White House downplays COVID-19 messaging to open business faster

Administration's efforts to minimize talk of COVID-19 don't minimize its effects.

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[DarthSlack]

I'm growing more and more pessimistic about about Biden's chances in the fall.

I'm so tired of this narrative that Trump is bulletproof. Yes, his presidency is norm breaking, but he's not a warlock, and he can't actually bend reality. His base is a minority that doesn't have the numbers. We're entering at the very least a serious recession. Economic collapse doesn't get you reelected.

He won election on essentially a fluke and a technicality. His approval numbers have been shit. The rally around the flag poll bump he got? Was historically minor compared to any other remotely similar incident (see W after 9/11 for instance). The country as a whole doesn't like him. And right now what they really want is good leadership in a crisis, which Trump wouldn't know how to do if he tried.

The polls have him losing to Biden. Biden, the candidate that nobody is excited about but who could potentially deliver the Senate by being more moderate. That would be huge.

If you're a progressive or believe in science the realistic path to positive change in things you care about is way more likely with Biden and a Democratic Senate than Bernie and a GOP Senate. The whole package matters more than the President.

Is anything certain? Fuck no. People better get their asses to the polls (by which I mean probably mail that envelope from home). But let's lose this mopey Eeyore attitude. Biden doesn't excite me either, but I'm voting for him, and so are a shit ton of other people who might not be excited either. And if he really can help flip the Senate? I'm excited.

Presidents aren't kings or godmakers. Trump might wish otherwise, but it remains true. A competent government doesn't need a magical savior to run it all, someone who can simply appoint competent people, listen to the experts, and have Congress back them up will make up for a ton of issues.

Find that positive energy if you want change, complaining and assuming the worst just encourages defeat.

If Biden wins it will be because of Trump massively fucking up, not because he's increasing turnout or motivating people himself. He won't deliver the Senate or any of that nonsense, if the Dems win the Senate with Biden then they could win it with any warm body.

And then we'll have Biden as a warm body in the oval office; a majority of warm democratic bodies in the house; and a majority of democratic warm bodies in the senate.

This sounds like a win.

Sure, until you consider the country could actually achieve more good with several other candidates. Biden is a terrible candidate. He's Kerry 2004, and might end up the same way, with a country fucked over by the illusion that electability is something that can be decided without already having had the general election.

Were you paying any attention? Like at all? There were several other candidates. Names like Warren. Klobuchar. Buttegieg. Sanders.

Guess what? Democrats voted in overwhelming numbers for the one named Biden. None of the others could attract voters. What do you want? Some magic vote fairy to come sprinkle pixie votes and nullify whatever choice real live breathing Democrats made?

Grow up. And if you can't manage that at least don't carry Putin's water for him.

 

[DarthSlack]

They're afraid that messaging from the CDC will scare people into staying home and hurt the economy, so instead they take a course of inaction that will see many more dead which will also scare people into staying home and hurt the economy.

Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.

Trump's desperate. Trump's desperate and stupid. And now he's fired all his bullets.

For his entire life, Trump got his way be behaving like a complete ass. That, combined with his money, allowed him to do whatever he pleased. Up until now if the news had headlines he didn't like, he just threw a brand new temper tantrum or raped the Constitution a little harder and the topic changed to the new outrage. Rinse, lather, repeat. And the press mostly went along with the outrage of the day because it was a money maker. It kept the clicks coming.

Not now.

Now, no matter what Trump does, the topic stays the same. He can throw all the tantrums he wants. He can ratchet the dictator behavior up to 11 and it doesn't work. The press now have a story that's bigger and scarier than Trump, and he can't do a damn thing about it.

Trump silencing experts? Stupid and inevitable because the story is no longer about Trump. Just ignore the sideshow and wait for November. If we live that long.

 

[DarthSlack]

They're afraid that messaging from the CDC will scare people into staying home and hurt the economy, so instead they take a course of inaction that will see many more dead which will also scare people into staying home and hurt the economy.

Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.

Trump's desperate. Trump's desperate and stupid. And now he's fired all his bullets.

For his entire life, Trump got his way be behaving like a complete ass. That, combined with his money, allowed him to do whatever he pleased. Up until now if the news had headlines he didn't like, he just threw a brand new temper tantrum or raped the Constitution a little harder and the topic changed to the new outrage. Rinse, lather, repeat. And the press mostly went along with the outrage of the day because it was a money maker. It kept the clicks coming.

Not now.

Now, no matter what Trump does, the topic stays the same. He can throw all the tantrums he wants. He can ratchet the dictator behavior up to 11 and it doesn't work. The press now have a story that's bigger and scarier than Trump, and he can't do a damn thing about it.

Trump silencing experts? Stupid and inevitable because the story is no longer about Trump. Just ignore the sideshow and wait for November. If we live that long.

I have programmed my animatronic replacement skeleton to haul my dead ass to the polls and vote anyway. Corpse-me will vote for Biden.

Seems fair. I mean, you have to either be a zombie or have had your brains eaten by zombies to vote for Trump.

