Trump Played Chicken with Science and Lost

With Donald Trump making misleading (okay lying) about the state of the Coronavirus and his Administrations reaction to it over the last two months (including just yesterday, March 29, when he lied to reporters from PBS and CNN saying he did not make comments recorded on video the preceding Friday,) some of his most devoted zealots have gone on the social media attack against those who have corrected the Liar in Chief’s nonscientific/nonreality based assertions.

Dr. Anthony Fauci is among the experts targeted by the Anti Science Trump Zone residents. In an article from New York Times reporters Davey Alba and Sheera Frenkel, individuals from right-wing fringe groups such as Judicial Watch and QAnon have criticized Dr. Fauci for his scientifically-reality based comments contradicting the pronouncements of Mr. Trump, his body language at recent daily briefings, and his perceived support for Hillary Clinton.

Despite these attacks from the residents of Trump Zone and Fox Island, Fauci and the others have not backed down from relying on scientific facts and projections.

These attacks on the critics of Mr. Trump echo earlier attacks on Scientists in the Climate Change Camp. New York Times columnist Paul Krugman’s March 28 column deals with this manifestation of this anti-scientific movement among the gullible fringe first with regards to climate change and now with the Coronavirus.

Of course, these people have been encouraged by (as mentioned earlier) the outlandish claims of the Demagogue Prima Donna in the White House they blindly worship.

They believe him when he says the virus is no big deal.

They believe him when he says the miracle cure is about to be released to the public.

They believe him when he says the country will open up again by Easter.

They continue to believe him even after he is caught saying lie after lie after lie.

Speaking on the March 29 broadcast of Meet the Press, Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden spoke for many in the country by saying the obvious:

“Look, the American public is really strong and tough. The first thing we should do is listen to the scientists. Secondly, we should tell them the truth. The unvarnished truth. The American people have never shied away from being able to deal with the truth. The worst thing you can do is raise false expectations and watch them get dashed. Then they begin to lose confidence in the leadership. So we should just tell the truth as best we know it. As best the scientists know it. We should let them speak.”

They do not even hold him accountable when his slow reaction to the Coronavirus has led to needless deaths among the American People. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has pointed that out, saying “his denial at the beginning was deadly…. (as he)fiddles, people are dying.” Writers like fellow blogger Michael Bryan have written about it.

Donald Trump played chicken with Scientific Truth.

He lost.

So have the American People.

Fortunately, it is not too late for Mr. Trump and his fanatical followers to turn things around for the country.

Extending the social distance guidelines until the end of April is a step in the right direction.

He needs to shut up and do more by relying on what the scientific experts say.

People will appreciate him more if he does that.

From Pew Research

Cartoons of the Week from Blog for Arizona

https://blogforarizona.net/cartoon-of-the-week-321/

Marcus and Brooks from 3/27/20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn6OJBmUR7M

The Prima Donna Mad King wants a Little Appreciation

Has anyone ever wondered why people like Vice President Mike Pence, Dr.Anthony Fauci, the Surgeon General Jerome Adams, FEMA Director Pete Graynor, and Governors like  Andrew Cuomo have to continually kiss the Stable Genius’s tukas (butt) at daily briefings?

Apparently, because that is how you get the Prima Donna Mad King in the Oval Office to act for the betterment of the people and the country.

Today, Individual One showed what he thinks of people who do not blow sunshine up his butt.

During the daily briefing on the Coronavirus, the 2016 Popular Vote Loser did not disappoint the media who regularly count on him spewing bull fecal matter statements. Included in his Trump Zone comments was his moaning that Governors like Washington’s Jay Inslee (who the Commander in Chief referred to as a failed Presidential Candidate) or Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer (who the chauvinistic President with over 20 sexual assault accusations referred to as the woman) did not appreciate all he and the Federal Government were doing to help their states. He even said the Vice President should not even telephone them because “they don’t treat you right.”  The Mad King also repeated that the Federal Government is doing the work the State Governors should be doing.

Later the third President in American History to be impeached showed his great immaturity towards people that do not sing his praises (the ones who voted to impeach and convict him) by not inviting any Democrat to the signing of the bipartisan $ two trillion economic rescue plan. The only nonwhite person present was Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao,  wife of Political Prince of Darkness-Grim Reaper-Enemy of the People-Moscow Mitch McConnell.

Presidents should not aspire to lead so people can behave like sycophants and tell them, truthfully or otherwise, how great they are.

