"Anyone else who recklessly squandered lives and money in this way would be suffering
legal consequences. Our leaders have largely claimed immunity for their actions.
But this election gives us the power to render judgment. When it comes to the response
to the largest public health crisis of our time, our current political leaders
have demonstrated that they are dangerously incompetent. We should not abet them and
enable the deaths of thousands more Americans by allowing them to keep their jobs.
– editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine, October 7, 2020
In which the esteemed journal, for the first time ever, commented on an upcoming election
Two days after Trump is admitted to Walter Reed Hospital suffering from COVID-19,
he decides he needs an "I'm OK" photo-op (sort of like the bible-holding one).
Here's what an attending physician at Walter Reed had to say about that:
"That Presidential SUV is not only bulletproof, but hermetically sealed against
chemical attack. The risk of COVID19 transmission inside is as high as it gets
outside of medical procedures. The irresponsibility is astounding. My thoughts
are with the Secret Service forced to play. Every single person in the vehicle
during that completely unnecessary Presidential "drive-by" just now has to be quarantined
for 14 days. They might get sick. They may die. For political theater. Commanded
by Trump to put their lives at risk for theater. This is insanity."
– Dr. James P. Phillips, chief of disaster medicine at George Washington University, October 4, 2020
"I think there will be vaccine that initially will be available sometime between
November and December but very limited supply and will have to be prioritized.
(presumably to front-line health care workers)
If you're asking me when is it going to be generally available to the American public,
so we can begin to take advantage of vaccine to get back to our regular life,
I think we're probably looking at late second quarter, third quarter, 2021."
– Dr. Robert Redfield, CDC Director, under oath, September 16, 2020
"I think he made a mistake when he said that. It's just incorrect information.
I called him and he didn't tell me that and I think he got the message maybe confused.
Aaaand (lie tell), I think he just made a mistake... I got the impression
that he didn't realize he said what he might have said. I didn't see him say it."
– 'Dr.' Donald Trump, at ensuing press conference
But wait, there's more...
"I'm not going to comment directly about the President, but I am going to comment,
as the CDC Director, that face masks, these face masks, are the most important, powerful,
public health tool we have. And I will continue to appeal to all Americans to embrace these face coverings.
If we did it for six, eight, ten, twelve weeks, we'd bring this pandemic under control.
We have clear scientific evidence they work and they are our best defense.
I might even go so far as to say that this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me
against COVID than when I take a COVID vaccine."
– Dr. Robert Redfield, CDC Director, under oath, September 16, 2020
"I called him about that...and I belieeeeve (lie tell) that, if you ask him,
he would, probably say that he didn't understand the question."
– 'Dr.' Donald Trump
Oh. My. God.
"I'm not looking to be dishonest. I don't want people to panic. And we are going to be OK.
We're going to be OK, and it is going away. And it's probably going to go away now a lot faster
because of the vaccines. It would go away without the vaccine, George, but it's going to go away a lot faster with it.
– Trump during the ABC News Philadelphia town hall, September 15, 2020
"It would go away without the vaccine?"
– George Stephanopoulos, the event moderator
"Sure, over a period of time. Sure, with time it goes away."
– Trump replies
"And many deaths."
– Stephanopoulos reminds him
"And you'll develop, you'll develop herd, like a herd mentality. It's going to be,
it's going to be herd-developed, and that's going to happen. That will all happen."
Here is where our president confuses what drives his supporters with what could prevent COVID-19.
"We're here with the Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, who's done a spectacular job in Florida.
We talked about many things, including he's going to be opening up large portions and,
ultimately, pretty quickly, because he's got great numbers - all of Florida."
– Trump in meeting with DeSantis at White House, April 28, 2020
"Everyone in the media was saying Florida was going to be like New York or Italy,
and that has not happened."
– Governor DeSantis, in the same meeting
Maybe not in April, but as of July 28, Florida has more total
cases than New York (and Italy)!
"I did something good: I made Juneteenth very famous. It's actually an important
event, an important time. But nobody had ever heard of it."
– Trump, in Wall Street Journal interview, June 19, 2020
By 'nobody', he means, well, Donald J. Trump. I think most black Americans have heard of it!
After all, it is the oldest regular celebration of the end of slavery in the U.S.!
It is time to remove the names of traitors like Benning and Bragg from our
country's most important military installations.
"As I have watched Confederate monuments being removed by state and local
governments, and sometimes by the forceful will of the American people, the
fact that 10 U.S. Army installations are named for Confederate officers has
weighed on me. That number includes the Army's largest base, one very special
to many in uniform: Fort Bragg, in North Carolina.
...
