They were called the Greatest
Generation, those who lived through World War II. Their lives were
torn apart by war, by sacrifice. Rationing of critical materials
necessary to fight the war was the norm. Women took up the slack in
the factories so the men could go fight for our freedom, our way of
life.
It was a war where most everyone contributed
something.
The United States entered World War II
in 1941 and fought until the end in 1945. In that four year time period
the US lost over 400,000 people. That generation got the job done,
fighting until the war was won.
Fast forward to 2020 and the United
States, along with the rest of the world, is involved in a fight that
is no less world spanning. We are all affected by the Covid-19
pandemic. To date the United States alone has lost 127,000 people.
That is in the span of around 4 months. That is a rate higher than
during World War II. Wouldn't you think that this crisis deserves
everyone's attention and, well, effort? Yet something as simple as
wearing a mask has become a bone of contention.
Is the real reason Donald Trump got
elected because we have become at heart a self-serving, narcissistic,
selfish society who can't even put on a mask to help our own fellow
Americans?
You can spout all the slogans you want,
like “Make America Great Again”, but you have to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.
Update:
Perhaps if you won't listen to me you will listen to those who are so desperately fighting for us.
On the front lines
Update:
Perhaps if you won't listen to me you will listen to those who are so desperately fighting for us.
On the front lines
122 comments:
Lynnette,
I think I talked about this way back in February or so. I started wearing a mask here in China in January, and right away I discovered that a mask removes a person's individuality, our unique facial features. I found it amazing how much of our individuality resides in our mouth, chin, and nose. Here in China, I met some people who I first encountered wearing a mask. I had never seen them without a mask. Later, when I met them without out mask, I couldn't recognize them at all.
In most Asian countries, individuality is not as important as the collective, and as you know wearing a mask when you're sick is normal in countries like China, Japan, and South Korea. So Asians in general already have a custom of mask wearing during sickness.
In the West, individuality is more important than the collective. All of the power of the West derives from the emphasis on the individual, leading to institutions as diverse as civil rights and copyright and patent protection. We instinctively balk at anything that reduces our individuality. So, as we've all seen, Westerners have been reluctant to don the mask. I personally hate the mask, but I have worn it in public here in China.
By the way, I should point out that even here in China some Chinese refuse to wear the mask.
Lynnette, I hate to say this, but I think you're really allowing your ability to reason to atrophy with all of your Trump hyperventilating. It's robbing you of your capacity to reason. I say this as a longtime friend. This antipathy really clouds your judgment.
The idea that Americans suddenly in 2016 became narcissistic and therefore voted for Trump and that this newly acquired narcissism also explains why Americans are ambivalent about wearing a mask is just nutty. I know you're a better thinker than that.
Jeffrey -- Ningbo, China
*
Jeffrey,
The idea that Americans suddenly in 2016 became narcissistic and therefore voted for Trump and that this newly acquired narcissism also explains why Americans are ambivalent about wearing a mask is just nutty. I know you're a better thinker than that.
Okay, let me try wording it a different way. I do not believe that Americans suddenly became narcissistic in 2016 and voted for Trump. I think the change in American society has been a long time building. I believe Trump, and his so obvious self-serving narcissism, is more of a symptom of whatever is wrong in our country. There is a reason people are okay with his style. We seem to have become intransigent in our views, unable to see the other persons's point of view, looking only to further our own ideas. While we have never been perfect, that is true, there have been notable times in which we have pulled together, for the most part, to overcome long odds. I picked World War II as a comparison because it seemed to be a time where many Americans were focused on defeating an enemy that was a real risk to our future well being. That can be said of this pandemic. Wearing a mask, which is a temporary thing, is a small thing compared to the sacrifices made by those who lived through World War II.
In the West, individuality is more important than the collective.
We the people in order to form a more perfect union...
Individuality is important. Which is why I am so concerned about the vilifying of any opposition, or those who are tasked with oversight, by our current administration. We all have a say in what our elected leaders do. We the people need to make sure that they work for all of us to create a more perfect union.
And if anyone is really, and I mean really, concerned with their appearance while wearing a mask then they can go here and see if they would prefer a clear mask.
Personally I think some of the masks out there make a statement about the wearer. Some are highly creative, amusing and beautiful. I have a number of them and am always on the look out for unusual ones. I have actually received compliments a number of times on one of them. I think it a small price to pay if it will help my fellow countrymen. It is a way that I can fight for my country. And I don't care if the person I may help is a Democrat or Republican, black or white, liberal or conservative. And that is the way it should be. That is what we are missing in our society today.
Republicans have a voter problem
What happens when voters don't really like your platform?
Deeply conservative Oklahoma narrowly approved a ballot initiative Tuesday to expand Medicaid to nearly 200,000 low-income adults, the first state to do so in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
The dedicated Trumpkins aren't real happy about Trump blowing off Putin's "bounty" on the heads of American service members either.
There seems to be some confusion in the more "mainstream" press about Trump's denials of knowledge on this particular subject. That's 'cause they still don't understand the Trumpkins.
The Trumpkins only require that whatever BS excuses they're promoting on Trump's behalf must pass the "straight-faced" test. The Trumpkins gotta be able to pretend to believe the BS excuse and they gotta be able to keep a straight face while they're pretending. (Don't gotta believe it, just gotta be able to pretend to, and keep a straight face whilst doing the pretending.)
And it's already one of their touchstones that the intelligence services are in cahoots with the "deep state" if not full on deep state themselves. They're out to "get" Trump. So, it's perfectly conceivable that they'd not tell him things he needs to know, like the bounty on the troops in Afghanistan. (It's not believable, even for them, but they don't need believable, just conceivable, just keepin' a straight face is all they require.) So, the denial of knowledge by Trump is all that's necessary for the Trumpkins, so long as they're among themselves and everybody's in on the parameters of the denial. And the dedicated Trumpkins are the target for the story about Trump being "unaware" of the bounties. (If ya'll notice, they're not pushing that one out to the non-Trumpkins; ain't no Republicans going on public record as saying they believe it and we should believe it too. This is one of those special stories that's designed to be only promoted to and among the dedicate Trumpkins so far as they can get away with that. The less they say about it among non-Trumpkins the better they like they results.)
So, Trump is denying that he was informed of the bounties to give the Trumpkins something to pretend to believe--he's not trying to get them to believe it, just give 'em something to pretend with if they're pushed into having to make the pretense.
