed by our author as a “fact check,” when, instead, it was and should have been framed as an opinion piece. The opinion that the author was trying to convey was his belief that nobody in their right mind would think that Trump was literally suggesting that people should inject disinfectant into their bodies – which is how many in the media were portraying the President’s comments at yesterday’s press conference. The piece has been re-framed as it should have been originally (as opinion)…”

While all of this was sinking in, Trump decided that the Coronavirus Task Force would not hold any briefings over the weekend and that his future appearances would be limited. Dr. Birx was sent out to the Sunday shows to clean up his mess. If you get a chance, google Thursday’s press conference and watch Dr. Birx’s body language as she listens to Trump spout his nonsense.

This Month In God

I’ve been pretty lazy about keeping you posted on God news, but the self-anointed devout have been so batshit crazy lately I thought I should bring their doings to your attention.

RALPH DROLLINGER
We all know that many so-called “Christian leaders” – some very close to Trump – are in the religion racket for the money and the power, or, in the case of Ralph Drollinger, the proximity to power. Drollinger is the leader of Trump’s Cabinet Bible study group, which, until very recently, met every Wednesday morning. Attendees included Betsy DeVos, Mike Pompeo, Ben Carson, Alex Azar and Mike Pence. Former attendees included Jeff Sessions and Rick Perry. In addition, at least 52 Republican lawmakers also participate in a Capitol Hill version of Drollinger’s Cabinet Bible study, which met on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Sponsors of the meetings include House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the second-ranking GOP lawmaker in the Senate.

Drollinger’s organization, Capitol Ministries, has grown dramatically. His vision is to “reach all the capitals of the world for Christ.” The organization’s latest annual report features endorsement quotes from a series of prominent GOP lawmakers, e.g.:

“I do absolutely believe in the advancement of this ministry worldwide.”
– Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Kansas, offered equally effusive praise:
“Getting together with my Senate colleagues for Bible study is a highlight of my week. It’s a time where we can shut out all the partisan noise and focus on what matters most, our faith. Without the work of Capitol Ministries®, this wouldn’t be possible.”

Drollinger’s Bible Study teaches that Trump’s treatment of immigrants and those seeking asylum is not only blessed by scripture, but is mandated by it:

“In terms of immigration, for a government to be pleasing to God and receive His blessing, it has no option but to protect its citizenry from illegal immigration per Romans 13:4 and 1 Peter 2:13-14. It must always protect its borders and punish those who enter illegally. Any governmental response that is less than this violates God’s clearly revealed intention for government and invites chaos (as we now are seeing on our southern borders).”

To please God, children can be put in cages and separated from their parents, in some cases never to be reunited? Really?

More recently, Drollinger informed his Study Groups that the Covid-19 pandemic is a form of God’s wrath upon nations, but not one as severe as the Flood or the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah:

“Relative to the coronavirus pandemic crisis, this is not God’s abandonment wrath nor His cataclysmic wrath, rather it is sowing and reaping wrath. A biblically astute evaluation of the situation strongly suggests that America and other countries of the world are reaping what China has sown due to their leaders’ recklessness and lack of candor and transparency.”

In a recent Covid-19 pandemic post, Drollinger notes that those who worship the “religion of environmentalism” and express a “proclivity toward lesbianism and homosexuality” have infiltrated “high positions in our government, our educational system, our media and our entertainment industry” and “are largely responsible for God’s consequential wrath on our nation.”

Let that sink in for a moment. Environmentalists and homosexuals are responsible for the coronavirus. The Secretary of State and the Secretary of Education – people running important departments of our country – listen to and apparently give credence to this kind of garbage.

But Drollinger does hold out hope, prophesying that:
“We’ll soon see a human cure for the coronavirus.”

Now I feel better. And I’d feel even better if one of the reporters attending Trump’s daily rallies would ask Pence about Drollinger and his Bible Study groups.

PAULA WHITE
And how about Trump’s “spiritual advisor”, Paula White? This is one remorseless, viciously greedy Woman of God, who tells her followers that if the choice is between paying their utility bills or sending the money to her . . . well, of course you know the rest.

On St. Patrick’s Day, Ms. White asked her followers for private donations to bankroll her private church, which she described as a “hospital to the sick”—the metaphysically sick, that is. Check out this terrifying woman in action.

