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Friday Talking Points -- The Weird Turn Pro

[ Posted Friday, March 13th, 2020 – 16:54 UTC ]

In a surreal bit of coincidence this week, America saw a simultaneous broadcast of President Trump stumbling and lying his way through a primetime Oval Office address, while on another channel former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin danced around in a frilly pink bear costume while rapping "Baby Got Back," which contains the memorable line: "I like big butts and I cannot lie...." Signs of the impending apocalypse? You be the judge. What flashed through our mind was the old quote from Hunter S. Thompson: "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." Or, as we might put it (with a fake Sarah Palin accent): "How's that 'stable genius' stuff workin' out for ya now?"

Yes, that's the type of week it was. The stock market went completely crazy, with wild swings up and down that mostly added up to it sinking like a rock. Before this week, trading had only ever been halted by the "circuit breaker" now built in to it (which is only triggered if the market loses seven percent or more in a single day) once previously, back in the 1990s. This week, it happened again -- twice. The market dropped by more points in one day than it ever had before, and then a few days later it blew through that record and dropped over 2,300 points. That was immediately after Trump addressed the nation (and Palin gyrated on stage).

So, America, the question now is: can we take much more of this Trumpian "winning"? Donald Trump keeps flailing about in an effort to make the coronavirus go away, but the problem is that you can't just insult it on Twitter or make up lies about it and everyone's going to forget about it. That's not going to work, as we've already seen.

Trump, of course, is only concerned with how this affects Trump. He is setting the worst possible example, since he's now been in contact with at least two people who later tested positive and yet Trump not only refuses to self-quarantine, he gave a press conference today where he made a point of shaking everyone's hand as they came up to the podium. One executive tried to get him to "bump elbows" instead, but that was after Trump had already shaken the guy's hand once. Trump has also refused to be tested for the coronavirus so far, and didn't exactly instill confidence when asked about it directly. There were lots of doctors in the White House, he responded, and he'd probably get tested at some unspecified future point once they worked it all into the scheduling. In other words: the most powerful person in the country, with a full staff of multiple doctors tasked only with monitoring the president's health cannot get tested right away. That sure sends a message to everyone else, who doesn't have a full medical staff at their beck and call, on how long it'll likely be before they'll be able to get tested.

But it's not just tone-deafness, it's out-and-out lies coming from Trump. Wednesday, while reading a speech off a TelePrompTer -- not ad-libbing in any way -- Trump said the following, to explain his new travel ban on Europe (except for the two countries where he owns golf courses, of course):

To keep new cases from entering our shores, we will be suspending all travel from Europe to the United States for the next 30 days. The new rules will go into effect Friday at midnight. These restrictions will be adjusted subject to conditions on the ground. There will be exemptions for Americans who have undergone appropriate screenings and these prohibitions will not only apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo, but various other things as we get approval. Anything coming from Europe to the United States is what we are discussing.

As Salon snidely put it: "The White House said the president 'misspoke' when he read the prepared statement from his TelePrompTer verbatim." Trump later had to walk this back himself, on Twitter:

Please remember, very important for all countries & businesses to know that trade will in no way be affected by the 30-day restriction on travel from Europe. The restriction stops people not goods.

No wonder Wall Street panicked. Trump obviously doesn't have a clue about what to do next or even what he's attempting to do right now. Trump also promised: "Earlier this week I met with the leaders of health insurance industry who have agreed to waive all co-payments for coronavirus treatments, extend insurance coverage to these treatments and to prevent surprise medical billing." This was also a lie. The insurance companies quickly pointed out that they had agreed to cover coronavirus testing, but not actual treatment. As Bernie Sanders has been pointing out for quite a while now, health insurance that doesn't cover the cost of being treated for a pandemic is completely worthless. Medicare For All isn't sounding like such a bad idea anymore, to put it bluntly.

During today's press conference, Trump also simultaneously tried to blame the Obama administration for Trump's poor response to date (spoiler: Trump is laughably wrong about this), while expressing astonishment that the Trump administration had eliminated a White House position for someone to prepare for pandemics, way back in 2018. Trump, of course, had nothing to do with it, according to Trump, and this was apparently the first he had heard of it. That shows how hopelessly out of touch Trump is on the subject of preparedness, obviously.