However, this sorta stretch always leaves them just a little touch unsettled. It won't cause them to vote for Biden, but it might knock a few points off of their "enthusiasm" factor come November.
However, this sorta stretch always leaves them just a little touch unsettled. It won't cause them to vote for Biden, but it might knock a few points off of their "enthusiasm" factor come November.
If the majority of dedicated "Trumpkins" are in states with high Covid-19 cases, and deaths, that also may lessen their enthusiasm for Trump. At least if those deaths are loved ones.
I've been reading where teens in Alabama have been throwing Covid-19 parties. They invite those infected to the parties with the intent of infecting others there. The first person to test positive for Covid wins the pool of money from ticket sales to the party.
That reminds me of the line from Forrest Gump..."stupid is as stupid does."
Could be the other way around Lynnette. Could be that it’s actually GOOD if Covid spreads far and fast among the little risk groups. They can then get to herd immunity which in the longer run will protect those who are in risk groups. BC you cannot eradicate a virus via lockdowns, there’s no way to do that. Better to let it burn through the population while protecting those most at risk. And since you can’t lock folks up forever you might as well let the non risk groups get it as quickly as possible, while of course have an eye towards hospital capacity for the few numbers who do get seriously ill.
We’re gonna live w this until a vaccine comes along OR we get herd immunity. And personally I would much rather get Covid than a shot of some mystery juice they call a vaccine.
I remember the hype about the Swine Flu and that vaccine. I have a close personal friend who still can’t even ride an elevator much less go on an airplane bc the effects by that vaccine. He regrets to this day taking it. And there are numerous young people crippled for life by narcolepsy from just that vaccine.
Me, I would prefer Covid 19 before being injected by some mystery juice. And if I have to go to a Covid party to get infected in order to be able to avoid a vaccine I would do so. Ideally I would like to not get either, but choosing between the virus and a vaccine against the virus I’d go w the virus.
"At least if those deaths are loved ones."
Most of them are already well aware of the risks they're proposing for their "loved ones".
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
WashingtonPost: The Supreme Trumpkins have agreed to take the Trump administration's appeal of the D.C. Circuit's order that the House committees investigating impeachment matters were entitled to the evidence Mueller had gathered before a grand jury (historical precedent says this isn't a remotely close legal question, but the Trump administration appealed it anyway). The first appellate decision was handed down by a three judge panel, and the next logical step would be an appeal to the Appellate Court ("en banc", as they call it, to the whole of the Appellate Court) but the Supreme Trumpkins have taken up Trump's appeal themselves and placed it on their late fall docket, with a stay of the lower court order, thus ensuring that the material will remain Trump's very own secret until well after the next Presidential election is over (after which point it doesn't really matter, except for academic purposes).
Score a big one for the Supreme Trumpkins. (It won't be enough to save Trump, and I'm pretty sure the body politic of the future will remember this.)
(Typically, only four of the nine Justices have to agree to have the Supreme Trumpkins take over a case, but the count is never given before the case is decided.)
"Better to let it burn through the population while protecting
those most at risk."
I haven't noticed a whole hell of a lot of "protecting those most at risk" goin' on of late.
Lee
“ I haven't noticed a whole hell of a lot of "protecting those most at risk" goin' on of late.”
You do have a solid point there. Sweden for sure didn’t. But there are countries that did. Norway and Germany springs to mind. Of course they did lockdowns also.
So there’s not really any global example where they protected the elderly vigorously while letting the virus spread by a no lockdown situation.
In any case, lockdowns don’t really work unless to slow the spread down to make hospitals cope w the situation. If they can cope the best way is to just remain open and let the virus spread. The vast majority will not be affected at all or get a fever and some sniffles for a while and then join the ranks of the immune. When the ranks of the immune are large enough (60% is a mentioned number) the spread will stop.
You can never eradicate a virus via a lockdown. All you do is prolong the agony.
BTW, Lee, have you knelt yet?
I note once again how everybody seems to ignore the other big reason to implement the original lockdowns. The second reason to do the lockdowns was to give the government the time necessary to get up to speed for some vigorous contact tracing among those who had been exposed to and who had actually contracted the virus (especially that latter group) Aggressive testing would be necessary to facilitate the contact tracing, and that's pretty much a federal job by definition, which means it ain't gonna get done. But ignoring that part of the original control plan isn't justified merely because the Trump administration decided to abandon the effort and pretend the disease away instead.
And of course in Sweden there’s a 3 time morbidity rate among “new Swedes” which is a polite way of saying “African Swedes” which is a polite way of saying “not really Swedes at all but dislocated negroes”
You see, Vitamin B happens to be a function in the body that counters Covid 19. And African Swedes, due to their dark skin, don’t amass the levels of vitamin B up here in the north, compared to what we pink skinned indigenous Swedes do. So they die at a ratio of 3 times more often.
Which I am sure is somehow a fault of us original Swedes.
I think you're getting your vitamins confused.
Sry, yeah it’s D
You see Lee like when I mistake vitamin D for vitamin B and someone calls me on it I just admit I was wrong and correct myself. Very easy and makes my continued postings more credible. You should try it, instead of digging a rabbit hole and arguing about the meaning of of whenever you say something wrong.
Knelt yet?
I also don't think there's any scientific evidence to support your theory.
Contrary to your own opinion, that second mistake does notmake your postings more credible.
Our county health department has today recommended, and the county commissioners have agreed to, an extension of the current "phase 3" public health orders for an additional two weeks (set to expire tomorrow, now reset to the 15th). They warned that they'll be considering further acts of repression against the dedicated Trumpkins in the coming two weeks, before that July 15th deadline actually gets here.
Politico: In the last couple of weeks, since Facebook and Twitter have both acted as moderators to Trump's excesses on his "social media" accounts Republican politicians have flocked to open up accounts on right-wing-friendly substitute platforms, notably one called Parler. (Pronounced as if from the French verb I suppose.)
I must admit to being somewhat surprised by this turn of events. They've worked hard on their ideological purity of late and have mostly managed to make themselves into a minority, regional political party. So now they're gonna take the further step of erecting their very own silo walls to the keep the democratic majority out of their deliberations, and thus keep themselves marginalized?
I don't quite get it. It seems suicidal to me--politically suicidal that is. I meant that metaphorically.