Presidents should aspire to lead so they can serve the people and make the country a better place than it is when they are first inaugurated.

Donald Trump has never understood that goal of leadership as part of his job description.

He also does not understand that Governors like Whitmer or Inslee do appreciate him.

They appreciate that he is the Prima Donna Mad King that they are stuck dealing with for at least the next ten months.

They appreciate that he is the self-absorbed huckster and blowhard that they have to put up while hoping (praying) the adults in the room like those from the Center for Disease and Control, Health and Human Services, the FEMA Director, and the Army Corp of Engineers (who the Governors really are grateful to) can help the people in their states in some coordinated method that does not involve state leaders competing against each other for vital medical supplies.

They appreciate that virtually nothing from the Liar in Chief’s mouth is true and they have to wait to hear from other people inside the Administration (sometimes minutes after the President leaves the briefing) for the science-based reality outside the Trump Zone.

The Mad King wants a little appreciation.

People want a President who will tell the truth, lead with an inclusive hand out to others, and work for them and move the country forward from this crisis.

https://blogforarizona.net/the-prima-donna-mad-king-wants-a-little-appreciation/

Editorial Cartoons of the Week

Idea of the Week: Stay home as much as possible and isolate yourself from as many members of the community as you can. An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.

Book of the Week

William McNeil's Plagues and Peoples

Someone should tell the Prima Donna in the White House we are not living under the Articles of Confederation

The Prima Donna seems to think that the states, instead of the federal government, should take the lead in combatting the Coronavirus.

This attitude seems to fit a President of the United States under the Articles of the Confederation where the states held the dominant position over the central government.

If Mr. Trump and Mr. Pence are indeed following that mindset, then the American People are trapped in an approach to government that history (and recent current events) proved does not work.

This mindset is why:

• We have the 2016 Popular Vote Loser lashing out at Governors like Gretchen Whitmer, Jay Inslee, Andrew Cuomo who have criticized the Federal Government handling of the Coronavirus.

• The third President in the United States History to be Impeached continually sounds like he is doing the Governors a favor by doing whatever he and his Administration is doing to combat the virus.

• Individual One has not fully activated the Defense Protection Act and nationalized the medical supply production and delivery process.

This has caused Governors like Andrew Cuomo in New York to beg for supplies. The Governor of Illinois, J.B. Pritzer equated this lack of national coordination to the “wild wild west.”

• The Liar in Chief has not issued stronger national self isolation-quarantine guidelines.

This has resulted in inconsistent reactions to the virus across all 50 states. In New York, for example, Governor Cuomo is taking a fully proactive science-based approach to deal with the Coronavirus. His Florida counterpart Ron DeSantis is one in the “we can’t let the cure be worse than the cure” camp. Doug Ducey in Arizona is somewhere in between Cuomo and DeSantis as he has reacted mostly to the lead of the Grand Canyon State’s Mayors (like Flagstaff’s Coral Evans.) On March 26, 2020, the Flagstaff Mayor authorized “the closure of all nail salons, hair salons, beauty salons, and similar businesses.”  Arizonans should watch how Ducey reacts to this move.

• Governors and Mayors are engaged in a Lord of the Flies battle across state lines for vital supplies that the Federal Government is not overseeing.

In Arizona for example, the Governor’s office is asking primary care physicians to stop testing patients for the Coronavirus because they do not have enough tests to meet demand.

• The Federal Government has fallen behind supply requests as it haggles with private companies like General Motors and Ventec Life Systems over its price tag to build thousands of ventilators.

• The people are looking to the nation’s governors and mayors for leadership instead of the President.

Most have been impressed with the performances of New York’s Andrew Cuomo and Ohio’s Mike DeWine among other Republican and Democratic governors in fighting this public health crisis.

Again, in Arizona, it is the Mayors (like Flagstaff’s Evans, Phoenix’s Gallego, and Tucson’s Romero) taking the lead to protect the people.

When the President does a press briefing, reporters are not expecting anything informative, profound or wise to come from his lips. They are there to get the latest outrageous and obtuse comments (most of them false) to show the viewers how much the Stable Genius is really a lying Prima Donna Idiot. 

History actually shows a close parallel to the situation the country is in.

During the worst days of the Korean War in 1950 and 51 when the Chinese had entered the war and pushed the United States-United Nations troops well south of the 38th Parallel,  U.N. Military Commander Douglas MacArthur whined about not getting support from the Truman Administration for not allowing him to fight a full-scale war and called for dropping several atomic bombs along the Yalu River.