To date, the response to the coronavirus crisis has been haphazard, at best. Since there has been zero leadership from the White House, private entities have been the ones making the tough decisions. One professional sports league after another has announced cancellations of events, games, and even whole seasons. The entertainment industry is also shuttering its doors, one by one. Broadway went dark. Theme parks are closing. Movies delay their releases. Shows are no longer taped "before a live audience." Again, since the federal government is providing absolutely no guidance, state and local governments have stepped in to announce bans on gatherings of crowds and cancellation of school terms. But again, this has all been rather random, since nobody is at the helm of the response efforts. The vacuum of leadership becomes more obvious each and every day.

Throughout the whole crisis, the one constant is that the entire federal government's medical apparatus seems to have learned one valuable lesson: always stroke Trump's ego as much as possible -- fit it into every other sentence, if you can. The fawning praise heaped upon Trump by people who really should know better smacks of a North Korean-style cult of personality more than anything else. The Dear Leader can't possibly be wrong about anything, even when he is. When in doubt, praise his "tremendous leadership," just for good measure. And, of course, shake his hand when he offers it, even though he's had contact with two infected people in the last few days.

Of course, the GOP being the GOP, Trump's not the only one out there spouting nonsense. Matt Bevin, who was recently got kicked out of the governor's office by the good people of Kentucky, tweeted:

BREAKING NEWS:

Chicken Little has just confirmed that the sky IS indeed falling...

Everyone is advised to take cover immediately and to bring lots of toilet paper with them when they do so...

The Kentucky Democratic Party tweeted right back at him:

Area unemployed man logs on to Twitter.

There's also a new blame game coming from the top down as well, and that is to use the label "the Chinese virus" or "the Wuhan virus." In Trump's primetime speech he called it a "foreign virus." We have no idea why they're even attempting to do this, unless it just feeds into the rampant xenophobia Trump loves to stir up. Today, we saw two headlines right next to each other on Politico -- "Trump Aides Pound On China. Health Experts Say: Please Stop." and "Chinese Businessman To Donate 500,000 Test Kits And 1 Million Masks To The U.S." In other words, while Trump is desperately trying to put all possible blame on China, one of their citizens is doing more for the American public than the president of the United States has yet managed to do. The going is definitely getting weird, folks.

One other story that hasn't gotten much attention yet is downright bizarre. From Reuters came the following jaw-dropper:

The White House has ordered federal health officials to treat top-level coronavirus meetings as classified, an unusual step that has restricted information and hampered the U.S. government's response to the contagion, according to four Trump administration officials.

The officials said that dozens of classified discussions about such topics as the scope of infections, quarantines and travel restrictions have been held since mid-January in a high-security meeting room at the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), a key player in the fight against the coronavirus.

Staffers without security clearances, including government experts, were excluded from the interagency meetings, which included video conference calls, the sources said.

"We had some very critical people who did not have security clearances who could not go," one official said. "These should not be classified meetings. It was unnecessary."

The sources said the National Security Council (NSC), which advises the president on security issues, ordered the classification. "This came directly from the White House," one official said.

So much for transparency. Trump probably classified these meetings so America wouldn't have to learn how woefully unprepared he was for this crisis, and how Trump and his gang of merry men and women absolutely squandered weeks and weeks and are only now even beginning to ramp up the response we really should have seen from the very start. But America can take solace from the fact that Sarah Palin now knows all the words to "Baby Got Back," we suppose. The weird have indeed turned pro.

 

Most Impressive Democrat Of The Week

You may have never heard her name before, and you may have missed this in the news, but one Democratic member of the House of Representatives more than earned her salary this week. She accomplished an amazing feat, which was summed up in a headline from the Arizona Republic: "How Rep. Katie Porter, at a coronavirus hearing, may have saved your life." George Takei weighed in, too, on Twitter: "Katie Porter is the hero we need. She is astonishing here."

So what did she do that was so astonishing? Here's how the Washington Post reported it (apologies for the length of the excerpt, but it really is worth reading in full):

Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) did the math.

Like a host of The Price Is Right, Porter asked a Department of Health and Human Services official to guess what it would cost for an uninsured American to receive a coronavirus test, itemizing everything from the initial flu test to the expensive emergency room visit. She tallied up the total cost on a whiteboard: an estimated $1,331 out of pocket.

She turned to Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and quickly transformed her demeanor from an amiable game-show host into a formidable principal doling out discipline.

"Doctor Redfield," she asked, "do you want to know who has the coronavirus and who doesn't? Not just rich people, but everybody who might have the virus?"