Social media should be forbidden by law to restrict lawful speech, IMO. Sure they are “private companies” but the big ones are more or less monopolies and even if they are privately owned they exist due to publicly funded infrastructure. They should be made to adhere to the 1st amendment ( since this must happen in the USA if it is to happen at all). Censorship is a slippery slope. It’s Alex Jones and Stephen Molyneux today, tomorrow it’ll be someone who today is deemed completely non controversial.
We need an Internet Bill of Rights, and we need it... well we needed it years ago.
The outrage mob should not get to decide which thoughts are allowed to be expressed. Banning thoughts on Facebook and Twitter today is akin to banning speech on the town square a century ago.
"…they exist due to publicly funded infrastructure."
The infrastructure of the internet was privately funded and is privately owned, at least that's the case in the United States. I'm not at all confident that's true overseas as well, but it's true in the United States. It may have received some tax incentives in some few cases, but those are comparatively few and small. And while there's been a largely unsuccessful move among more "liberal" voices of late to subsidize broadband internet access for rural areas in America, nothin' much has come of it (as of yet).
I would never think you Lee would be an advocate for free speech. You are a wannabe demagogue. A bloody idiot into the revolution abysmally unaware of the fact that any revolution eats its own children.
So you will sit there with spittle at the corners of your old mans mouth wondering that when Blacks rape and torture to death your grrandvhikdren ( well not your grandchildren as you prolly failed to reproduce, but your white neighbors grandchildren). Then you’ll feel a bit sad. And probably blame yourself.
I'm bettin' on ↑that↑ being an already drunk Marcus.
When a Black comes into Lees home In order to rape and steal, but finds no women to rape because Lee was a leftist Incel, and didn’t faint much else to steal bc Lee was a poor sonovshitch. So they just resorted to torturing ‘ol Lee for a day or two before slitting that old crackers throat..
Yep, drunk Marcus this is. Still way more sane than you sobe4.
Have you knelt yet Lee? You never answer that simple question.
Remember that book "A Warning" by Anonymous? I bought it, read half of it, and then set it side because it was so God awful depressing. I just picked it up again, and it is still God awful depressing, but it really kind of explains why we are where we are now with the pandemic. That is, why everyone else is doing so well and we are doing so poorly.
I only hope that Marcus ends up being right and that we end up finding a light at the end of our tunnel, but frankly I am still envious of Canada and the EU who seem to have beaten the virus while we are still mired in death and disease.
Meanwhile, while we have been occupied with Covid-19, climate change has not gone away. We are now in the second, or is it third, week of 90 degree temps. Luckily we got about 2 1/2 inches of rain early on in the week and it has been humid otherwise everything would have burned to a crisp. I am hoping to keep my beans and peas alive long enough to produce...something...this year. At least the fence seems to be keeping the rabbits out.
Have you knelt yet Lee?
Haven't you noticed, Marcus? It has been the protesters who have been kneeling.
That whole thing reminds me of some events that happened in Iraq way back when. Then it was our soldiers and the townspeople who were kneeling in an effort to deescalate violence. It worked back then. For a while anyway. It wasn't an act of subservience but one of empathy.
If you won't believe me about masks, how about this guy?
It seems that Trump's anticipated 7,500 person event at Mount Rushmore last night turned out another half capacity crowd, estimated in Politico to be around 3,700. They were, once again, packed in tight, "shoulder-to-shoulder", in order to present a "packed crowd" appearance to Trump when he took the stage (important to flatter Trump) and to make the same sort of appearance for a "tight shot" for the campaign cameras recording the event (even more important).
While the virus is, once again, on the upsurge (instead of wilting away during the hot weather season as Trump and some of his supporters had predicted) Trump gave a fiery speech defending statues honoring the rebel Confederate States of America against the depredations of "left-wing fascists" (oxymoron that) who're supposedly overrunning modern America.
It's noon in Washington D.C. and Trump's made no effort to tweet about his superlative saturated campaign stop at Mount Rushmore last night. Tells ya how well he thought it went, what with a second appearance in a row before a half capacity crowd (or even less than that).
(Staffers did tweet about the show on Trump's behalf whilst he was wingin' his way back to D.C. last night, he's not been eager to tweet this morning.)
It's quiet here. It seems most people are up North or staying close to home.
Oddly, yesterday I noticed that more people in Walmart were wearing masks and today people in Target were more likely to be maskless. It was kind of reverse of the normal look.
I see that those who attended last night's rally were for the most part maskless. Not surprised.
Trump now wants to create a special dedicated federal park for the safe display of statues, including, among others, Billy Graham, Antonin Scalia and Ronald Reagan. (I might suggest he just string out along the fairways at Mar-a-Lago).
We've got a pandemic rebounding on us and he's wanting to go all in on the culture wars.
His problem here, the base problem he can't solve, is that FoxNews has neither a plan nor a slogan for how to deal with a pandemic sweeping across the nation and no prospect of coming up with either in the foreseeable future. They can't help him, and he's got no other guiding stars.
So, he's trying to reignite the culture wars they've already lost.
I was once worried about whether the Democrats had made a wise decision in settling on the fairly anodyne Joe Biden as their candidate. But, that's beginning to look like a much smarter match-up than I'd first thought it would be.
(I might suggest he just string the statues out along the fairways at Mar-a-Lago).
Looks like there's some back channel pressure from Republicans on Justice Samuel Alito to resign soon, so that Trump can appoint another right-winger (a younger right-winger) to the Supreme Court. (It appears that similar entreaties to Justice Clarence Thomas were preëmptively spurned by Thomas.)
They figure this'll help Trump corral his evangelical Trumpkins, who tend to be older and who are drifting away from him over his performance on the coronavirus.
(Most folks figure Alito won't have any of it either.)
Lynnette:
“I only hope that Marcus ends up being right and that we end up finding a light at the end of our tunnel, but frankly I am still envious of Canada and the EU who seem to have beaten the virus while we are still mired in death and disease.”
The only reason the US numbers seem bad is that y’all do more testing. This is a disease that kills off the very elderly, just like the seasonal flu, but many people don’t even get that they got. Som you do massive testing and of course you then find a whole lot of cases. Meanwhile death rates are going down in the USA. So that means the morbidity rate is lowering to that of the seasonal flu. It was a scare, it was a hoax, Lynnette.