When General Matthew Ridgway assumed command of the United States Eighth Army and turned the tide of the war around, the American military and political establishment realized that all of MacArthur’s bluster was hollow and that Ridgway was the person to turn to for sound military assessments. From that point on, as Truman Biographer David McCullough wrote, MacArthur “had become mainly a prima donna figurehead who had to be tolerated.”

Most people realize that Donald Trump is a self-centered prima donna.

Unfortunately, unlike the situation with MacArthur where Truman fired him for insubordination, the people can not fire Donald Trump until November 3, 2020.

Until then, it is vital that someone or a group of people get into this self-absorbed skull that he needs to quit thinking about opening up the country again for Easter and instead fully utilizing all the government’s resources like the head of the Federal Republic (instead of a Confederacy) should so the country can stop leading the world in Coronavirus cases and be a functioning nation long before Easter in 2021.

https://blogforarizona.net/someone-should-tell-the-prima-donna-in-the-white-house-we-are-not-living-under-the-articles-of-confederation/

Hillary Clinton would have Handled the Coronavirus Differently

Imagine an alternate reality where there was no Electoral College and Hillary Clinton won the Presidential Election in 2016.

Fast forward to 2020 and the first stirrings of a new virus in China are making their way to the Pandemic Team on Clinton’s National Security Council.

What would a Hillary Clinton Presidency have done?

Probably not what the Trump one has.

She probably would have had the Pandemic Team on the NSC (the one Trump disbanded and reorganized in 2018) gather all the experts and immediately ask for strategies on how to address the virus spread when it hit the United States.

Clinton would probably recognize, unlike Trump, that the virus would hit the country with many American Citizens falling ill.

Clinton, unlike Trump, would have immediately told her people in the Administration behind the scenes, based on recent health scares like the Ebola one in the Obama Administration, to plan for a coordinated response to the Virus.

She, unlike Mr. Trump, would have immediately notified her cabinet, Congressional leaders, and the nation’s Governors and Mayors and asked them to start preparing for the socio-economic ramifications that would come with the virus hitting the country.

She, unlike Mr. Trump, would have had ready to go strategies and talking points in place to meet the crisis head-on.

So, if Hillary Clinton was the President, there would not have been:

• Lack of total federal coordination and messaging with the states on meeting the Coronavirus.
• States having to compete with each other for supplies and beg the Federal Government, as Governor Cuomo for New York did today (March 24, 2020) for ventilators.
• A self-centered temperamentally challenged leader who day after day in the White House Briefing Room continually making counterproductive comments like attacking reporters, calling the virus (until yesterday) the Chinese Virus, bragging about miracle drugs that are not available, and auditioning to be the new Doctor Death by ignoring health and scientific experts by wanting people to risk their lives by reopening businesses and social gathering locations.

So when people go to the polls in the crucial states of  Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Wisconsin (the other 41 states are probably preordained) on November 3, 2020, they need to remember that they have proof now of how Mr. Trump handles a crisis that affects lives.

For the good of the country and the safety of the American People, do not repeat the same mistake twice.

Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders, like an alternate reality with Hillary Clinton at the helm, would handle this crisis infinitely better than the current occupant of the White House.

Do not make the same mistake twice.

https://blogforarizona.net/hillary-clinton-would-have-handled-the-coronavirus-differently/?fbclid=IwAR1GU5iSkaJgNFFL1TMabgPR8PHfpjfutYyoi0UjJD2QXjCAJSSfsz4LlEQ

Joe Biden attacks Donald Trump for his Reaction to the Coronavirus and offers His Ideas for Addressing the Crisis

“Donald Trump is not to blame for the Coronavirus but he bears responsibility for the response.”

 Those words from former Vice President Joe Biden highlighted an approximately 15-minute presentation from the 2020 Democratic Presidential Candidate where he criticized Mr. Trump’s handling of the crisis and offered ideas on actions the Executive Branch should take.

Trumps Failure Not to Move Fast on the Coronavirus

 After saying “as Americans, we are all in this together and when were are together we are never defeated and we will not be defeated (even by) an unseen enemy,” Biden said that the country and the Administration “need to move and move fast.”

Biden emphasized that the focus should center on “what we should do to save lives and economic stability for the people now and the weeks and months ahead of starting with adopting a sense of real urgency.”