It was the beginning of a relentless line of questioning from Porter that, in just five minutes, would pry a promise out of Redfield to ensure that coronavirus testing would be free for all Americans. The stunning exchange between the doctor and lawmaker, during a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing, led many to credit Porter with potentially saving lives amid the federal government's uneven response to the pandemic, calling her "brilliant" and a "hero."

"How many lives did Katie Porter save today using a whiteboard, a bull---- detector, and an ability to retain focus?" television producer Hart Hanson wrote on Twitter, linking to a video of Porter's questioning that has since been viewed nearly 20 million times.

. . .

Porter was additionally worried about a financial barrier: that uninsured or underinsured Americans would forgo seeking testing out of fear of the medical costs.

In five minutes, Porter sought to dismantle that barrier altogether.

She began grilling Redfield by pointing to a federal statute that gives the CDC director the power to "authorize payment for the care and treatment of patients subject to medical examination, quarantine, isolation, and conditional release." The existing statute, Porter argued, meant that the federal government should be able to pay for everyone's coronavirus tests without needing any new legislation.

"Doctor Redfield, will you commit the CDC right now to using that existing authority to pay for diagnostic testing free to every American, regardless of insurance?" she asked.

"Well," he replied, "I can say we're going to do everything to make sure everybody can get the care they -- "

Porter interrupted him: "Nope, not good enough. Reclaiming my time."

She asked him the same question again, this time more sternly, more impatiently.

"What I'm going to say is," Redfield responded, "I'm going to review it in detail with the CDC and the department."

"No," Porter shot back. And again: "I'm reclaiming my time."

At that point, Porter said she and two colleagues had already sent a letter to HHS seeking responses by Wednesday about how the agency planned to tackle insurance issues with coronavirus testing -- and the agency had already blown that deadline. Now, she said, he still wasn't giving an answer.

So she asked Redfield a third time: "Will you commit to invoking your existing authority under 42 CFR 71.30 to provide coronavirus testing for every American regardless of insurance coverage?"

"What I was trying to say," Redfield tried again, "is that CDC is working with HHS now to see how we operationalize that."

Disappointment flushed over Porter's face, as she said he hoped that response would "weigh heavily" on him.

"Doctor Redfield," she said, "you don't need to do any work to 'operationalize.' You need to make a commitment to the American people so they come in to get tested. You can operationalize the payment structure tomorrow."

And with that, the doctor waved a white flag.

"I think you're an excellent questioner," he said, "so my answer is yes."

"Excellent," Porter responded. "Everybody in America hear that? You are eligible to go get tested for coronavirus and have that covered regardless of insurance."

Now, this has not become reality quite yet, of course. But Porter forced a solemn promise from the federal government to pay for coronavirus testing for anyone regardless of whether they have insurance or not. And, as she later pointed out:

The CDC director made that commitment today under oath. He was sworn in at the start of that hearing, and my job as a Congress member is to ask those tough questions and to extract those promises. That was a promise he made to the American people, and I intend to hold him to it.

As we said, Representative Porter more than earned her salary this week, since this is the type of thing we should expect from our elected officials. If she does succeed in holding the government to this promise, she may save lives as a direct result. A lot of lives. That's pretty good for a five-minute question period, we have to admit.

For demanding an answer and refusing to traffic in gobbledygook, Representative Katie Porter was easily the Most Impressive Democrat Of The Week this week. While Republicans are busy showering Trump with unearned praise for his "leadership," people like Porter are the ones who are actually forcing the issues that Trump and his Keystone Kops haven't gotten around to yet. For doing so, we heartily thank her for a job well done.

[Congratulate Representative Katie Porter on her House contact page, to let her know you appreciate her efforts.]

 

Most Disappointing Democrat Of The Week

For the second Tuesday in a row, Bernie Sanders disappointed millions of his supporters by not doing nearly well enough in the primaries. Sanders lost Michigan to Joe Biden, which may be the beginning of the end of his campaign. He seems to realize this, and while he's sticking around at least until the next round of primaries next week (mostly so he gets to debate Joe Biden one-on-one), he knows the end is in sight for his chances of winning the Democratic nomination for president. Which, as we said, disappoints many Democrats out there.

Oh, that brings up a related matter, because the Northern Mariana Islands are voting tomorrow. So we'll just stick in our prediction here, but sadly for Sanders we are going to bet that Joe Biden wins this far-flung primary, too.