For an organization designed to win wars to train for them at installations
named for those who led a losing force is sufficiently peculiar, but when we
consider the cause for which these officers fought, we begin to penetrate the
confusion of Civil War memory. These bases are, after all, federal installations,
home to soldiers who swear an oath to support and defend the Constitution of
the United States. The irony of training at bases named for those who took up
arms against the United States, and for the right to enslave others, is inescapable
to anyone paying attention. Now, belatedly, is the moment for us to pay such attention.
...
We do not live in a country to which Braxton Bragg, Henry L. Benning, or
Robert E. Lee can serve as an inspiration. Acknowledging this fact is
imperative. Should it fail to do so, the Army, which prides itself on leading
the way in perilous times, will be left to fight a rearguard action against a more
inclusive American future, one that fulfills the nation's founding promise."
– retired U.S. Army general David Petraeus in an Atlantic op-ed, June 9, 2020
To which Twitter-Trump responds...
"These Monumental and very Powerful Bases have become part of a Great American
Heritage, and a ... history of Winning, Victory, and Freedom. The United
States of America trained and deployed our HEROES on these Hallowed Grounds,
and won two World Wars. Therefore, my Administration will not even consider
the renaming of these Magnificent and Fabled Military Installations."
– Twitter-Trump's reaction, June 10, 2020
I guess Trump is just incapable of paying attention.
"When the looting starts, the shooting starts."
– Twitter-Trump's reaction to violent protests of the death of George Floyd, May 29, 2012
To be sure, looting and burning is wrong and is harming the community more than helping.
But Trump's view is "let's not calm things down, let's pour napalm on this"!
BTW, Twitter added a warning to that tweet saying "it violated the
platform's policy on glorifying violence"!
My head hurts from trying to wrap it around that...
"Doing what feels good, what's convenient, what's easy — that's how little kids think.
Unfortunately, a lot of so-called grown-ups, including some with fancy titles and
important jobs, still think that way — which is why things are so screwed up."
– Barack Obama, in a virtual commencement address, May 16, 2020
"Look, he was an incompetent president. That's all I can say. Grossly incompetent."
– the not quite riposte from the toddler-in-chief, May 17, 2020
"I call it the super duper missile."
– Trump, as he unveiled the new U.S. Space Force flag, May 15, 2020
Sounds like something you buy at Acme (and I bet, if you look...).
"In one of your Mother's Day tweets, you appeared to accuse President Obama of
'the biggest political crime in American history,by far' - those were your words.
What crime exactly are you accusing President Obama of committing, and do you believe
the Justice Department should prosecute him?"
– reporter Philip Rucker (WaPo) at Trump briefing, May 11, 2020
"Uh, Obamagate. It's been going on for a long time. It's been going on from before
I even got elected, and it's a disgrace that it happened, and if you look at what's gone on,
and if you look at now, all this information that's being released - and from what
I understand, that's only the beginning - some terrible things happened, and it should
never be allowed to happen in our country again. And you'll be seeing what's going on
over the next, over the coming weeks..."
– Trump's reply
"What is the crime, exactly, that you're accusing him of?"
– Rucker's follow-up
"You know what the crime is. The crime is very obvious to everybody.
All you have to do is read the newspapers, except yours."
– Trump's reply, May 11, 2020
Classic Trump: "It's been going on for a long time!", "Stay tuned!
Of course there is no crime, because he says nothing specific (also classic Trump).
But maybe we all do know what it is.
It's the crime that can't be named! It's the Voldemort crime!
"What did you do when you became president to restock those cupboards that you
say were bare?"
– David Muir in ABC News interview with Trump, May 5, 2020
"Well, I'll be honest. I have a lot of things going on. "We had a lot of people that refused
to allow the country to be successful. They wasted a lot of time on Russia, Russia, Russia.
That turned out to be a total hoax. Then they did Ukraine, Ukraine and that was a total hoax,
then they impeached the president of the United States for absolutely no reason,
and we even had 197-to-nothing vote by the Republicans.
And essentially, the same thing by the, by the, if you take a look at the Senate
and the House, I mean it was the same thing. Look, what they've done and now they
continue to do it. Remember this: When you see these numbers and testing, you're probably
even surprised because I watch Chuckie Schumer get on television, and they have sound bites.
– Trump's transcripted real-time response, May 5, 2020
1. Completely unresponsive to the question asked by Muir!
2. 'I have a lot of things going on'—but he had a lot of time to play golf!
3. I love transcripts of Herr Trump's pronouncements. Just read that second paragraph again!
It just makes no sense! My 7-year-old grandson can construct 3 more grammatical sentences!
