March 15, 2020

Trump Claims "We've Stopped" The Spread Of The Virus. "Take It Easy, We're Doing Great." Scientists Expect Between Tens Of Millions And 215 Million Americans Will Be Infected, With A Possible Death Toll As High As 1.7 Million. "I'm Not Concerned, OK?"

Donald Trump said these words on Sunday, March 15:
Take it easy, just relax. We're doing great, it all will pass. ...

Let's put it this way, I'm not concerned, OK? ... You see what's going on. ... We've stopped it. ...

I used to be in the real estate business, as you've probably heard. ... I built beautiful buildings ... The Democrats won't be having rallies, but nobody showed up to their rallies anyway ... My rallies are very big. They're very big rallies ... We have a big one in Tampa ... We had over 100,000 requests for tickets. ...

People have -- you know, we call it cases, how many cases do you have. ... We have very strong emergency powers under the Stafford Act. ... I have it memorized, practically, as to the powers in that act. ... You have to remember, the stock market is still much higher than when I got here. ... I don't want people dying. That's what I'm all about. ...

I think it's going to work out very well for everybody.
What do you say after hearing something like that? What can you say? Trump's news conference was a dung heap of nonsense and lies, when he wasn't praising himself for doing such a great job (but those were lies, too). He also had no clue how many deaths there have been in the US.

On a day numerous American cities announced severe and unprecedented restrictions, as the cases and deaths from Covid-19 increased drastically around the world, Donald Trump again showed that it is impossible to over-estimate what a clueless, classless, uncaring and uncomprehending moron he is, has been, and always will be.

"The country of 350,000,000 people has next-to-zero tests because I deliberately refused to make them a priority over two months ago and thus allowed this virus to spread wildly as I lied every day and insisted it was merely a plot to bring me down, but, hey, now that things have gotten completely out of control, take it easy, just relax. It's gonna work out great for everybody! Well, not the dead people (blame Obama for that), but everybody else."

On January 22, 2020, when Trump first publicly mentioned the virus, its severity, having spread to five countries at that point, was well-known. The Very Stable Genius (with the big abrain) brushed it aside: "It's one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It's going to be just fine."

David Leonhardt of the New York Times writes:
In the weeks that followed, Trump faced a series of choices. He could have taken aggressive measures to slow the spread of the virus. He could have insisted that the United States ramp up efforts to produce test kits. He could have emphasized the risks that the virus presented and urged Americans to take precautions if they had reason to believe they were sick. He could have used the powers of the presidency to reduce the number of people who would ultimately get sick.

He did none of those things.

I've reviewed all of his public statements and actions on coronavirus over the last two months, and they show a president who put almost no priority on public health. Trump's priorities were different: Making the virus sound like a minor nuisance. Exaggerating his administration's response. Blaming foreigners and, anachronistically, the Obama administration. Claiming incorrectly that the situation was improving. Trying to cheer up stock market investors. ...

Now that the severity of the virus is undeniable, Trump is already trying to present an alternate history of the last two months. ...

Trump now seems to understand that coronavirus isn't going away anytime soon. But he also seems to view it mostly as a public-relations emergency for himself rather than a public-health emergency for the country. ...

Around the world, the official virus count has climbed above 142,000. In the United States, scientists expect that between tens of millions and 215 million Americans will ultimately be infected, and the death toll could range from the tens of thousands to 1.7 million.

At every point, experts have emphasized that the country could reduce those terrible numbers by taking action. And at almost every point, the president has ignored their advice and insisted, "It's going to be just fine."
On February 25, Trump said: "There's a very good chance you're not going to die."

Those words were not reassuring then and they are even less so now. As a direct result of Trump's ignorance and indifference, because of his constant lies, many Americans are going to die and those deaths would have been preventable. Many Americans are going to die for one reason only: Trump was afraid of looking as if he did not know everything.

Trump is convinced he's the smartest guy in the world, on any subject, yet he proves every day that he is frighteningly out of his depth regarding all aspects of his job.

In July 2019, Trump could not even sit in a chair for a few minutes and pretend to care as Nadia Murad, a Yazidi women, told of being forced into sexual slavery. When she told Trump her mother and six brothers had been murdered, Trump actually replied: "Where are they now?"

Roger Cohen, a columnist for the New York Times, wrote that when Murad spoke at the White House:
[Trump sat his desk,] an uncomprehending, unsympathetic, uninterested cardboard dummy. He looks straight ahead for much of the time, not at her, his chin jutting in his best effort at a Mussolini pose. He cannot heave his bulk from the chair for this brave young woman. He cannot look at her.

Every now and again, in a disdainful manner, he swivels his head toward her and other survivors of religious persecution. ...

Toward the end of the exchange, Trump asks Murad about her Nobel Prize. "That's incredible," he says. "They gave it to you for what reason?"