[Contact Senator Bernie Sanders on his Senate contact page, to let him know what you think of his actions.]

 

Friday Talking Points

Volume 565 (3/13/20)

We are pre-empting our talking points this week in order to bring you a partial timeline of what President Trump has been saying about the coronavirus crisis over the past few months. This is only a partial list, cribbed from a much more extensive one which ran in the Washington Post this week. But it's representative of Trump's thinking, and it is really all any Democrat needs to create their own talking points to highlight Trump's head-in-the-sand thinking and growing desperation about "the numbers."

From the start, Trump begins patting himself on the back, which he continues to do with each and every statement. In his mind, instituting a travel ban from China completely solved the problem, and therefore we should all just stop talking about it. After we all praise his leadership, of course.

Trump is obsessed with the number of coronavirus cases in America and the number of deaths. Unfortunately for him, these numbers did not quickly go down "to zero," but continue to climb daily. As of this week, he's stopped talking about the number of cases altogether, because it is now in the thousands. Which he doesn't want to admit, of course, so he's now only counting deaths, since that number is a lot lower.

At one point, Trump devotes some happy talk to the stock market. The day he tweeted this, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 28,992. The next day it was down over 1,000 points, to 27,912. Yesterday, it closed at 21,200, after the worst one-day point drop in history.

To sum up (pun intended), the numbers are not good for Trump no matter how hard he tries to make them sound rosy. We wrote yesterday about the stark difference between all of Trump's happy talk and how a Democratic president would be responding right now. Because now that the crisis is upon us, we can all see for ourselves how woefully inadequate the current president is. In times of trouble, the only thing on his mind is making himself look good. That's it. That's his only real concern. Not the deaths, not the sickness, not the widespread disruption to the economy and society, but making sure everyone is patting him on the back sufficiently enough for his gargantuan ego. Don't believe me? Here is how our Dear Leader has reacted to this crisis from the beginning, in his own words:

 

Jan. 30:

"We think we have it very well under control. We have very little problem in this country at this moment -- five. And those people are all recuperating successfully. But we're working very closely with China and other countries, and we think it's going to have a very good ending for it. So that I can assure you."

Feb. 2:

"Well, we pretty much shut it down coming in from China.... We can't have thousands of people coming in who may have this problem, the coronavirus. So we're gonna see what happens, but we did shut it down, yes."

Feb. 10:

"I think the virus is going to be -- it's going to be fine."

Feb. 14:

"We have a very small number of people in the country, right now, with it. It's like around 12. Many of them are getting better. Some are fully recovered already. So we're in very good shape."

Feb. 24:

"The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA.... Stock Market starting to look very good to me!"

Feb. 25:

"You may ask about the coronavirus, which is very well under control in our country. We have very few people with it, and the people that have it are... getting better. They're all getting better.... As far as what we're doing with the new virus, I think that we're doing a great job."

Feb. 26:

"Because of all we've done, the risk to the American people remains very low.... When you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero. That's a pretty good job we've done."

Feb. 28:

"I think it's really going well. We did something very fortunate: we closed up to certain areas of the world very, very early -- far earlier than we were supposed to. I took a lot of heat for doing it. It turned out to be the right move, and we only have 15 people and they are getting better, and hopefully they're all better. There's one who is quite sick, but maybe he's gonna be fine."

Feb. 28:

"It's going to disappear. One day, it's like a miracle, it will disappear."

March 5:

"With approximately 100,000 CoronaVirus cases worldwide, and 3,280 deaths, the United States, because of quick action on closing our borders, has, as of now, only 129 cases (40 Americans brought in) and 11 deaths. We are working very hard to keep these numbers as low as possible!"

March 7:

"It came out of China, and we heard about it. And made a good move: We closed it down; we stopped it. Otherwise -- the head of CDC said last night that you would have thousands of more problems if we didn't shut it down very early. That was a very early shutdown, which is something we got right."

March 9:

"So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!"

March 10:

"As you know, it's about 600 cases, it's about 26 deaths, within our country. And had we not acted quickly, that number would have been substantially more."

March 12:

"It's going to go away.... The United States, because of what I did and what the administration did with China, we have 32 deaths at this point... when you look at the kind of numbers that you're seeing coming out of other countries, it's pretty amazing when you think of it."