"When will all of the 'reporters' who have received Noble [sic] Prizes for their work on
Russia, Russia, Russia, only to have been proven totally wrong (and, in fact, it was
the other side who committed the crimes), be turning back their cherished 'Nobles'
so that they can be given to the REAL REPORTERS & JOURNALISTS who got it right.
Lawsuits should be brought against all, including the Fake news Organizations,
to rectify this terrible injustice. For all of the great lawyers out there, do we
have any takers? When will the Noble Committee Act? Better be fast!"
– Twitter-Trump, April 27, 2020
That's right, Trump mis-spelled, and confused, Nobel Prizes and Pulitzers!
Bill Bryan, the acting undersecretary of science and technology for DHS,
outlined tests in which he said disinfectants like bleach and isopropyl alcohol
quickly killed the coronavirus on surfaces. He also spoke about how the virus was
found to be negatively affected by exposure to UV rays and higher temperatures.
After he spoke, well, if you didn't things could get worse than hydroxychloroquine, you were wrong:
"There's been a rumor that — you know, a very nice rumor — that you go
outside in the sun or you have heat and it does have an effect on other viruses.
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, if you could. And maybe you can, maybe you can't."
But wait, there's more...
"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."
– Trump at briefing, April 23, 2020
Yup. That's right. The president said 'getting some sun' and 'injecting disinfectant'
just. might. work!
Others saw it differently, as one might imagine:
"Very little of what the President said as it pertains to disinfection or phototherapy
makes any sense. Look, everyone wants a quick fix. And the President clearly wants
a quick fix; we all do. But there are no quick fixes. We have to do this the right way;
we have to do this with science."
– Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a cardiologist at The George Washington University Hospital
and...
"As a global leader in health and hygiene products, we must be clear that under
no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body
(through injection, ingestion or any other route)."
– landing page of RB (the makers of Lysol and Dettol)
Ya think?
"Is there any funding so I can do these things [increased testing] that you
want us to do? No. That is passing the buck without passing the bucks."
– Governor Andrew Cuomo during his daily briefing, April 17, 2020
"Governor Cuomo should spend more time 'doing' and less time 'complaining'."
– Trump live-tweets in response
"First of all, if he's sittin' home watching TV, maybe he should get up and go to work, right?"
– Cuomo's real-time response, still in his briefing
Gotcha!!
Trump berates reporters when asked about report by his own administration
– exchange between reporters Kristin Fisher (Fox) and Jonathan Karl (ABC)
over HHS Inspector General report on testing at Trump briefing, April 6, 2020
"Take a look at the swine flu...The other administration, they didn't even know,
it was like they didn't even know it was here."
– Trump at briefing, April 6, 2020
"It's not true that the Obama administration did not notice H1N1 or take significant
action to fight the pandemic. On April 26, 2009, less than two weeks after the first
US cases of H1N1 were confirmed, the Obama administration declared a public health emergency.
Two days later, the Obama administration made an initial $1.5 billion funding request
to Congress (Congress ultimately allocated $7.7 billion). On that same day, the
Food and Drug Administration approved the CDC's test for H1N1; the CDC began
distributing the tests domestically and internationally on May 1, 2009."
– CNN Facts First, April 6, 2020
"It (hydroxychloroquine) has been around for a long time so we know if things
don't
go as planned it's not going to kill anybody. What do you have to lose? It's been
out there for a long time. What do you have to lose? I hope they use it."
– Trump at briefing, April 4, 2020
First off, it's not an effective treatment, second lupus patients have plenty
to lose — it caused a run on an effective medication for those patients!
"By the way, the states should have been building their stockpiles.
We [the federal government] are a back-up, not an ordering clerk."
– Trump at briefing, April 2, 2020
State stockpiles?
"The notion of the federal stockpile was it's supposed to be our stockpile.
It's not supposed to be state's stockpiles that they then use."
– Jared Kushner (who's he?) at the same briefing, April 2, 2020
Really?? Here's what the federal stockpile website says:
"The Strategic National Stockpile is the nation's largest supply of life-saving
pharmaceuticals and medical supplies for use in a public health emergency severe
enough to cause local supplies to run out. When state, local, tribal, and territorial
responders request federal assistance to support their response efforts, the stockpile
ensures that the right medicines and supplies get to those who need them most during an emergency."
Or rather, I should note, "said", as the website was changed after Kushner spoke!
Can't make this stuff up. Oh, wait! George Orwell ("1984") already did!
A president unfit for a pandemic
– Boston Globe editorial, March 30, 2020
"So you're talking about 2.2 million deaths (worldwide), 2.2 million people from this.