In Sweden we did zero lockdown and we’ve had 5300 dead WITH the virus so far, and I wanna point out that WITH is not the same as FROM.
I read even of an old guy in the US who fell from a ladder and died and he was tested positive for Covid so he went into the stats of Coviddead. Prolly George Floyd is in there also. If I was his killers layer that’d be my running point. “Your Honor, the man clearly died from Covid 19 so my clients knee on his neck for 9 minutes must be disregarded”
"Meanwhile death rates are going down in the USA."
The virus doesn't actually kill people until after they've caught the virus (proof to the dedicated Trumpkin that the disease is just another "HOAX" concocted up to persecute Trump). The surge in the death rate follows along about two weeks after the surge in the number of infections. So, every time there's a surge in the number of infections (like we're experiencing now) the morbidity rate drops off; every time. The dedicated Trumpkins can therefore "prove" over and over and over again, that the morbidity rate is dropping off as the rate of infection surges. All they have to do is pick their dates correctly.
The only reason the US numbers seem bad is that y’all do more testing.
That is the same logic that Trump uses. We are doing more testing, yes, but the numbers seem bad because the percentage of positive tests is coming back higher. A lot of that has to do with the reopening and the insistence of younger people to congregate in close indoor settings such as bars. It also has to do with those who refuse to wear masks. That just makes the spread easier.
Other countries who are reopening may very well see a resurgence in cases if they do not do it safely either. If there really is a safe way to do it.
Btw, last I heard Minnesota had a slightly under 3% positive test rate. We have just started indoor dining again. In fact I just came back from having lunch with a friend at our favorite restaurant.
I was once worried about whether the Democrats had made a wise decision in settling on the fairly anodyne Joe Biden as their candidate. But, that's beginning to look like a much smarter match-up than I'd first thought it would be.
In the face of a global pandemic and chaos in the streets someone who is older and gives the impression of a steady character may do quite well. He may hit the mark well if he also chooses someone for his VP that could appeal to those who are looking for real change.
But really, all he has to do is shut up and let Trump put his foot in his own mouth.
"But really, all he has to do is shut up and let Trump put his foot
in his own mouth."
Truth to that. But, it works especially well for Biden because he's been on the evening news for so many years now. Lotta folks already have an impression of Biden, a sense that they already know Biden, who he is, what he is. That makes it much easier for Biden to just kick back and watch the Trump show along with the rest of us; easier than it would be for Buttigieg (just for one example) or Klobuchar, or pretty much any of the other Democratic claimants to the nomination. They'd need to show themselves more than Biden does, for him it's "been there, done that, now I can just watch Trump from the sidelines". For awhile at least.
For awhile at least.
Yes, I think there are supposed to be a few debates along the way.
There will probably be very limited debates and this will be blamed on Corona. Do you really think the people in Biden’s campaign crew really want to put Biden through a 2 hour debate with Trump? Hell, the man would probably make a ton of gaffes in the first hour only to simply fall asleep during the second.
Trump is not looking too good as of late, though he did come back to his own energetic self with the awesome Mt Rushmore speech- maybe his best ever - but if the Biden camp can keep Joe as far from the spotlight as possible and resort to choreographed sound bites they’ll probably win. Trump has the uphill from here. Live debates could very well change that.
Lee probably has it right, the image in people’s minds of Biden is Biden’s greatest strength. Put him on a live debate and that’s gonna change for sure. Even Obama knew that when he told old Joe “Joe, you don’t have to do this”.
You should look to Joes choice for VP because that’ll be the actual presidential candidate for the Dems.
Actually I am rather curious to see who Biden picks.
I have been looking for John Bolton's book, but haven't found it yet. I thought it was going to be out by now, but maybe not. I may end up buying Mary Trump's book first. That should be very interesting.
"Actually I am rather curious to see who Biden picks."
Word is you've got about a month yet to be curious in.
Thomas Friedman writing in the NewYorkTimes has suggested that Joe Biden condition appearing in any Presidential Debates on; (1) Trump must release his tax returns (I'd want to see the ten years up to and including 2016, and all three years since then), and; (2) Trump agrees to an unbiased group of "fact checkers" who'll report back at ten minutes to go on any serious whoppers either party tries to tell.
I don't think I can go for the second condition. I still think it's up to the voters to police their own votes. However, I do see definite merit to the first condition, the tax returns.
Article on Sweden in the NewYorkTimes claims that the anticipated economic benefits to Sweden from remaining open and thereby killing off so many Swedes have not appeared.
Short version--there was no economic benefit to letting the disease "take its course" through Sweden, and now they can't visit the rest of Europe--they're banned from travel there just like the United States.
(The article presumes, of course, that it was the Swedish government's intent to ward off deleterious economic effects that prompted their "stay open" decision.)
A funny thing, From that NYT piece, the text on the sign at that overcrowded spot in the picture literally says: “In Malmö everything is close by, but now we need to keep distance to each other”
People be like “nah”
And I take issue with the message of that article. We have fared little better than our neighbors economically BC we are much more export dependent and that part of the economy has been severely hit. We always fare worse in global economic downturns than our neighbors. If we piled a lockdown on top of that we would’ve been hit even worse than now. How could not closing down result in more economic hardship? That’s basically self evident.
"People be like “nah”"
I take it you are now concentrating on the culture war benefits to letting the virus run its own course without government hindrance?
"That’s basically self evident."
No, it's not. (You really oughta get that book, and read it. I was thinking this earlier when you couldn't figure out the initial "drop" in the mortality rate every time the rate of infection spiked, and this in spite of your claim to training in civil engineering. And now I'm sure of it.)
Word is you've got about a month yet to be curious in.
Dang! I'm the impatient type.
(1) Trump must release his tax returns (I'd want to see the ten years up to and including 2016, and all three years since then)
In that Mary Trump book she has financial documentation as well. We might learn a little going at it that way.
We have fared little better than our neighbors economically BC we are much more export dependent and that part of the economy has been severely hit.
Funny you should mention that. The world is far more interconnected than in 1918 when the Spanish Flu (or so we called it) hit.
In 2018 US imports totaled 17% of global trade. I wonder how our shutdowns are really affecting our trading partners.
Of course, there is the possibility that with Trump's anti-trade bias our imports have been lowered. And our trading partners have found other markets for their goods.
How could not closing down result in more economic hardship?
Keep watching the US.
"How could not closing down result in more economic hardship?"