For the record, there are now over 2,100 coronavirus cases in America, with 48 deaths. But by the time you read this, those numbers will likely be higher.

-- Chris Weigant

 

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Cross-posted at: Democratic Underground

 

83 Comments on “Friday Talking Points -- The Weird Turn Pro”

  1. [1] 
    John From Censornati wrote:

    "Matt Bevin, who was recently got kicked out of the governor's office by the good people of Kentucky, tweeted:

    BREAKING NEWS:

    Chicken Little has just confirmed that the sky IS indeed falling...

    Everyone is advised to take cover immediately and to bring lots of toilet paper with them when they do so...

    The Kentucky Democratic Party tweeted right back at him:

    Area unemployed man logs on to Twitter."

    Just FYI - Bevin (unemployed man who sold pardons) intentionally infected his children with chickenpox by taking them to someone's home where the family's children already had it - a "chickenpox party". Then he bragged about it publicly. I'm sure his offspring will remember him fondly when they get shingles.

  2. [2] 
    nypoet22 wrote:

    @cw,

    has anyone realized yet that covid-19 can be cured with a regular provision of pie? it absolutely could work, and nobody has proven otherwise. since other strategies haven't worked at all, what do we have to lose by trying?

    JL

  3. [3] 
    Michale wrote:

    FPC

    JL

    on the other hand, the opinion you've put forth, that a comparison between obama and professor gill is equally valid as one between trump and professor gill, is contradicted by the overwhelming majority of facts on the subject.

    If you insist on using Professor Gill as an example, it's patently obvious that you have never seen PATTERNS OF FORCE..

    Given the one time we saw Professor Gill speak, there is absolutely NO SIMILARITY between President Trump's speeches and rallies and Professor Gills..

    no need, you're correct - it's not a fact, it's my opinion.

    I didn't say it was a fact.. I said it was not a factual statement.. Meaning your statement (in this case, your opinion) was not factually supported..

    literally thousands of well-documented facts support that opinion, but an opinion it is.

    Yep, that's yer claim.. :D Have yet to hear them, but you DO claim that.. That is factual.. :D

    I am willing to prove that Odumbo's similarities to Hitler are just as "valid" as you think President Trump's similarities to Hitler are..

    But, as I said, you will have to do your part..

  4. [4] 
    Michale wrote:

    FPC

    JL,

    by analogy, it's as if i've gone down a list of twenty diagnostic criteria for major depression, donald has met all of them, and your counter-argument is that it's not a valid diagnosis because obama was sad once or had trouble sleeping one night.

    Although impressive, that is not a valid or accurate analogy..

    I'll just dispense with the analogies and flat out say what you are saying..

    In essence you claim that President Trump share's 30 points of similarity with Hitler and that reflects badly on President Trump's character...

    You further claim that, since Odumbo only shares 20 points of similarity with Hitler, Odumbo is as pure as the driven snow and he simply cannot be compared to Hitler whatsoever in any way, shape or form...

    Such an opinion is ludicrous on it's face and it is patently obvious that the opinion is borne of partisan animosity...

  5. [5] 
    Michale wrote:

    you've no factual leg to stand on, and are relying on rhetoric.

    You haven't GIVEN me any facts TO stand on..

    Give me a characteristic that is exclusive to President Trump and Hitler that is not shared by ANY other American president..

    Until you can do that, we BOTH have nothing but rhetoric...

  6. [6] 
    Michale wrote:

    And, once again..

    The question has to be asked...

    Ya'all are going batshit hysterical crazy because 40 Americans have died from covid-19...

    Yet, **NONE** of you said ANYTHING when 12,269 Americans died under Odumbo's incompetence with the Swine Flu pandemic of 2009...

    So, the *ONLY* logical conclusion is that ya'all really don't care about pandemics or Americans dying..

    ALL ya'all care about is having a nice shiny club to beat President Trump over the head with...

    The facts make this conclusion self-evident...

    Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) did the math.

    Was that the same math that those morons on MSNBC did?? The math where they claimed that Bloomberg could have given every American a million dollars instead of wasting it on his campaign and it would have been the same amount of money??

    Is THAT the kind of math yer talking about?? :eyeroll:

    For the second Tuesday in a row, Bernie Sanders disappointed millions of his supporters by not doing nearly well enough in the primaries. Sanders lost Michigan to Joe Biden, which may be the beginning of the end of his campaign. He seems to realize this, and while he's sticking around at least until the next round of primaries next week (mostly so he gets to debate Joe Biden one-on-one), he knows the end is in sight for his chances of winning the Democratic nomination for president. Which, as we said, disappoints many Democrats out there.