And so if we could hold that down, as we're saying, to 100,000 — it's a horrible number,
maybe even less — but to 100,000. So we have between 100 and 200,000,
and we altogether have done a very good job."
– Trump at briefing, March 29, 2020
O.M.G. Full stop.
"President Trump is a ratings hit. Since reviving the daily White House briefing,
Mr. Trump and his coronavirus updates have attracted an average audience of 8.5
million on cable news, roughly the viewership of the season finale of 'The Bachelor'.
Numbers are continuing to rise...
– Trump tweet, March 29, 2020
Yes, Donald, it's all and only about you and your ratings.
As to the 'Numbers continuing to rise', are we still talking about ratings or deaths?
"I love Michigan, one of the reasons we are doing such a GREAT job for them during
this horrible Pandemic. Yet your Governor, Gretchen 'Half' Whitmer is way in over
her ahead, she doesn't have a clue. Likes blaming everyone for her own ineptitude!
#MAGA"
– Trump tweet, March 28, 2020
As always, the bully in chief. It's not enough to win. He also has to
humiliate.
"He (Pence) calls all the governors, I tell him, I mean, I'm a different type
of person. I say Mike, don't call the governor of Washington, you're wasting
your time with him. Don't call the woman in Michigan."
Then he added: "If they don't treat you right, I don't call."
– Trump at briefing, March 27, 2020
That's our President telling governors they must "kiss the ring" to do get
supplies.
Shameful!!
"It was fascinating to me. You know, they have a whole...it's a different form of
government, to put it mildly. He's (Xi) developed some incredible theories,
and all of that information is coming over here. A lot of it's already come.
The data. We call it 'data'. And we're going to learn a lot from what the
Chinese went through. Our relationship with China is very good."
– Trump recounting phone call with Chinese Prsident Xi, March 27, 2020
Really, the Chinese have a whole different form of government.
I didn't know that.
Technically, these next two items are not Trump-shit, but more evidence that not
only was the swamp not drained, it is now gold-plated.
"There appear to be three things, in particular, that are holding up the
bill. The first, and apparently biggest, is the roughly $500 billion fund that
Senate Republicans want to give to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to
distribute as he sees fit, including the privilege of keeping the exact
beneficiaries a secret until after the election. Team McConnell says that
putting things in Mnuchin's hands allows maximum flexibility as circumstances
on the ground change, while keeping things super-secret will stop the handouts
from having an undue impact on the stock prices of corporate recipients."
– electoral-vote.com, March 24, 2020
And, indeed, if you believe this will be equitable, I have a bridge across
the East River that you might be interested in.
This next piece, also from electoral-vote.com, is a great piece on the
senators who sold their stock because they knew what was coming.
It's short, but well worth reading.
– electoral-vote.com, March 23, 2020
Meet the new swamp. The gold-plated new swamp!
My apologies to The Who.
Reporter: "On top of Senator Paul, now, 4 senators are in isolation."
Trump: "Who are they, please, who are they?"
Shouldn't he know?
Reporters: "Romney, Senator Lee, Senator Gardner, Senator Rick Scott, also."
Trump: "Romney's in isolation?"
Reporter: "Yes"
Trump: "Gee, that's too bad." smirks "Go ahead."
Reporter: "Is that sarcasm, there, sir?"
Trump: "No, none whatsoever." smirks
– exchange at Trump briefing, March 22, 2020
He just can't help himself, can he? He has the empathy of a snake!
"...after he (Trump) made that statement [suggesting China could have revealed
the discovery of a new coronavirus 3 to 4 months earlier], I told the appropriate people
it doesn't comport (with the facts), because 2 or 3 months earlier would have been
September. The next time they sit down with him and talk about what he's going to say,
they will say, 'By the way, Mr. President, be careful about this and don't say that.'
But I can't jump in front of the microphone and push him down."
– Dr. Anthony
Fauci, in an interview with Jon Cohen in Science, March 22, 2020
"Nearly 200 dead, 14,000 who are sick, millions, as you witnessed, who are scared right now.
What do you say to Americans who are watching you right now who are scared?"
– NBC reporter Peter Alexander at Trump press conference, March 20, 2020
"I say that you are a terrible reporter, that's what I say. I think that's a
very nasty question."
– Donald Trump, in response.
My God. A reporter lays out the facts, asks for comforting words, the
softest of softballs, and gets rebuked!
"I would give myself a 10."
– Donald Trump in response to a question on his handling of the coronavirus, March 16, 2020
"I would give myself a 10."
– Donald Trump in response to how he would grade his efforts in
response to Hurricane Maria's devastating Puerto Rico, 10/19/2017
Wrong both times!
For a man who "knows words and has the best words", why does Trump seem to know only
two adjectives: "beautiful", and "strong".