He's got that exactly backwards "not closing" has already resulted in more Swedes dying. The question is, "To what benefit?" Or, one might conceivably ask whether the long-term death toll will come out the same (depends on how long-term ya look; in the end, we'll all die eventually). But, what benefit has the hastened death toll from the coronavirus brought to Sweden? That's the proper way to phrase the question. And the answer is: Ain't none I can see.
Revised IHME projections are for 200,000+ American dead of the coronavirus by election day.
Meanwhile the Trump administration is campaigning hard for all schools, K-12 up through university level, but especially the K-12 levels, to reopen to full classroom status as scheduled before the virus got to America.
If there is one thing we can count on, It's Trump to do the wrong thing.
Lynnette
The Supreme Trumpkins, in a pair of 7 - 2 decisions, have decided against the new Trump administration legal doctrine of "absolute immunity" for President Trump. They have, however, managed to tie up the outstanding subpoenæ for Trump's tax returns (all of them, the ones in the criminal investigation in New York State and the subpoenæ issued by Congressional Committees) in "further proceedings" ordered to be held in the lower courts, thus ensuring that Trump's tax returns will remain Trump's secret until after the next election.
(Looks to me like Chief Justice Roberts may have engineered a compromise that allowed the court to not have to uphold the "absolute immunity" claim but would still protect Trump from disclosure until after the election.)
For whatever reason we will not be privy to Trump's inner financial workings. Unless there are tidbits to be gleaned from Mary Trump's book.
But this doesn't end the investigations, it just delays them.
"For whatever reason we will not be privy to Trump's inner
financial workings."
That's been too consistently the outcome (with a wide-ranging set of rationale to accommodate the various legal bases involved), too consistently the outcome for me to have much doubt about the one underlying reason.
I hadn't heard this before, probably because it happened in Arizona and the national news organizations still largely consider that part of flyover territory save for forest fires which can supply compelling visuals. But Arizona has declared themselves in a medical crisis enabling hospitals to "triage" incoming emergency patients and simply set aside those they deem least likely to survive (on account of they're running out of beds and medical staff). NewYorkMag
...much doubt about the one underlying reason.
I know, but sometimes I have to hold out hope that there are some people above being affected by Trump and his bullying behavior. Because those would be the people we need to get our country back on track.
But Arizona has declared themselves in a medical crisis enabling hospitals to "triage" incoming emergency patients and simply set aside those they deem least likely to survive (on account of they're running out of beds and medical staff).
I suspect there are other areas in the country who will come to that as well.
Our cases here have started to rise again. There are some individual cities that are mandating masks in public. I noticed more people wearing masks today. I have been stocking up on various kinds of masks just in case there is a statewide mandate. Something is better than nothing.
Word is out that Trump will be visiting Walter Reed Hospital in D.C. tomorrow for the purpose of finally allowing himself to be photographed wearing a surgical mask. Apparently the idea is that since it's a hospital his dedicated Trumpkins will forgive him for (briefly, very briefly) surrendering to the "HOAX!".
I'm not sure he's gonna go through with it.
Lee:” I take it you are now concentrating on the culture war benefits to letting the virus run its own course without government hindrance?”
Nope. I just think a people can practice social distancing and get guidelines in doing so from the government instead of being forcibly locked in their homes by that government. I believe it’s beneficial both in terms of mental health and economically and I am 100% sure it’s way more sustainable if it needs to be implemented over a lengthy time period.
Then we can debate wether restrictions are needed for a lengthy time period or whether there was an opportunity to quash this virus via a lockdown. Myself I believe that when we got into this lockdown / no lockdown talk that opportunity was months passed. It’s spread too far and wide now to supress it through quarantine so we need to find ways to live with the virus. And that means a long term approach. Locking people in their homes ain’t that.
I see no benefits at all from this Corona virus, in fact I hate it. Even w few forced restrictions it does restrict my life as I generally follow the rules of social distancing. I can’t travel, I can’t go to pubs, I can’t visit with elderly relatives and I have to be careful even when socializing with close friends. It sucks! There’s nothing whatsoever positive about this, and some people are also dying from it which sucks even more. So no, I see no “cultural war” benefits here and I’m not even sure what you mean by that.
"I see no benefits at all from this Corona virus…
***
and I’m not even sure what you mean by that."
Perhaps that's because you're arguing against something I did not say. I did mention the culture war benefits of a restrained government response rather than a vigorous government response. But that's not the same thing as saying there was any benefit from the virus.
And I believe there was an actual lockdown in China, people being forcibly locked in their homes, but don't know of anywhere else that such draconian measures were taken. (I worried at the time you began calling it a lockdown that I should perhaps contest that language, lest you begin to believe the "lockdown" language described a real situation, but I decided it wasn't worth the effort and just went along with it.)
And, to be right honest, the culture war benefits accrue mostly to the arguing for a restrained response rather than in having a restrained response. (As we've seen here in the States of late, an restrained government response is proving to be counter-productive for Trump, bitin' him in the ass as the virus surges once again.)
Yes we know Lee. You want the state to lock people in their homes, meanwhile social media is being purged of anything you dislike and when Biden wins by ( fraudulent) mail in votes this fall the Revolution can get goin. Black militias are gonna roam the streets and if you call the cops on them then first the cops won’t answer but then a day or so sooner, if you survived, the cops will be coming to haul you off for hate speech.
You’re gonna die, South Africa style. Forced to see your grandchildren raped and murdered before you yourself is doused by gasoline and lit. Samefor you Lynnette.
Looks like Marcus has succumbed to an outbreak of frustration. Which brings up a question that's begun to percolate in the back of my mind: (Marcus ain't the only one who regularly succumbs to childishness when frustrated.)
So, Consider this scenario: It's the 4th of November 2020. The repudiation of Trump's presidency has been so definite that the "mainstream media" are calling the election for Biden before sun-up. Major mail-in voting is still out there to be counted, but the turnout and voting patterns at in person voting sites leave no doubt. Trump's refusal to concede the election is irrelevant.
Biden's won it in a landslide. The mail-in ballots are not going to change that.
Trump can rant about how the election was stolen all he wants, but no amount of crazy is going to hide enough votes to call the outcome into doubt. Biden won it in a landslide.
Trump now has three months as President to take his revenge on the nation that rejected him.
So, how much mischief can he make in three months? How much revenge against our country might he be able to inflict in three months?