 

[DarthSlack]

I don't look forward to hearing from people like you about how it's my fault other people chose a bad general election candidate when we're facing four more years of Trump, but I have a sinking feeling it's coming.

So carrying Putin's water it is I guess.

 

[DarthSlack]

I don't look forward to hearing from people like you about how it's my fault other people chose a bad general election candidate when we're facing four more years of Trump, but I have a sinking feeling it's coming.

So carrying Putin's water it is I guess.

"This guy can clearly see Biden is a bad candidate and isn't afraid to say it... he must be a Russian bot."

You know what I can see? That you're so fucking full of yourself that you don't understand what's right in front of you. The things you want to see like decent health care? If Trump gets another 4 years you can kiss it goodbye.

Forever.

Because in 4 years Trump and Moscow Mitch will have so packed the courts with brain-dead toadies that any law benefiting someone not a Trump donor will be declared unconstitutional. Voting for anyone other than a Republican will either be illegal or impossible. Women's rights will be entirely confined to being barefoot and pregnant. Evangelical religious education will be mandatory in public schools.

Science will be defunded.

Putin wants all of that because that means the US is in worse shape than Russia. The main Russian adversary has been removed from play. Putin gets to do exactly what he wants.

So yeah, you spouting off about how Biden isn't 10000000000000% perfect is helping that agenda. You may not be a Russian bot, but you are carrying their water for them.

So unless you want the Idiocracy to continue, sit down, shut the ever living fuck up about Biden and vote for Democrats. Everywhere, all the time.

 

[DarthSlack]

Because in 4 years Trump and Moscow Mitch will have so packed the courts with brain-dead toadies that any law benefiting someone not a Trump donor will be declared unconstitutional.

You know, in all this, I haven't seen anybody point this out: Aren't most of the Supreme Court Judges kinda old too? If Trump insists that the Supreme Court re-opens without any social distancing measure, he may end up killing all the work put into electing conservative judges, quite literally...

The Supreme Court never really closed and they're now doing hearing via teleconference. And, apparently, with at least one participant joining the proceedings from the comfort of The Porcelain Throne.

And I'll just do a quick aside to point out that those jokes just write themselves.

And from Trumpolini's perspective, he doesn't care if he kills off the Supremes. There's a long line of even worse justices who would quite gladly replace any casualties.

 

[DarthSlack]

Democrats did not vote overwhelmingly for Biden. He still does not have a majority. There are still a lot of primaries ahead. If a lot of people vote for anybody else, say Buttegieg, the convention, or whatever it’s replacement is, is wide open.

You are aware that Buttegieg isn't running anymore, aren't you? And that he, and absolutely every other former candidate for the nomination has endorsed Biden? Apparently not. I mean, damn. That's a seriously long time to have your head up your ass.

I give even odds that Biden doesn’t make it to Election Day, either health, sex allegations, or a rising candidate. Maybe Cuomo or somebody else.

You know, the war on drugs has been a complete clusterfuck, but posts like these tend to make me rethink my opposition. Though maybe it's just oxygen deprivation from having his head where the sun don't shine for too long.

 

[DarthSlack]

Derp. Keep urban centers on lock down, keep the vulnerable safe and quarantined, and let the rest of the country use reasonable protective measures, distancing, masks, etc and get the economy going. We now return you to your regularly scheduled derp.

Protip: Cities are the economy bub. Without the cities, you're not going to get anything going.

 

[DarthSlack]

Derp. Keep urban centers on lock down, keep the vulnerable safe and quarantined, and let the rest of the country use reasonable protective measures, distancing, masks, etc and get the economy going. We now return you to your regularly scheduled derp.

Protip: Cities are the economy bub. Without the cities, you're not going to get anything going.

So small businesses in %80 of the country need to go out of business because %20 of the country like to live stack on top of each other? The New York subway system was a perfect germ spreading tube before this virus. If you wait for that to be safe you will never do anything.

God, you're a thick one aren't you.

Cities have always been the economic engine of any country. It's been that way for millenium.

Besides, opening up rural areas just makes them more vulnerable. Look at Georgia, outsiders flocked in once Georgia opened up.

Wanna take a guess at what they brought with them?

What you clearly don't get is that opening up just brings the second wave sooner. We're not going back to normal, possibly for YEARS. Absent an effective vaccine, the pre-covid economy is dead. The entire hospitality industry has been gutted. Airlines are toast. Restaurants are going to have to rethink everything if they can't seat more than 25% of their capacity. Brick and mortar retail are going to have to limit the numbers of people in the store. Warehouses are going to have to mechanize or cut back on inventory to allow for sufficient worker spacing.

And while all this is happening, anyone with a brain is staying home.

Does that look anything like "normal" to you?

 

[DarthSlack]

Along these lines, there is a report that the Office of Special Counsel has recommended that Dr. Rick Bright - who was demoted from his post at BARDA following complaining about a lack of preparedness for COVID - be reinstated.

That said, the board that is supposed to act on these recommendations has no current seated Senate-confirmed members.