How Cro-Magnon!
Sorry, I just heard two more, "tremendous", and "powerful".
Not much of an improvement.
– me, March 15, 2020
"The buck stops here."
– Harry S. Truman
"Leadership: Whatever happens, you're responsible.
If it doesn't happen, you're responsible."
– Twitter-Trump, November 8, 2013
"I don't take responsibility at all."
– the real Donald Trump at a press conference, March 13, 2020
"For decades the CDC looked at, and studied, its testing system, but did nothing
about it. It would always be inadequate and slow for a large scale pandemic,
but a pandemic would never happen, they hoped. President Obama made changes
that only complicated things..."
– Twitter-Trump blaming Obama for lack of tests, March 13, 2020
Come on, now! Time to seriously call bullshit!
First, Obama quite effectively dealt with the Ebola crisis.
Second, last I looked, Obama has not been in office since January 20, 2017.
This one's squarely on Don, even though he is not man enough to admit it!
In related news (well no longer news), how prescient was this?!?
"The top White House official responsible for leading the U.S. response in the event of
a deadly pandemic has left the administration, and the global health security team he
oversaw has been disbanded under a reorganization by national security adviser John Bolton.
The abrupt departure of Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer from the National Security
Council means no senior administration official is now focused solely on
global health security. Ziemer's departure, along with the breakup of his
team, comes at a time when many experts say the country is already
under-prepared for the increasing risks of a pandemic or bio-terrorism attack.
– Lena Sun, Washington Post, 5/10/2018
So Pence and Trump stand next to a Brazilian official (Trump standing within
one foot) who, days later, tests positive for coronavirus, and the White House
says there's no reason to test either Trump or Pence!?!?!?!
Way to model correct/appropriate behavior to the nation, Don!
– me, March 12, 2020
"Well, we have things that I can do. We have very strong emergency powers
under the Stafford Act. I have it memorized, practically, as to the powers in
that act. And if I need to do something, I'll do it. I have the right to do a
lot of things that people don't even know about."
– Trump, March 12, 2020, in response to whether he will declare a
national emergency over COVID-19
Really? Is 'practically memorized' at all like 'close to airtight'?
And the fact that he thinks he has the right to do a lot of things but won't
do the right things, terrifies and saddens me.
"This is the most aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront a foreign virus
in modern history."
– Trump, March 11, 2020, in his pathetic Oval Office address
First, an outright exaggeration (boast/lie, all the same), followed by
the usual xenophobic distancing! So sad! So un-presidential! So pathetic!
"I do think that if you look at the numbers and you look at the numbers from
other years on other things, and you look at these numbers, it'll be
interesting to see what you find."
– Trump speaking at the CDC, March 6, 2020
While he, in theory, is saying something about COVID-19, this is what
he says about everything!!
"Six weeks ago, eight weeks ago, you never heard of this. All of a sudden it's
got the world aflutter. Things happen that you never would even think would happen."
Say what?!? Full of sound and fury signifying, literally, nothing
– Trump speaking at the National Association of Counties Legislative Conference, part I, March 3, 2020
"I met yesterday with the biggest drug companies, and a lot of good things are
happening and they are happening very fast. I said, 'Do me a favor, speed it
up, speed it up.' And they will, they're working really hard. We're moving
at a maximum speed to develop the therapies, not only the vaccines, but the
therapies. Therapies is sort of another word for cure."
– Trump speaking at the National Association of Counties Legislative Conference, part II, March 3, 2020
No, it's not! Therapies is another word for treatments!
Our president. What a maroon!
"Today we met with the big, great pharmaceutical companies,..., and we had a
great meeting today with a lot of the great companies. They're gonna have
vaccines, I think, relatively soon. And they're gonna have 'something that
makes you better', and that's gonna actually take place, we think, even
sooner, so, it's, a lot of good things are happening."
– Trump speaking at a rally in Charlotte, NC, March 2, 2020
No, they're not!
"We're going down, not up. We're going very substantially down, not up.
When you have 15 people, and the 15, within a couple of days, is going to be
down to close to zero, uh, that's a pretty good job we've done.
– amazingly enough, Donald Trump at a press conference, February 26, 2020
"
"Because of all we've done, the risk to the American people (from coronavirus) remains very low."
– Donald Trump at a press conference, February 26, 2020
"Ultimately, we expect we will see community spread in the United States. It's not
a question of if this will happen, but when this will happen, and how many people
in this country will have severe illnesses."
– Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and
Respiratory Diseases at the CDC during a briefing with reporters, February 25, 2020
So who was right?
To return to our regularly scheduled stream of consciousness...
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