He then launched into pointing out where Mr. Trump has failed to meet the Coronavirus head-on saying “for too long the warning signs were ignored and preparations not made.”

First, he disagreed with the “President saying no one saw this coming,” noting that Intelligence agencies had been pointing out the dangers since January.

Biden pointed out that he (Biden) realized in January that this was coming crisis and called for “draw(ing) on science first, draw (ing) on emergency funds to get response started, and think (ing) about invoking disaster powers to respond.”

 The former Vice President cited the example of South Korea; the nation that had its first reported Coronavirus case the same day as the United States. Biden reminded the audience that, unlike the Trump Government, the South Korean leaders acted aggressively on testing and were able to prevent a nationwide lockdown.

Because of the Administration’s slow response:

• “ Not all Americans have access to testing.”
• “The United States Health Care System on brink of collapse. Beds are filling up and supplies are running out.”
• Governors across the country are getting price gouged by manufacturers for medical supplies like masks because Trump has not fully invoked the Defense Protection Act. Biden pointed out that the “Federal Government needs to coordinate with everyone so Governors are not competing with one another” and “the President needs to invoke the Defense Protection Act to direct American Manufacturers to make essential supplies.”

Mr. Biden also pointed out that Trump has erred in his presentations at the daily press briefings commenting:

“These press briefings are about informing the American people not political attacks or bashing the press. They are to inform the American People and give the unvarnished truth…let the medical experts and FEMA take center stage….less talk and more evidence of fast action”

Mr. Biden finished this portion of the address by stating.

 “The President says he is a war President…start acting like one… We need to get in motion today what we set in motion weeks ago…I along with every American hope he steps up and gets this right.

Biden offers four solutions for combatting the Coronavirus

The 2020 Democratic Presidential Candidate called for “immediate action on testing, research on vaccines, and leading a global response to beat the Coronavirus everywhere.”

 After referring viewers to his campaign website to see his plan to combat the Coronavirus in detail, Mr. Biden emphasized four solutions the country should pursue to meet this public health crisis.

• “The President must increase the medical capacity to treat the sickest Coronavirus patients safely.” Biden said he was “glad President has activated the National Guard and their medical infrastructure.” Biden recommended that the President also “activate the reserve core of doctor and nurses.”
• The President must activate the Defense Production Act to “radically” increase the supply of goods and supplies to help patients and protect health care workers like ventilators and face masks. This includes a World War Two style mobilization effort like building the “Arsenal for Democracy” that supplied the Democratic Allies in that effort.
• “The President needs to end the infighting and bickering in the Administration and listen to the scientists and plan for today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow” for the virus and any possible resurgence of it.
• “The President needs to promote the right priorities for America’s proper Economic response. We should do everything possible to keep people on the payroll, keep small businesses strong, and make sure the economy comes out the crisis strong. “ Biden criticized the part of the stimulus plan Trump and McConnell have with a $500 billion “slush fund” for corporations with no oversight or regulations (like stopping stock buybacks or halting the increase executive pay or making sure business leaders use the money to keep people on the payroll.)

 The former Vice President then said what his bottom line was: the small mom and pop business like a restaurant should get the funds they need as do major companies but “no blank checks.” These businesses need to assure the people that “they will keep them on the payroll.” Those that are unemployed need to have more “sustainable” benefits be they “gig workers or full-time employees.” “Social Security Checks should be boosted now. People getting money so they can put food on the table now should be sent out now Student Loan Debt should be forgiven for now. Cash relief should go out as fast as possible.”

Biden then praised Republican and Democratic Governors (although he did get the name of the Massachusetts one (Baker, not Parker wrong) for their efforts in meeting the crisis.

He then made a plug about the tenth anniversary of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and the lawsuit the White House and the Republican Led States are pursuing. He sent a letter requesting them to withdraw the lawsuit because people need “peace of mind” rather than worrying if the courts are going to throw away their health insurance.

He then praised the military, health workers, grocery clerk, postal workers, manufacturers, journalists, and government workers working to get the job done and we need to give them the help they need to get the job done.

Biden then finished by calling again for unity saying, “There is not a single thing we can not do if we do it together.”