    Oh, that brings up a related matter, because the Northern Mariana Islands are voting tomorrow. So we'll just stick in our prediction here, but sadly for Sanders we are going to bet that Joe Biden wins this far-flung primary, too.

    WOW... THAT's the best you can do for a disappointing Democrat??

    Jeeze, CW.. Yer not even TRYING anymore.. :^D

    For the record, there are now over 2,100 coronavirus cases in America, with 48 deaths. But by the time you read this, those numbers will likely be higher.

    Yea?? Will they get as high as 12,269?? Because that is how many Americans that Odumbo's incompetence killed during the Swine Flu pandemic..

    You remember that?? You remember that you didn't write a single solitary commentary on that...

    But a pandemic that has killed 40 odd Americans?? THAT deserves a weeks worth+ of commentaries??

    Hmmmmmm Well, the numbers don't add up (yunno, that 'math' thing) so it's obvious not out of concern for Americans..

    Hmmmmm What could it be that would cause you to ignore 12,269 Americans dead but have a half dozen+ commentaries when 40-odd Americans die???

    Hmmmmmm That's a toughie...

    Ahhhhhh The 12,000-odd Americans died under a DEMOCRAT President... The Great Democrat Messiah Barack IF YOU LIKE YOUR DOCTOR YOU CAN KEEP YOUR DOCTOR Odumbo....

    The 40-odd Americans died under President Trump...

    THAT explains it... :^/

  7. [7] 
    Michale wrote:

    All of this batshit hysteria from the Democrats does beg the question..

    Do Democrats STILL believe that illegal immigrant criminals should be given free and full healthcare???

  8. [8] 
    Michale wrote:

    For that matter, are Democrats still the Party of Open Borders???

    How many planks of the Democrat Party platform are going to collapse in the wake of all the batshit crazy hysteria???

    Will be interesting to see...

  9. [9] 
    italyrusty wrote:

    Chris, bravo for this week's MIDOW. Rep Porter is the kind of informed, articulate Democrat that the Republican Party fears.
    While the Washington Post article is accurate and valuable reporting, it doesn't capture the absolute evisceration of lost-in-a-fog Dr Redfield with facts - which her office had shared with him, but he couldn't be bothered to inform himself.
    https://www.mediaite.com/tv/katie-porter-drags-cdc-chief-redfield-into-saying-yes-to-free-coronavirus-testing-after-brutal-grilling/

  10. [10] 
    italyrusty wrote:

    It saddens me that the United States had 2 months after the 'total isolation' of Wuhan in which to prepare for the probable arrival of COVID-19. The first cases were reported in Italy on 21 February, so that was an additional alarm - that the Trump administration and state health departments ignored.
    Italy, in contrast to China and Iran, began extensive testing and transparent reporting of the rapid spread of COVID-19. The result was that American airlines suspended flights from Milano (but not Venezia, where there was also an outbreak!) European countries distanced themselves from Italy, both metaphorically and physically, with hundreds of flights cancelled.

    It didn't stop the outbreaks in all of these countries (several of which have also been accused by their citizens of suppressing the true number of cases in a vain hope of avoiding economic impact.)

    The Trump travel ban of a certain subset of European citizens from entering the U S will be equally ineffective. And no one trusts the government 'spokespersons' (except perhaps Dr Fauci).

    Fun Fact: Italy was the only country in Europe to suspend flights from China.

  11. [11] 
    italyrusty wrote:

    COVID-19 has turned even the most rabid 'free market' Republicans into Socialists! Oh my sides!

    'The bill passed with broad, bipartisan support and a final tally of 363-40 with 40 Republicans voting against it and Independent Justin Amash of Michigan voting "present."
    Late in the day on Friday, President Trump Donald tweeted his support for the measure that includes provisions for paid emergency leave and free testing for COVID-19, after Pelosi announced that Democrats had struck a deal with the administration. '
    https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/13/politics/coronavirus-relief-congress/index.html

  12. [12] 
    Michale wrote:

    Rep Porter is the kind of informed, articulate Democrat that the Republican Party fears.

    Facts to support??

    Any facts at all???

    No??

    Yea, that's what I figured..