Of course, the money doesn’t go to the sick. It goes to Paula White.

Paula White’s relationship with Trump goes back to 2002, after he saw her on a Florida TV station purveying her “prosperity gospel” and called to tell her she was “fantastic”. (Knowing his proclivities, I suspect his motives extended beyond the spiritual, but other than Ms. White’s admitted engagement in numerous affairs and Trump’s . . . well, Trump – I am not aware of any evidence of a sexual relationship between them.)

According to Ms. White, the Lord told her then and there to help Trump know God:
“I took on that assignment never knowing that one day that man that God told me to show him who He was would become the president of the United States of America.”

Exactly how Paula White has helped Trump know God is unclear, but we know that Trump consulted with Ms. White on his decision not to run for president in 2012 and that she was a critical cog in his 2016 campaign, masterminding his overtures to the evangelical community. She gave the prime-time benediction on the opening night of the 2016 Republican National Convention and gave the invocation at Trump’s inauguration.

Now Trump is in the White House and so is Paula White. Since last Fall, she has been the Adviser to the White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative. Her official duties entail consulting with the faith community on such social issues as poverty and crime prevention and making recommendations to the White House Domestic Policy Council, but performing those duties haven’t got in the way of her relentless greed. She has continued to operate her religion business, preaching at her own Florida megachurch, appearing on her daily TV show, and invoking her relationship with Trump to generate contributions.

She also makes numerous public speaking appearances, where she asks people for as much money as they can possibly spare—actually even more. White typically asks for “a “First Fruits offering, one that is significant—the first week’s pay, say, or even the first month’s pay—to signify putting God first in everything.”

Does Trump approve of Paula White putting his implicit stamp of approval on a religious ministry that preys on vulnerable people for money? Well, why wouldn’t he? Preying on vulnerable people has been his modus operandi his entire life and I’ll bet Trump is proud of how well his protegé has learned her lessons.

In early December 2019, White convened about 50 evangelicals at the White House for a special briefing that included appearances from Ivanka Trump, Mike Pence, and Trump himself, upon whom they laid hands and prayed in the Oval Office in the hopes of delivering him from impeachment.

And, praise God, although Trump was impeached, he was promptly acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate.

In other God news, while I am sure many churches are doing wonderful works during this time of crisis, the efforts of some men of God have not been helpful.

Louisiana Pastor, Tony Spell, has persisted in bussing hundreds of people to his services, some of whom have been infected with Covid-19. He was most recently in the news for attempting to back a bus over a protestor.

In Miami, Pastor Guillermo Maldonado, friend of the President, told his congregation to show up for worship in person, saying:
“Do you believe God would bring his people to his house to be contagious with the virus? Of course not.”

At a Tampa Bay church, Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne said he would only close the doors at his church “when the rapture is taking place.”
“We’re also going to pass out anointed handkerchiefs to people who may have a fear, who may have a sickness and we believe that when those anointed handkerchiefs go, that healing virtue is going to go on them as well.”

Good luck with that.

On Easter eve, Bishop Gerald Glenn, 66, founder and leader of the New Deliverance Evangelistic Church in Chesterfield, Virginia, died of Covid-19. Bishop Glenn, who was by all accounts a wonderful man, had preached to large crowds on March 15 and March 22, questioning whether the virus was “a sign of the end of times”, but telling his congregation not to be afraid because “I firmly believe that God is larger than this dreaded virus.” No doubt, but irrespective of the virus’s size, Bishop Glenn is dead and his widow has been infected with the virus.

Christian broadcaster Rick Wiles, definitely not a wonderful man, has taken a different tack. He blames the Jews for the virus – well, someone had to do it, didn’t they? – proclaiming:
“God is spreading it in your synagogues! You’re under judgment because you oppose his son, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

This is the same Rick Wiles who called Trump’s impeachment a “Jew coup” and whose TruNews outlet was granted press credentials by the Trump administration to cover the World Economic Forum in January.

And, finally, to restore your faith in the power of prayer to fight this pandemic, please watch America’s richest televangelist, 83 year old Kenneth Copeland, use his amazing powers to simply blow the coronavirus away.

