No, it's not a Zombie Apocalypse! It's not even a run at the local Wal-Mart for toilet paper. It's just a bunch of Branch Covidians from Trumpistan, protesting shelter-in-place restrictions because they want to live their unexamined lives without... emergency restrictions. This fantastic photo was snapped from within the State of Ohio Statehouse on Thursday. More Trumper protests popped up at other state capitals. The common thread was to Open Up America Again and let the COVID death dice roll as they may.
While watching the Fox News coverage of these protests, President Dunning-Kruger felt compelled to tweet his support, in a way that could suggest promoting violence. He's advocated "2nd Amendment solutions" in the past, so who knows if he's serious. But we should agree it's not a good look for a President to be seen as possibly advocating Civil War-like insurrectionist actions:
Yeah. Liberate The White House!
The Crazy Virus has been rampant throughout Trumpistan since well before 2016, but seems to be raging to new heights this week. Here are a couple of recent examples of this pathology:
Dr. Oz, the House Doctor for Fox News, raised eyebrows when he suggested that one step towards reopening society could be opening schools early. Calling it an "appetizing opportunity", Oz reflected that in doing so, 2 - 3% of the population could die (that's 6.5 to 9.8 MILLION people), but it would be worth it to get the economy going. As Joe Stalin once said, the death of one man is a tragedy... the death of one million is a statistic.
Secretary of Treasury Steve Mnuchin appeared to suggest that the Federal government's $1200 per taxpayer payout should get people through 10 weeks of shelter-in-place.
The roster for the much-hyped Council To Re-Open America was announced. Earlier, the Administration had been touting it as the place where the best of the best would be recruited, from all avenues of business and health care. They'd be the greatest minds. As T said, "The names that are, I think, the best and the smartest, the brightest, and they're going to give us some ideas."
Instead, the Council is a re-hash of his cabinet and staff:
These folk would have problems opening a child-proof lid, and they have oversight for Two Trillion Dollars. "A birther, two Trump family members whose strongest skill is failing upwards; the producer of "Lego Batman"; a guy who said the virus was "contained"; a guy who wants to turn America into an autocracy; and a guy who said coronavirus would be good for American jobs. No economists, no public health experts. A dream team!" says Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell.
As Tom Nichols noted, imagine the right-wingers' combustion if Hillary had put Chelsea and her husband on the council.. there would be fires across the prairie, the unbridled outrage would be immense.
They've since added such giants of industry as Vince McMahon, CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, following a really bad week for him that included bankruptcy for his XFL Football League. On the other hand, Florida Governor De Santis deemed WWE as an "essential" business, so the show will go on. This on the same day that Florida received an $18 million dollar boost from a McMahon-controlled Trump PAC. Only the best!! If he weren't fictitious, surely this character would fill out the Council's line-up:
OK, let's step away from the madness and take a good look at how we really got into this woeful status. The folks at Just Security compiled the absolute BEST synopsis of how our government completely screwed the pooch. It is presented in a highly-readable format featuring a complete and itemized description of events. Refreshingly, there is no "editorial opinion" attached to any of it. Just the facts. They speak for themselves. And they are plenty.
The action begins on Friday the 13th of January, 2017: The joint Obama-Trump transition teams run an exercise for pandemic preparedness. Check out the manifest of Trump attendees! Only eight remain of the original 30!! Today, all the 'adults' are gone!! Read it and weep:
https://www.justsecurity.org/69650/timeline-of-the-coronavirus-pandemic-and-u-s-response/
JFC. Truly, this piece is one for the ages, one that will inform future historians. Just one relentless fact after another, unvarnished. OK, now that you've become up to speed in this Tragedy of Errors, let's have a laugh (please, any excuse for a laugh!) while watching this fun clip featuring a bit from "Life of Brian" but with new subtitles that capture today's craziness:
Concise and funny Python reworded video that describes the Administration's mistakes
Yes, the awkward and bumbling responses to the relentless march of COVID-19 can be funny, in a dark way. But ya gotta laugh, right? Not as funny as Python, but highly illuminating is this article from NBC News that outlines how the Pence Task Force has operated, securing the interests of private industry before the common good. Why, it's enough to not re-elect this administration or the Senators who backed it!
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-s-coronavirus-task-force-amassed-power-it-boosted-industry-n1180786
Oh, if only we had Mystery Science Theatre 3000 to razz the daily Presidential Press Briefings!! They certainly qualify as being in the circle of stupid and ridiculous performances that MST3K enjoy deconstructing.
It is through these daily unfiltered "briefings" that the President has mounted his comeback strategy. Impressively, through them he has managed thus far to provide enough BS fodder to his Death Cult that he hasn't sunk below 40% approval. It is enough to keep him in the game. Can he keep it up? It depends on the death count and the economy, I suppose. That's why he wants to open up restrictions so the economy can respond in time for his re-election. The rest is collateral damage.
For more on how the bungling is being reframed, check out this short piece from The Atlantic's McKay Coppins. He shows how T & Co. are pointing the blame figure at everyone but themselves, as usual:
Trump's Coronavirus Message Is Revisionist History
So-called normal people won't buy any of it. But what's normal anymore? Is there such a thing? When looking at the people screaming from locked doors, or listening to the President and his media sycophants, it's easy to make a judgment: They are Nutso! But that 40% public approval rate doesn't reduce and sometimes bounces up. That's nutso.
On the other hand, as someone pointed out yesterday, America has always had a Problematic Third. More or less one-third of the country didn't want to leave England and the monarchy. One-third or so supported slavery. One-third-plus did not want women to vote. One-third didn't support Civil Rights.
One-third are against assault-weapons bans. The list goes on and on. Roughly One-Third of the country always stands in the way of progress. It's the way of fear, ignorance and partisanship, developed through generations of a shared mindset that permits toxic thinking.
It will be supremely important to vote in November. And the best way to do that will be to vote by mail. The voter suppression campaign that the GOP uses is already in full swing. Every state needs to guarantee every voter receive a ballot by mail. In this way, there won't be repeats of what happened in Milwaukee last week or Georgia and North Carolina last year. Text/call/write your Member of Congress and State Legislators to ensure this happens.
Finally, we end with some pertinent fun. The Great Randy Newman has penned a love song/anthem for our times, entitled "Stay Away". Written and performed while under quarantine, it does capture the zeitgeist of today. Newman links his youtube post to the Ellis Marsalis Foundation. (Ellis, patriarch of the amazing Marsalis Family, was a victim of COVID-19. I had the great pleasure of knowing him. What a loss...)
Not exactly like "Boom goes London, Boom Par-ee, More room for you, And more room for me!" But it will do: "Venus in sweatpants... Stay away from me, Baby keep your distance please, Stay away from me, Words of love in times like these..."
Stay safe, sane and sanitized!