And how many pardons can he hand out to his fixers, friends, and family before it becomes apparent that the multitude of pardons are themselves evidence of an intent on Trump's part to obstruct justice (i.e. To obstruct the prosecution of Trump himself, subsequent to his separation from the office of the Presidency.)
Minnesota's positive test percentage has ticked up a little, from 3.8% last week to 4.5% this week. Not a happy occurrence. We are still on track for a gradual reopening, though. We will see how long that lasts.
Other states are still fighting tooth and nail to increase their death counts following Trump's advice to reopen as fast as they can.
Trump has been strong arming schools to open up in the fall for in classroom learning. He has went so far as to try to get international students deported if the only teaching is done online. Schools who collect some hefty fees from foreign students are scrambling to put together hybrid programs to accommodate Trump's most recent bullying tactic.
You’re gonna die, South Africa style. Forced to see your grandchildren raped and murdered before you yourself is doused by gasoline and lit. Samefor you Lynnette.
I'll take my chances. As a patriotic American I will proudly vote for the only presidential candidate on the ballot who has a chance to bring my country back from the incompetent, corrupt hole that Donald Trump has dragged us into.
That is Joe Biden. And I will be quite happy to do it in person.
Turns out that Trump did go over to Walter Reed Hospital to be photographed wearing a mask after all. I wasn't sure he'd go through with it, even after his staff had made the announcement. But, he did.
So, Consider this scenario: It's the 4th of November 2020. The repudiation of Trump's presidency has been so definite that the "mainstream media" are Mainstream knowledge by now. And the race is really not about Trump but between Republican Donald Duck and Democrat Daffy Duck. And Daffy has a sure way to win bc of higher pigmentation in his feathers than that of his opponent, the eerily white Donald Duck.
That’s about how serious I take America and it’s joke of a democracy these days. It’s a fucking joke.
That’s about how serious I take America and it’s joke of a democracy these days. It’s a fucking joke.
Right now China is slowly tightening its grip on Hong Kong, dragging it down into their version of authoritarianism. At the same time America is fighting a battle against strongman rule, its own racist history, a raging pandemic that was woefully mishandled by our joke of an administration and the lurking danger of radical climate change. China, as Jeffrey pointed out, has its own racist history, which it chooses to flaunt rather than even acknowledge or try to fix.
America was always an ideal. As long as we are still fighting for that ideal we are good. And fighting we are. So I will still take our ragged democracy over China's oh so "perfect" form of government. Yes, we are in a mess, but we've been in messes before. I still have hope that we will rise above and come out better than we were.
"America and it’s joke of a democracy these days.
It’s a fucking joke."
Might want to revisit Jeffrey's argument that America's image abroad isn't effected by who's President.
Trump has finally turned on Dr. Fauci. Fauci hasn't fallen in line with Trump's line of BS and that has put Fauci in Trump's crosshairs.
Sad, very sad. But this is what people have been warning for a long time. Trump doesn't have the character to deal with a true crisis.
Well, this does not bode well at all, for anybody. Even those countries who have declining cases of Covid.
Then last week, a Spanish government study found that just 5% of people in Spain have coronavirus antibodies and in a potentially worrying development, the study also indicated that people's immunity to coronavirus wanes after just a few weeks. The findings show that 95% of Spain's population remains susceptible to the virus.
"Trump has finally turned on Dr. Fauci."
Trump's been taking occasional shots at Fauci for weeks now. And he's clamped down of Fauci's "availability" to the press weeks ago as well. Maybe he's unleashed his minions of late, but Fauci's been a thorn in his side for awhile now.
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
"…the study also indicated that people's immunity to
coronavirus wanes after just a few weeks."
That's not good. But, I've been trying to remind folks that nobody's ever developed a successful vaccine against any of the previously known members of the coronavirus family of viri.
(In a related development, I've seen some speculations among the medical specialists of late who fear that the coronavirus is indeed seasonal, and that this may just be the "off season" and that we're maybe in for a vicious increase in virus infections come fall. They're suggesting it may get much, much worse in a few months. Not a good thought there either.)
But, I've been trying to remind folks that nobody's ever developed a successful vaccine against any of the previously known members of the coronavirus family of viri.
That's not good either. Because they are coming to the conclusion that there will be no herd immunity. Just like the common cold, where you can have it again and again in a season, Covid-19 will be the same.
A very well written and interesting Op Ed by Al Franken. Yes, I know his history, but when you're right you're right. And in this piece he's right!
When your opponent is digging himself a hole, you let him keep digging. By design or necessity, Joe Biden has laid low since we all sheltered in place, allowing President Donald Trump to turn the November election into a referendum on Donald Trump.
And right now, Donald Trump appears to be losing badly to Donald Trump.
And really, in those debates if Joe Biden just stands up there and looks and acts presidential it might be all it takes.
"That's not good either."
Actually those are the same thing. The vaccine won't work if the virus doesn't confer a natural immunity because the concept of the vaccine is to safely mimic the natural exposure. The vaccine is supposed to turn on our natural immunity without us having to actually catch the disease. No natural immunity, the vaccines won't work either.
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
"if Joe Biden just stands up there and looks and acts presidential…"
Barack Obama got a Nobel Peace Prize just for being not-Bush
Joe Biden could conceivably get a Nobel Peace Prize just for being not-Trump.
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
I'll have to check Franken's Op-Ed later. (I gotta wonder if this is supposed to presage an attempt at a political come-back by Franken?)
I did get to the Franken Op-Ed before going down for the night. He's right that Biden needs to be ready to answer the question of why vote for Biden as opposed to just voting against Trump. (It doesn't have to be anything earth-shaking either, just a clear "This is how we start to fix things, and this is how I intend to start us back down the road to recovering from Trump.)
Meantime, it seems the Republicans are looking to move Trump's acceptance speech outside in Jacksonville, Florida, in recognition of the virus's rapidly closing grip on the state of Florida. It's not at all clear that moving it outside will do any good (even if the August weather coöperates). The conventioneers might not show up if Florida's not gotten the virus under control, and Florida's not showing any clear indication that'll happen.
"This is how we start to fix things, and this is how I intend to start us back down the road to recovering from Trump.
