Coronavirus: The Truth

The fatality rate for those over 80 is 13%. The virus has a long incubation period (up to 14 days) where you are contagious but are not yet ill, and 25% never show symptoms. Many who get sick are never tested. Many who died were never tested and are thus not in the official death toll.

There is a severe shortage of tests and PPE. Health care workers who deal with COVID-19 are very short on supplies. FEMA is intercepting and confiscating states' orders for supplies. (Colorado ordered 500 ventilators; 400 were seized, and Trump gave a GOP senator credit for the 100 he let Colorado have, saying that it was the Senator's personal plea to him that resulting in Colorado getting those 100.) Apparently, your governor has to be nice to Trump before he will let you have ventilators. Remember, Trump decided that there should be a 50-state bidding war for supplies instead of a coordinated federal effort.

Those empty parking lots at hospitals are mostly because no visitors are allowed, and elective procedures have been postponed. Trump claims WHO kept silent. But December 31 of last year, there were 15 U.S. officials embedded at WHO with six others there assisting and two assisting remotely, all working on COVID-19. Senior administration officials also consulted with WHO throughout the crisis, including the HHS Secretary, CDC officials, and NIH officials, including Anthony S. Fauci and many others. Trump is playing the blame game to deflect criticism.

Per The Washington Post, Trump was accusing the World Health Organization of "covering up the spread of the coronavirus" and failing to "share information in a timely and transparent fashion." He declared he was cutting off funding for the world’s public health body in the middle of a pandemic.

Trump later called the WHO a "tool of China" and declared, “There’s something going on” at the WHO “that’s very bad,” and "I have a feeling they knew exactly what was going on.” [Fuck Your Feelings, as Trumpists say.]

The cutting off of WHO's major source of funding comes just as the virus bears down on less-developed countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Central and South America, and South and Southeast Asia. So not only are American's dying because of Trump's lies and delays, but his lies will be killing people globally.

Russia is sending us supplies, half of which are a "donation." What will that end up costing us?

I realize that conspiracy theories are so much more attractive than the truth. And to most Trumpists, the truth does not matter. Trump exemplifies their attitudes about strong leaders and hatred of other races, and that is enough for them. They have a cognitive bias against truth; Trump's cult cannot be reasoned with. So I will understand if you continue to blame liberals and promote made-up conspiracy theories.

By the way, how's Trump's promise for cheaper, better healthcare that will cover everyone coming along? Or Jared's plans for Middle East Peace? Is Jared's background in real estate and Ivanka's merchandising experience helping them with their work on the Coronavirus Task Force? Maybe we should assign them instead to the Space Force.

Washington Post, April 18, 2020:  Opinion: Trump tells a damnable and murderous lie

Would Biden Be Able To Handle A Pandemic?

Fox & Friends Weekend' host Pete Hegseth talking with the regular hosts at Fox & Friends:
"Biden makes it clearer by the day that he could not handle the management of a pandemic like this."
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Oh, yes. Trump is so much better equipped. All he needs to do is to shove responsibility onto others, blame and denigrate others, praise himself, and lie more than Kellyanne Conway. Then he can wipe his hands and be secure in the knowledge that he has handled the crisis by acting presidential as he has defined the term over the last three years.

Biden would have to listen to health experts, intelligence services, governors and mayors, economic advisors, his Cabinet, people who could coordinate a global response and advise him as to what other countries are doing.

He would consult with legal experts who know what he can and cannot do, and with heads of his disaster response agencies such as FEMA. He would listen to his pandemic response team who would be part of the National Security Council.

Biden would also decide how to be an example of how people should behave during a large-scale contagion. He has to give people hope while at the same time making sure that people are kept informed as to what exactly the situation is and what is happening.

Biden would have a much tougher time than Trump. It's clear who we would want leading us in a pandemic like this.

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So Fox and Friends and their guest watch two hours of Trump at the podium for what is supposed to be the coronavirus briefing. They watch a man who cannot even handle reporters' questions without becoming angry and insulting, telling the reporters that they should be nice and ask nice questions and praise what he is doing, all without answering the questions. 