    Late in the day on Friday, President Trump Donald tweeted his support for the measure that includes provisions for paid emergency leave and free testing for COVID-19, after Pelosi announced that Democrats had struck a deal with the administration. '

    And you object to this??

    So, because President Trump is FOR it, yer AGAINST it..

    Way to go.. Yer Party slavery rules your entire life.. :smirk: :D

  13. [13] 
    italyrusty wrote:

    If I weren't an atheist, I'd pray for a special place in hell for FOX News 'personalities'.
    'Some guests on the channel have openly speculated that those imploring the US to take more action have a political anti-Donald Trump agenda. Others have promoted baseless conspiracy theories.'
    https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/mar/13/fox-news-accused-of-downplaying-coronavirus-as-it-moves-to-protect-staff

    'With an on-air graphic blaring “Coronavirus Impeachment Scam,” the Fox Business host declared that Democrats “care very little for the destruction they are leaving in their wake” and that the massive losses in the stock market are just “political casualties for them.”'
    https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-business-host-trish-regan-unleashes-batshit-rant-about-coronavirus-impeachment-scam

    '“It’s actually the safest time to fly,” said host Ainsley Earhardt on Friday morning during a Fox & Friends segment on air travel during the pandemic. “Everyone I know that’s flying right now, terminals are pretty much dead. Ghost towns. And then the planes — remember back in the day when you had next to you, a seat, possibly, empty, you could stretch out a little more? It’s like that on every flight now.”'
    https://www.mediaite.com/tv/fox-friends-churns-out-insane-misinformation-on-coronavirus/

    And in not to be outdone in the "both sides" sweepstakes, have you met Megyn Kelly?
    'On Thursday morning, Kelly tweeted: "I'm so frustrated right now… that we can't trust the media to tell us the truth without inflaming it to hurt Trump… that Trump has misled so many times we no longer know when to trust his word… that even I as a journalist am not sure where to turn for real info on COVID".'
    https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-51858555

  14. [14] 
    Michale wrote:

    Yunno...

    We wouldn't have to make such a huge run on toilet paper if we would just learn how to use the 3 sea shells...

    :D

  15. [15] 
    nypoet22 wrote:

    In essence you claim that President Trump share's 30 points of similarity with Hitler and that reflects badly on President Trump's character...

    You further claim that, since Odumbo only shares 20 points of similarity with Hitler, Odumbo is as pure as the driven snow and he simply cannot be compared to Hitler whatsoever in any way, shape or form...

    not at all. i claim that donald and adolf are tactically similar, which i have already supported with literally thousands of data points. this makes them tactically similar, and has nothing to do with donald's character. his character is a different issue.

    barry, by contrast, shares perhaps five or six data points with both donald and adolf, which are statistically insignificant and therefore invalid as a basis for comparison. this has no bearing on the purity or impurity of his character either.

    the reason i draw this distinction using professor gill from 'patterns of force' is precisely because you continue to conflate the issues of character and tactics. professor gill believed that he could use the tactical playbook of the nazis and his benign character would protect the ekosians from repeating the horrors of the holocaust. donald seems be making the same mistake as professor gill, and the united states under trump is in a similar position to ekos.

    JL

  16. [16] 
    nypoet22 wrote:

    now you're getting it!

  17. [17] 
    Michale wrote:

    barry, by contrast, shares perhaps five or six data points with both donald and adolf, which are statistically insignificant and therefore invalid as a basis for comparison. this has no bearing on the purity or impurity of his character either

    So, basically, since Odumbo has less data points than Trump, a comparison to Hitler has no relevance.

    The fact that the ONLY difference between Trump and Odumbo is Odumbo has a -D after his name has absolutely no bearing whatsoever. :D

    Remember... *AT* night.. Not LAST night..

    donald seems be making the same mistake as professor gill, and the united states under trump is in a similar position to ekos.

    Yes, that's your opinion...

    But I don't recall President Trump rounding up Zeons and murdering them..

    Do you??

  18. [18] 
    Michale wrote:

    now you're getting it!

    Hmmmmmm Whether DH is "getting it" or not should be solely between him and whomever he is "getting it" from... Eh???

  19. [19] 
    Michale wrote:

    Okay, Star Trek comparisons.

    What was that episode where the two planets fought wars by computer and the casualties showed up voluntarily to be killed?

    A TASTE OF ARMAGEDDON

    Memorable quotes.