So I'm betting that the Administration will try to bury Dr. Bright even further to pursue these same aims of "burying COVID news".

There is no Senate confirmed board.

Do you get paid based on the number of falsities you post?

I admire your tenacity. No matter how deep the hole you are in, you wield that shovel.

Maybe he needs a new handle?

 

[DarthSlack]

Remember, they want you and your family to die.

Yep. And we can hope the same happens to them with zero remorse about it. Three staffers that work closely with Pence and Trump have tested positive this week. We can hope that both Trump and Pence picked it up from them. Then it'll be (with any luck) just a few more weeks of this horrid administration.

It seems that they must be testing White House staff daily, instead of wearing masks.

It's such a decadent and wasteful use of resources that it bothers me. They sure aren't working to make testing available for anyone not in daily contact with themselves.

The hypocrisy is absolutely staggering. Yes, they have gone from weekly to daily testing at the White House. All for a disease the staff consider FAKE NEWS! It's a truly fine example of "do as I say, not as I do".

And if Covid-19 burns the White House staff to the ground, I would gladly send all of my thoughts and prayers.

 

[DarthSlack]

Did you really just throw a pic I posted back at me?

I admire the cut of your jib.

You posted The Shoveler?

One of us has either had too many adult beverages or not enough. I'm only one jib to the wind, so I'll fire it up.

 

[DarthSlack]

It's as if the lockdown proponents don't get the fact that the ensuing extreme poverty from massive job losses is going to end up killing far more than the virus.

Lockdown proponents talk about this administration's propensity to silence people and bury data. But they don't listen to or even believe the epidemiologists that have stated...all of us are getting this virus sooner or later. All of us. Lockdown just changes the date.

...damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Personally I'd rather have an economy,

That's not on the table, the economy is toast no matter what we do. Multiple industries are going under because people don't feel safe next to other people. Restaurants. Movies theaters. Live performances. Airlines. Hotels. There's no going back to a pre-covid economy. That simply isn't an option even without a lockdown.

and let people determine for themselves if they need to isolate because of pre-existing or vulnerable conditions.

And just what would those vulnerable conditions be? This virus is causing a lot of damage for unknown reasons. Blood clots. Children with serious inflammatory syndrome. Massive lung damage. Genetics probably plays a part but we don't know what genes or mutations are involved. Basically by letting everyone "decide for themselves" we're deliberately sentencing others to death or serious illness. Shouldn't those people also have a say in their own life?

Then to sit at home under lockdown and watch the economy implode.

The economy is imploding no matter what choice we make. Again, a pre-covid economy isn't possible anymore.

Make masks mandatory. Make social distancing mandatory,but don't lockdown and isolate people at home. This virus spreads just as well at home amongst families as it does in public settings.

No, it demonstrably doesn't. Let the virus run loose and it will overwhelm hospitals. Again. We're already seeing excess deaths because of SARS-CoV-2.

All you're advocating is human sacrifice for the sake of an economy that is no longer possible.

 

[DarthSlack]

I’m hearing on good authority that #coronavirus is more rampant in the #WhiteHouse than the public is being told. A very high-ranking individual may have also been impacted! The administration is currently mum on the matter, seeking prayers instead. #COVID19

Interesting week to come.

We've never had an administration whose health was less important to the well-being of the nation. I think we'll be ok.

Despite frantic efforts, White House staff apparently spent the weekend trying to figure out who Miller contracted the virus from - and failed. So there's a really good chance it's already percolating through the cabinet.

#ThoughtsAndPrayers

 

[DarthSlack]

I’m hearing on good authority that #coronavirus is more rampant in the #WhiteHouse than the public is being told. A very high-ranking individual may have also been impacted! The administration is currently mum on the matter, seeking prayers instead. #COVID19

Interesting week to come.

We've never had an administration whose health was less important to the well-being of the nation. I think we'll be ok.

If Trump and Pence have overlapping severe cases that incapacitate them, wouldn't that put Pelosi in charge?

Even if only one is out at a time, it'd severely undermine their position that it's safe to re-open.

Also, wish fulfillment, I'm imagining a bed-ridden Trump calling into FOX news and whining like a baby about how he's never been so ill in his entire life, and feeling like he's going to die, and then making "death-bed" confessions of all the stupid/illegal stuff he's done because he's in too much of a drugged-up feverish stupor to stop himself. Then he recovers, but has no choice but to resign in disgrace due to everything he confessed to.

If they're both stricken suddenly and completely incapacitated, maybe. Much more likely would be one of them at a time, and even then conferring leadership on someone within the cabinet without explicitly relinquishing power.

If I'm honest, if either gets sick I think it's likely we won't hear about it. Trump will pull a Kim Jong-un and just drop out of sight until things resolve, one way or the other, with aides putting words in his absent mouth.

I'll remind you of Alexander Haig and the proper sequence of succession in case the president is incapacitated.

The one thing that always impressed me about the Founding Fathers is that they had the monumental foresight to predict the need for Haig and include him in the Constitution. Really amazing when you think about it.