I think some of his comments to the press have laid the groundwork for that. So far I haven't seen any negative ads from the Biden campaign or Democrats in general. Those seem to be the MO of the Trump campaign, judging by the two ads I've seen from them. One has cut and spliced from any Biden speech any poorly worded statement he made implying he's unfit and the other is piggybacking on the riots following the George Floyd murder, implying that there will be a hugely delayed police response for violent crimes in the future if we make changes such as de-funding the police.
Meanwhile, apparently the data on the virus collected by hospitals is now to be sent to the White House instead of the CDC. The patter goes that it is to streamline some of the process. Personally I rather think it may be to bury data so the American people can be hoodwinked easier.
Oh, and the Governor of Oklahoma has tested positive for Covid-19. He claims it isn't due to his attendance at the Tulsa rally for Trump, since that was so long ago. Yes, well, that may be true, but that's not to say he wasn't infected from someone who attended that rally and got sick. That was the whole point of not wanting the rally to take place as it was set up, the risk that a gathering of that size would spread the virus.
I'll have to check Franken's Op-Ed later. (I gotta wonder if this is supposed to presage an attempt at a political come-back by Franken?)
Forgot, yes, I was wondering the same thing. He's no shrinking violet.
The incubation period for the coronavirus runs to two weeks and up. The Governor's insistence that it's been "too long" since the June 20th rally is complete bullshit.
"Personally I rather think it may be to bury data so the American
people can be hoodwinked easier."
I've been trying to come up with another explanation, and I haven't been able to. However, I think it unlikely that Trump is intending to "hoodwink" the American people across the board. I'm thinking this is mostly to keep the CDC from putting out data analyses that might embarrass the dedicated Trumpkins who are going to want to pretend to believe his happy talk on this subject. (They don't need much, but they do seem to insist on getting something that will enable them to at minimum maintain a straight face in front of the non-Trumpkins.)
"Trump has finally turned on Dr. Fauci."
Mon Jul 13, 01:33:00 pm ↑↑
Been some serious backtrackin' on that genius idea here in these last 24 hours.
Now Trump's had another genius idea, replace the guy who got blamed for the low turnout at Trump's Tulsa rally.
That'll make those cheering crowds come back to his rallies again. The Trump Travelin' Road Show will be back to its full and fabulous and superlative-laden glory again, bestest ever seen like never seen before, in no time at all now; here just any minute now that'll be true.
Yeah, right.
Thought I might mention…
It's gotten lost in the news coverage of the coronavirus, but, last week Kim Yo Jong, sister to North Korea's Chairman Kim Jong Un, announced that there would be no more nuclear talks with Trump (or any other, lower status, representative of the United States).
She said that further talks would not serve North Korea's interests.
So much for Trump's personal diplomacy.
I can’t find an English language source but there’s speculation here as of today that the Stockholm region (first and worst hit by Corona in Sweden) might now have reached about 40% immunity levels.
https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/9vyO8M/40-procent-av-stockholmarna-kan-ha-immunitet-mot-corona
They have tested and found about 20% with active antibodies and another 20% with “T-cell immunity” which is something I don’t understand at all, but is said to be important. 40% would, according to the sources amount to approaching herd immunity. It’s not a guarantee against new outbreaks but would make new outbreaks more local and easier to stop from spreading.
I confess I have no real idea of how good a news this actually is. And for me in the south of Sweden where the outbreak has been the most limited we are nowhere close to those numbers even if they are true.
Then, as Lee wrote about - how long does immunity last? And if you do get Corona a second time do you have partial immunity, as in many viruses, and are able to starve it off better?
There is actually the opposite too, like Malaria and Dengue Fever, which tends to affect you worse every time you contract it. But respiratory decease don’t usually seem to work like that.
Actually, Malaria is probably irrelevant to this speculation since it’s not a virus. But Dengue Fever is, and it’s one virus which tends to get worse for every time you get it. A close friend has has it once and it was no joke, two weeks of fever and aching joints, and he’s quite nervous about catching it again.
That said, most respiratory deceases we know of seem to leave survivors with at least some sort of partial immunity.
"“T-cell immunity” which is something I don’t understand at all…"
T-cells "consume" (envelope and destroy) viral particles which are floating free through the bloodstream. It's also believed they maintain an internally coded "memory" of the viral particles they've encountered before, and are ready to go to war again almost immediately should they encounter a recognized threat later.
T-cells may be what makes giving Covid patients plasma from recovered patients work.
The mayor of Atlanta, Georgia is mandating masks and rolling back the opening of businesses in her city because of the rise in Covid cases. So the governor of the state is suing her. How stupid can you get? Talk about a Trump clone!
No wonder we are in the state we are in. We have flipping morons in charge.
"T-cells may be what makes giving Covid patients plasma
from recovered patients work."
I don't think so. Blood plasma, by definition, refers to the fluid left over after the blood cells have been filtered out.
Than it must be something else. Because it has worked.
Antibodies. Antibodies aren't blood cells. Antibodies are protein bits that circulate in the bloodstream.
I bought Mary Trump's book and will also buy John Bolton's. Just trying to find the best deal. Probably Walmart. I actually got their last copy on the shelf of Mary Trump's book. I don't know why, but that kind of surprised me. Maybe because I think of Walmart as being patronized by Trump supporters. Probably because so few people there have been wearing masks.
Antibodies.
Recently they've come up with test results that appear to show that antibodies don't really last that long giving rise to speculation that whatever immunity is derived from them also doesn't last long. There is fear that herd immunity really won't work for Covid. But if T-cells, which are not antibodies, do last, maybe they can give enough protection to prevent a second infection or at least result in a milder one?
Okay, I'm not a doctor; I don't even play one on TV, but here's how I understand it to work.
The virus is basically a DNA chain (enclosed in a protein shell in the case of the coronavirus). Other protein chains stick up out of the shell and constitute the "hooks" which latch onto a host cell. The virus attaches to the host cell and breaks through the cell's outer membrane, and the viral DNA hijacks the cell's reproductive mechanisms (by which the cell replicates its own DNA when the cell divides). The viral DNA forces the hijacked cell to produce hundred, thousands, bunches of copies of the virus. They fill up and eventually burst out of the cell, killing the cell in the process, and go on to hook on to more host cells.
The antibodies catch on to and clutter up the "hooks" on the virus so it can't attach to the host cells in the first place. Then the T-cells come around and clean up the virus in the blood, cluttered up with the antibodies (or without the antibodies if the T-cells find them uncluttered).