Despite the fact that Biden’s team needs to do a little work on making sure the teleprompter works during the whole presentation, it was very refreshing to have a person running for President not use this opportunity to:

• Tout the poll numbers of the Department of Veterans Affairs because of (wait fot it) him.
• Discuss miracle drugs that do not exist.
• Stoke racist fears.
• Tell Governors he is doing them a favor by helping them out during this crisis.
• Say he lost money running for President.
• Attack the press for nasty questions and call reporters terrible.
• Express happiness that a political rival (Mitt Romney-the lone Republican that voted for impeachment) had to self-quarantine.
• Deny responsibility for the slow response to the crisis.

Donald Trump has said all the above items in press briefings over the last ten days.

It might be better for Vice President Mike Pence to do the briefings with the scientists from now on. At least he is not always talking about himself when he conducts the briefings. It is amazing Pence and the others have to continually suck up to the President and control their facial expressions when Trump speaks at these events.

There are probably many in the country who feel, after seeing Trump’s daily fiascoes and Biden’s down to Earth presentation, that January 20, 2021, can not come soon enough.

 Please click on the video of Biden’s address here.

https://blogforarizona.net/joe-biden-attacks-donald-trump-for-his-reaction-to-the-coronavirus-and-offers-his-ideas-for-addressing-the-crisis/?fbclid=IwAR0YhnoLJYKTZTj33tmbvAz6yhNwc-S6oQ1BGd1ijrZNSWacEhNombVrqJQ

This Would be Funnier than SNL if lives were not at Stake

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/on-fox-news-suddenly-a-very-different-tune-about-the-coronavirus/2020/03/16/7a7637cc-678f-11ea-9923-57073adce27c_story.html

Editorial Cartoons of the Week from Blog for Arizona

https://blogforarizona.net/cartoon-of-the-week-320/

How Reassuring: The Mad King goes Ballistic on a Journalist while “Comforting” the American People

The President of the United States is supposed to be:

• A role model to the American People.
• A comforter.
• Sympathetic to the feelings of others.
• As honest as possible.
• Well centered.

Donald Trump has hardly exhibited any of these traits to the American People. When he is on the script, he sometimes passes as a normal leader.

Sometimes.

Unfortunately for everyone else in the country, he hardly ever stays glued to the teleprompter or prepared comments on the podium and ad-libs with often disastrous results.

Over the last week to ten days when he has headed press briefings on the Coronavirus, Mr. Trump:

• Has stoked racist tendencies by calling the Coronavirus the China Virus.
• Saying both he was surprised and not surprised about the Pandemic.
• More or less claimed he was doing the Governors of this country a favor by doing their job and getting them medical supplies.
• Rated his actions on combatting the virus a ten when objective analysis says otherwise.
• Claimed to not know the division on the National Security Council that oversaw pandemics was disbanded.
• Has repeatedly “exaggerated” the close to the readiness of medicines that could help cure the Coronavirus.
• Attacked the press for asking “nasty questions” and misrepresenting his actions as racist.

It was the Mad King’s attitude towards the Press on March 20 that showed how discomforting this President is to the American People.

When NBC Reporter Peter Alexander asked Mr. Trump about what he would say to the American People that were scared (about the Coronavirus,) the Stable Genius went ballistic on the journalist, calling him a “terrible reporter,” said the question was “nasty” and referred to the writer's employer as “Concast” (Comcast).

When CNN White House Reporter Kaitlan Collins asked a followup question in defense of her NBC Journalist colleague, the Mad King went berserk again, saying Alexander was “not a good journalist” and “coming together is much harder when we have dishonest journalists.”

This is not the first time the Mad King-2016 Popular Vote Loser-KKK endorsed candidate-Liar in Chief-Individual One-Third President in History to be Impeached has had altercations with the Press.

Just ask CNN’s, Jim Acosta.

Or Yamiche Alcindor of PBS.

It does not send a reassuring signal to the American People to watch their leader act like a maniac on national television during a crisis.

The people need to know their leader is well-grounded and prepared to handle the duties and responsibilities of his or her office.

Donald Trump has repeatedly shown with these manic displays and other actions these last three years that he is not well suited to his present position.

The people can do something about this when they vote in 228 days.

Hopefully, they will.

https://blogforarizona.net/how-reassuring-the-mad-king-goes-ballistic-on-a-journalist-while-trying-to-comfort-the-american-people/

The latest from Frontline

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/

Shields and Brooks from 3/20/20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fVffy3Oec8

Idea of the Week: Stay Safe and follow all Medical Precautions put forth by State and National Health Officials.

Editorial Cartoons of the Week