They see a man who lies constantly and makes up stuff. Who, instead of letting the professionals at the coronavirus briefing answer questions about the virus and the pandemic, continually put out misinformation that others must then try to correct. A president who tries to profit off the crisis by touting a dangerous and unproven quack cure that he and his family have a financial stake in.

Fox and Friends admire a man who wrongly claims absolute and total authority and who says that he will be issuing a paper on that (his proofs never materialize). Trump is someone who constantly attributes unnamed people with praise for himself, how he has saved lives and handled everything perfectly. On almost any issue he will say that the experts can't believe how much he knows. Or Trump tells us unnamed people have told him how wrong his enemies are. When challenged on facts he will sometimes say, "That's what I was told." Trump continually politicizes the issues and insults Democrats.

Biden talks about the federal government issuing guidelines, not orders, and they think he is doing a 180. Fox and Friends and their guest conclude that the racist idiot at the podium is handling the crisis just fine and that Biden hasn't a clue.

Would Biden flee north if he had to deal with a pandemic? Not unless he is dragging Trump's ass across the border for the Canadians to deal with.

Link to Fox & Friends bizarre rant

Our US Government, Trump, And COVID-19

The coronavirus has been renamed by Trump as "the Chinese Virus." His administration is now following the organizational principles and methods as listed in the dystopian novel "1984." Our current President, Donald "The Don" Trump, demonstrating the transparency and accountability and ethical standards of the Republican Party and its leader. 

Our president is a self-professed authority on viruses but doesn't know the difference between a virus and a bacterium. He is a braggart who insists on heading the Coronavirus daily informational briefings to deliver self-praise, accusations, denials, massive misinformation, admonishments, threats, insults, assignments of blame (to anyone but himself), alternate histories, racism, and propaganda.

Who, at these briefings, also gives repeated endorsements of a dangerous "cure" that has not been shown to work and which he and his family have monetary interests in. "What have you got to lose?" he asks, ignoring the fact that his cure is more likely to kill or harm than the virus itself. 

Who brags about his viewership ratings for the briefings on a pandemic that is killing tens of thousands of Americans. Who is more concerned about the economy than the dangers to the public. Who accuses healthcare workers of stealing supplies instead of admitting that there is a shortage of supplies. 

Trump is a person who does not understand what free speech means, what his duties under the constitution are, what bipartisanship is, what the meaning is of separation of powers and co-equal branches of government, what the limits on his "absolute" power are, what the role of advisors and experts is (especially as he thinks he is more knowledgeable), nor what responsibility and accountability mean. 

He is a person who gives disjointed, rambling and incoherent interviews, and who has trouble spelling and sometimes speaking. Who calls the press, "The enemy of the people," and declares that they should be nice and be positive and not ask the tough questions that are an integral part of their role as journalists in a "free" democracy. 

Trump, a man who admires and seeks to emulate dictators of authoritarian regimes. Who repeatedly spreads lies and hate and personal attacks on his Twitter account, the account that his administration has denoted as Official White House Correspondence. 

An ignorant man whose every falsehood is restated or spun or justified by his staff, who even go so far as to try to alter public postings or records to accommodate his lies. A man who continuously denies saying or doing things even when there are video and audio proofs of his actions. 

Who retaliates against anyone who disagrees with him or who tries to reveal his schemes and misdeeds. Trump, the President of the United States, seeking immunity from consequences and accountability.

Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States. A psychopathic narcissist with a cult following.

R.I.P. GOP? Don't Count On It

2008 - RIP GOP (Stock Market crash, Housing Market crash). Obama elected president. Then followed two years of Sen. Mitch McConnell's "Just Say No" campaign to make Obama a one-term president.

In March of 2010 the Republican health care plan, RomneyCare rolled out nationwide as the ACA. Not a single Republican voted for it (despite 170+ changes that they insisted on), and it was derided as a socialist scheme they called ObamaCare. In the fall 2010 elections Republicans ran on the platform that the Democrats could not fix the economy and that the GOP was the answer.

The GOP was revived in the House and Senate and spent the next 6 years trying to kill the ACA and trying to hamstring every effort to revive the economy while blaming it on Obama.