Is this a great country, or what?

Of Course We Should Be Politicizing Trump’s Handling Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Part II

“Government is not the solution to our problem; government IS the problem.”
– President Ronald Reagan

Georgia Governor, Brian Kemp, refused to issue a “stay-at-home” order until, as he put it: “Him and me [sic] just learned that you could get the virus by breathing air”, the “him” being Georgia’s State Public Health Director.

Kay Ivey, the Governor of Alabama, in explaining why she had not issued a “stay at home” directive for her state, said:”Y’all,… we are not California.” (No, Alabama is not California, where quick action by the Bay Area public health directors and Governor Gavin Newsom has saved the lives of thousands of Californians.)

Ron De Santis, the Governor of Florida said he would not issue a “stay-at-home” order for his state until Trump told him to. (Since Trump’s position was that such decisions were up to the states, no order was issued.)

Although Bill Lee, the Governor of Tennessee, urged people to stay at home, he said he was stopping short of a statewide mandate because he wanted to “protect personal liberties.”

Tate Reeves, the Governor of Mississippi, not only refused to issue a “stay-at-home” order, but issued a directive that no local city or county in Mississippi could issue a directive that was more restrictive than the limited directive issued by Reeves.

Henry McMaster, the Governor of South Carolina, said: “Our state is not like everyone else’s state. In our state, we know whom we know, whom we rely on, and whom we trust. And when it is time to issue any order, that is when we issue those orders.”

What do all of these governors have in common?
a. They are Republicans;
b. They are invincibly ignorant;
c. They will have the blood of many of their states’ citizens on their hands;
d. They govern states that have refused to expand Medicaid to poor residents (at no expense to their state); or
e. All of the above.

The answer, of course, is “e”.

Eventually, all of these governors did issue some form of stay-at-home directive, usually with exemptions for churches, but they were among the eight last states to do so and their delay will inevitably cause many of their states’ citizens to die.

Ever since Ronald Reagan was drifting into senility, but continuing in his role as president, Republicans have stood for huge tax cuts for the rich and powerful, large expenditures on “defense”, and opposition to government action to protect our citizens and our environment. They have tried to cut Social Security, Medicare and other social safety net programs. They have opposed extending Medicaid to the poor. They have opposed actions to address global warming and climate change. They have opposed spending on education, infrastructure, research and development, and pretty much any program that would benefit America’s citizens because “we can’t afford it”, while at the same time pandering to religious nitwits with programs like abstinence education

Trump has taken all of these anti-government and pro-religion policies to an extreme, systematically gutting our bureaucracies and demoralizing our civil servants. As a result, we are the only industrialized country that doesn’t provide universal healthcare as a right. A college education has become so expensive that our young – and not so young – citizens are burdened with $1.5 trillion in education debt. Our life expectancy is the lowest in the industrialized world and has been declining in recent years. Upward mobility – once the hallmark of American society – has declined to the point where it is one of the lowest, if not the lowest, in the industrialized world. Our three richest men have more wealth than the poorest 150 million Americans combined. Our homeless population is a disgrace. But we can do nothing about any of this because, according to the Republicans, “we can’t afford it”.

Trump gutted the Center for Communicable Diseases because maintaining it cost money. He and the band of incompetents he brought with him to Washington ignored completely the warnings given to them by the outgoing Obama Administration and tossed the 69 page plan for preparing for a pandemic in the trash. As a consequence, America’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has been the worst in the world – by far.

Will Trump’s and his Republican enablers’ catastrophically bad response to the Covid-19 pandemic be the splash of cold water in the face that wakes America up and causes voters to stop electing Republicans? It should be, but I’m not optimistic. As P.T. Barnum said: “No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.”

I leave you with these two links. One is of President Obama talking about the threat of pandemics in December 2014. It is 22 minutes long, but well worth the time. It shows what it is like to have a real leader as your president. If you don’t want to watch the entire 22 minutes, at least start at minute 16 to see and hear him prophetically explain the risk of and need to prepare for an airborne pandemic.

The other is a “must read” article by David Frum in “The Atlantic”. It is the best, most comprehensive account of how Trump screwed this up.

And, finally, remember: Friends don’t let friends vote Republican.