"For what reason?" Murad asks, suppressing with difficulty her incredulity that nobody has briefed the president. Nobody can brief this president. It's pointless. He knows everything. "I made it clear to everyone that ISIS raped thousands of Yazidi women," she says.

"Oh really?" says Trump. "Is that right?" ...

I have watched the Murad-Trump exchange several times. It is scary. This president is inhuman. Something is missing. In his boundless self-absorption, he is capable of anything.
Yes. Trump is capable of anything ... except caring for anyone other than himself. He is devoid of humanity and incapable of empathy. The concept of considering the needs of another person - not actually doing anything to alleviate pain or suffering, but merely considering what someone else is going through - is utterly foreign to him. Affection for another person is likewise something he has never felt.

He has no class, no wisdom, no sensitivity. He possesses neither charm nor humility nor self-awareness. Nothing witty or even mildly amusing has ever passed his lips. A joke to him is a crass comment, demeaning insult, or random act of cruelty. He does not laugh; rather, he jeers and mocks. His self-worth is shackled to his addiction to bully everyone around him. And it is the vulnerable and voiceless whom he most enjoys humiliating.

These are the traits that cause people to put Trump in the same category alongside history's other sociopaths. While Trump's crimes may not yet match the atrocities of other evil men, his callousness most certainly does. He has shown beyond all question that he could - and he would - match their heinous acts if only given the chance.

15 comments:

GK said...

There is only one person who I have come across in person or known about publicly, of the thousands, who does not have ONE redeeming quality. None. Zero.

johngoldfine said...

You probably will get jerks saying, "I thought this was a Red Sox fan site. Stick with baseball!"

But, fuck 'em, it's your site, and some of us are capable of not only juggling more than one topic at a time (and enjoying the slight mental exercise that entails) but are also capable of realizing that baseball is part of the world Trump's chaos and wickedness are bringing ever closer to catastrophe.

Anonymous said...

Trump is such an ass.

Unknown said...

STICK TO BASEBALL. SINCE WHEN IS THE JOY OF SOX A POLITICAL SITE. I DONT TUNE IN FOR YOUR POLITICAL OPINION.

Nick Sincere said...

Amen

allan said...

SINCE WHEN IS THE JOY OF SOX A POLITICAL SITE.

September 2, 2003.

I DONT TUNE IN FOR YOUR POLITICAL OPINION.

This is so far beyond politics, but I have no desire to waste even a minute attempting to explain that to a Trump Cultist. Instead, I'll say: "Go Fuck Yourself". (Three big words.)

Kindly TUNE OUT for fucking good this time.

allan said...

Try and wrap your heads around this:

"It feels as though the United States entered a new phase in the coronavirus crisis over the weekend. Although President Trump continued to tout his bungling response to the pandemic as a heroic success, the virus just keeps coming. Based on what we hear from all the experts, this is really just the beginning. ...
Trump, on the other hand, still seems to be living in a bubble. He tried unsuccessfully last week to show his executive prowess with an Oval Office address that fell so flat the stock market dropped by 2,500 points. He was so proud that it regained 1,900 points the following day that he sent around autographed copies of the stock ticker to all his sycophants in the media."

You can see a picture of the autographed stock graph at the link.

allan said...

Various people are tweeting that Trump acted somewhat professional in a news conference today and everyone is speculating what happened to make him seem even semi-coherent. I have no idea, but he did slip back into his normal mode of being, rating his performance as a "10" (out of 10) and sending out racist tweets.

Zenslinger said...

How anyone could read this site and think it against its nature to have social commentary is beyond me.

johngoldfine said...

Trump acting somewhat professional is a very very low bar indeed. If he does not spew racism, misogyny, petty insults, anger, confusion, lies, ignorance, vindictiveness, projection, fantasy, confabulation, conspiracy theories, paranoia, self-glorification--he has cleared that bar. That's not saying much. Most of us, not presidential timber, still do manage to clear it nearly every day.

Nick Sincere said...

I didn't mean amen to the reply above me. I meant amen to the whole post.

allan said...

I'm posting more stuff here, but I did want something here. So if you're interested...

allan said...

1. Trump denied the available WHO coronavirus test kit.
2. The 12-week delay cost American lives.
3. After this delay, Oscar Health launches its testing center locator.
4. Oscar Health is a Kushner company.


Death = $$$

allan said...

STICK TO BASEBALL

I gotta say: this makes me not want to stick to baseball.

GK said...

Allan
Please don't just stick to baseball. Please write whatever is on your mind. For more than 15 years I have read your posts . Disagreed with some, agreed with a lot of them, but never felt that need to tell you what to do. Please sign me up If you need a designated yeller against fucking assholes. These are the kind of people who are posting videos of them in social media licking airplane toilet seats.