(If the virus can't replicate then there's few of them to clean up--if the virus can replicate it can get out ahead of the T-cells efforts to kill them in the blood stream.)
I understand that Mary Trump's book is outselling Bolton's book by a large margin. I think I read that it was, off the start, the best-selling book on Trump to date since his fluke win in the 2016 election. May not hold up, but got off to a hell of a start they say.
"…but that kind of surprised me."
I been thinking on that. I'm wondering if we're seeing a Trumpkin reaction to Trump's manifest inability to pretend away the coronavirus. They may have noticed that the virus don't give a shit that Trump wants to pretend.
I'm curious as to how long it will take Trump to order flags to half-staff for John R. Lewis. (RIP)
It looks like Trump had already ordered flags to half-staff, for the rest of the day, and I hadn't noticed. ("For the rest of the day" doesn't seem like much, but perhaps that's standard for a congressman who's accorded the honor; I don't really know, but it doesn't seem like much.)
Trump is trying a new thing. He's holding "telephone rallies" for supporters in both Michigan and Arizona tonight. He's apparently acknowledged, at least within his campaign organization, that he can't get his supporters to show up in person for the mass rallies that were his delight in the 2016 campaign. (As per NBC Nightly News this night.)
(I've read before that some of his staff have been counting on getting him out in front of the cheering crowds of dedicated Trumpkins, so's to improve his mood, which has reportedly been deteriorating without the howls of adulation for him to bask in. Looks like he ain't gonna be gettin' any of that for the foreseeable future, and they're gonna havta just suck it up and deal with a boss Trump in an already bad and now deteriorating mood.)
NewYorkTimes: According to studies out of South Korea, which has had success curbing the coronavirus, school age children, i.e. children age 10 and up, spread the virus at least as effectively as do adults. (Below 10 years, not so much, but 10 and up they're at least as virulent as spreaders as are adults.)
And Trump is pushing hard for them to congregate at schools on schedule.
Okay, I'm not a doctor;
It's obvious I'm not. That was a very easily understood explanation.
But I find a puzzle interesting. And this virus is definitely that. One thing I wonder about is why young people are less likely to develop severe symptoms when they do contract Covdid-19? Is it possible that something they have been vaccinated with for another disease actually provides some protection against Covid-19 also?
I understand that Mary Trump's book is outselling Bolton's book by a large margin.
I've heard that too. Perhaps it's simply because it is a family member who has closer insight into Trump's formative years and so many people love a tell all book. Bolton's book will be a less personal account since his is the viewpoint of a coworker.
I think both books have something to offer, just in different ways. I will start with Mary's.
I'm wondering if we're seeing a Trumpkin reaction to Trump's manifest inability to pretend away the coronavirus.
I have been trying hard not to hope that those who have supported him so ardently in the past may finally see what he is. I wouldn't want to be disappointed. But the virus will not go away just on Trump's say so. It doesn't care, it will infect and kill as many people as it can. At the moment it is swallowing whole large swaths of Trump country. Even here we are seeing a resurgence as we have reopened. I was pleased to see that many private businesses are going to require masks. That is a start. Private industry has taken the lead in many of our more important events.
John R. Lewis. (RIP)
A man who had the courage to stand up for what is right. We have lost another real leader.
He's apparently acknowledged, at least within his campaign organization, that he can't get his supporters to show up in person for the mass rallies that were his delight in the 2016 campaign.
Now the question is, why are they really not showing up? Is it because of fear of infection from the virus and they don't want to spread it back in their communities or is it something else? If I were Trump I might be starting to wonder. Hence the bad mood.
"One thing I wonder about is why young people are less
likely to develop severe symptoms when they do contract
Covdid-19?"
The serious lung damage (the usual cause of death) appears to be caused by the body's own immune response to the virus. That is, the adult body launches an all-out attempt to eradicate the virus from the lungs--in the process the T-cells begin to go after the lung tissue itself. It seems that younger people (less "experienced" immune system) do not have such an over-aggressive response against the virus. There are various explanations/speculations for why that is. (Other symptoms are often more serious in the young while the pulmonary collapse seems to be concentrated among those who are older.)
But, the virus can settle into other organs--the lungs are the usual targets but not the exclusive targets. It appears to also have a lesser affinity for working itself into the neural network, where it seems to do its own damage virtually unimpeded for weeks or even months if it gets going in there.
"Is it possible that something they have been vaccinated
with for another disease actually provides some protection
against Covid-19 also?"
Possible I suppose.
There's also a theory that the coronavirus "looks like" another less serious virus to the adults' immune systems, one their immune systems may already be familiar with. Perhaps a related coronavirus that doesn't reproduce nearly as quickly nor spread as widely as the covid-19.
So, their bodies try to stamp out the covid-19 virus just like it stamped out the other one (including launching an internal quarantine of the infected lung tissue) but the covid-19 gets in everywhere in the lungs, whereas the other one didn't spread nearly as fast. So the previously successful strategy is the wrong strategy this time.
It's just one speculation. I suppose yours is just as good for all we know.
Headline:
"Inside Trump’s Failure: The Rush to Abandon Leadership
Role on the Virus"
Subheading:
"The roots of the nation’s current inability to control the
pandemic can be traced to mid-April, when the White House
embraced overly rosy projections to proclaim victory and
move on."
NewYorkTimes
Fairly long. Especially long for a NYT piece. They obviously think they have the reporting to support it and that it's important enough to justify the length. I think they may be right.
I will warn Lynnette going in that her favored Dr. Debrah Birx does not get a particularly favorable review.
It's just one speculation. I suppose yours is just as good for all we know.
Perhaps like so many other things there are multiple answers. I suspect it will take time to find out what those are.
But, the virus can settle into other organs--the lungs are the usual targets but not the exclusive targets.
That's just it. It takes so many forms. A very creepy, sneaky (as Jeffrey said) disease.
I'll have to read the article a little later. The heat has finally broken here and I should do some weeding in the garden. It's starting to look like a jungle.
Dr. Debrah Birx does not get a particularly favorable review.
Yes, it appears she was using a model from the University of Washington rather than actual data. Rather an odd way to go about it. All part of the Trump administration's poor handling of the crisis, despite their claims to the contrary.
And in keeping with the title of that article Trump is now trying to block money the Senate (Republicans mind you) is trying to allocate for testing and contact tracing of Covid-19.
Post a Comment