Obama spent those six years overcoming the GOP's continued efforts to block everything they could while continuing with McConnell's "Just Say No" campaign. Yearly deficits went from $1,413 billion in 2009 down to $585 b in 2016.

Trump's first year the deficit went up to $665 b. Last year's deficit was up to $987 b. 2020's deficit had been projected to be $1,083 b, but will now be much, much higher. The Coronavirus Relief Bill already passed will mostly benefit wealthy corporations and the 1%.

The GOP will be telling all sorts of lies in the next election, and even if they lose (Democratic fraud!), their spinmasters will make sure the GOP party is revived.

So, You Want To Write-in Bernie's Name On November 3rd?

You can protest and try to change things all you want before and after the election. But if you think a write-in vote in the general election on November 3rd will succeed as a form of protest, you are kidding yourself. On election day it comes down to two choices. Republican or Democrat. Are you really going to throw your vote away and let the Antichrist (religious or not, it's an apt moniker) win another term?

If Biden wins the nomination, a write-in vote (or a vote for the Green party) in November results in Rep +0 Dem +0. A vote for Biden results in Rep +0 Dem +1. See how that works? Might as well stay home and let Republicans win the election; they rely on fewer Dem votes to stay in power. Vote for Bernie in the primaries; vote for the nominee in November. Like it or not, we have a two-party system in national elections.

Biden is definitely not my preference. He is Republican Lite and who knows what else. But he is not a narcissistic psychopath with delusions of grandeur and a willingness to start a war as a distraction. Don't let the antichrist win.

COVID-19 - Spare Me Tears About Your Constitutional Rights

From an internet post:

In the beginning ... Give me liberty, or give me death.

Now ... Give me liberty unless there's a virus with a 98-99% recovery rate, then strip me of my freedoms, my job, my income, my constitutional rights, free speech and put me under house arrest.

98% recovery rate for COVID-19? [Update — the fatality rate is estimated to be 2-3%. This may be undercounted because there are many deaths where testing for COVID-19 was never done.] What is 2% of 331,000,000? 6,620,000 people. With a disproportionate number among people who already have respiratory problems (including COPD) or diminished immune systems (including the very young whose systems are not yet fully functional).

In some places in the world, the fatality rate is closer to 10%. Could we get to that figure if the medical system is overwhelmed (even more than now) and rendered useless? At what point do you think martial law should be imposed? 100,000 deaths? 1,000,000 deaths?

This, despite Our Fearless Leader's pronouncement, is not a bacteria, has never been a bacteria, and will not respond to any antibacterial drugs. This is a virus. Viruses are why there are vaccinations. To train the immune system before the real thing comes along.

Well, we don't have a vaccine, and we probably won't have one until next year. But go ahead and spread it to everyone you know. Go to those churches where people have gotten sick despite the proclaimed shield of faith.

I could go on and on about the lost months where little was done, or how having a 50-state bidding war for supplies is insane, but this is about personal responsibility and social responsibility. This is not a judgment from God, a punishment for not making people of different sexes marry only people of the same sex, a deity's wrath for recognizing women as human beings and not property, and it is not because men don't let their beards grow as was commanded in the Old Testament.

This is a virus. Blaming people or animals or laboratories or faiths, and naming it after the country of origin, does not change the current situation by one iota. Politicizing it only endangers people and encourages racist attacks on people who had absolutely nothing to do with its creation or its spread. Asking governors to kiss someone's ring before their state will be granted supplies is insulting, demeaning, dictatorial, and delusional.

But go ahead and cry about rights. While you are at it, go ahead and question why the coronavirus relief package is overwhelmingly a giveaway to corporations to the tune of trillions while precious little is there for people who have lost jobs and don't have an income and can't even get extended unemployment if they are lucky enough to qualify.

What's the verdict? 200,000 dead, or 6 million dead? A coordinated response or a 50-state scramble to figure out what to do and how to get supplies that every other state needs? Stay-at-home or go on spring break and spread far and wide the virus that has no known cure (quack cures for quick bucks don't count)?

This is not influenza, or the flu as it more commonly called. This is worse. This is at least 10 times worse. Up to 25% of people are contagious without ever showing symptoms. If you want to spread COVID-19, go ahead. Just keep the hell away from me.