    "Sir, there is a multi-legged creature crawling on your shoulder."
    -Spock

    "I said I understand. I did not say I approve"
    -Spock

    That episode should provide many data points that parallel they way citizens supporting the two "warring planets" in our political solar system show up election after election to voluntarily validate the process of them showing up to be slaughtered- even though Data was not in this episode.

    Not surprising, since this episode was from the original series...

  20. [20] 
    Michale wrote:

    There are so many parallels to the Dems in TV shows, movies and even commercials.

    Yes, there are...

  21. [21] 
    Kick wrote:

    Mike
    6

    And, once again..

    The question has to be asked...

    Ya'all are going batshit hysterical crazy because 40 Americans have died from covid-19...

    No one is going "batshit hysterical," but you have spent several weeks prattling on and on and over and over like an idiot stuck on terminal stupid about nobody saying anything about Obama... as if that somehow exonerates Your Orange Worship and his lie after lie after lie and the shitty way in which the Trump administration has handled this entire issue... the misinformation from the same podium, the utter asinine shit that freely flows from the con's lying piehole as he invents bullshit and then contradicts himself and the medical experts in the regular exercises in verbal whiplash.

    Yet, **NONE** of you said ANYTHING when 12,269 Americans died under Odumbo's incompetence with the Swine Flu pandemic of 2009...

    Speaking for myself: Lies. Lies. Lies. You, in point of fact, have no idea what anyone said, and it's hysterical to keep acting as though no one has a life outside of this forum. Additionally, you have no idea what you're talking about when you claim "Odumbo's incompetence." Prove there was incompetence. Good luck. I've got bad news that will come as a shock to no one, but Trump is lying about the Obama administration and their handling of H1N1, and obviously the right-wing echo chamber are lying in their efforts to deflect from current events.

    Meanwhile, the incompetent con artist fool you're defending had ordered his administration to keep the numbers low so as not to harm his chances at reelection -- and other lies too numerous to list, but CW made a good start at it -- lie after lie after lie while something very different was going in under the surface.

    So, the *ONLY* logical conclusion is that ya'all really don't care about pandemics or Americans dying..

    Bullshit. I posted what I referred to as a "public service announcement" on this very forum in order to warn (in my own small way) what I knew was on the way so that the very intelligent people on this board -- notable exceptions noted -- who are quite capable of reading between the lines could do so and prepare themselves:

    Public Service Announcement

    This morning, our government issued warnings that current stocks of necessary medical supplies are predicted to be depleted in 2 days and to prepare to prioritize/delay/cancel medical procedures.

    Not a drill.

    All my best to each of you. XOXOXO

    [Permalink] [Wednesday, February 26th, 2020 at 15:23 UTC]

    That was an absolute fact. While I obviously cannot post confidential information, I did what I could to warn those persons capable of reading between the lines. And what did you do? You rushed to insult me regarding something you knew absolutely nothing about with your standard operational cut-and-paste bullshit, but I digress.

    While our government was issuing warnings about impending medical supply shortages and ramping up to perform surgical triage and cancellations, the signals from the top of the chain were totally the opposite of what was occurring in government hospitals. Trump is obviously a liar and was downplaying what was going on. This country wasn't logistically prepared and still isn't. Full stop.

    Donald Trump: "Anyone who wants a test can get it."

    Lie.

    The facts at the time: The tests from the CDC were faulty, and less than 500 people had been tested at that point. Testing was practically nonexistent.

    ALL ya'all care about is having a nice shiny club to beat President Trump over the head with...

    Quite obviously, there are some of us who care about a whole lot more than that, but anytime anyone posts anything that doesn't fit your worldview, you spew your cut-and-paste right-wing talking points about Obama like a useful idiot and hurl your usual insults toward anyone who won't join you in your worship of the reality game show host pathologically lying con artist busy downplaying the facts on the ground.

    The facts make this conclusion self-evident...

    You wouldn't know a fact if it lived on your face. You're too busy attacking anyone who doesn't genuflect to President Pathological.

    Was that the same math that those morons on MSNBC did?? The math where they claimed that Bloomberg could have given every American a million dollars instead of wasting it on his campaign and it would have been the same amount of money??

    No, which anyone would know if they'd watched the video versus inventing useless straw man arguments wherein they compare a lawmaker to a newscaster. But if you were looking for partisan fools to compare somebody with, a better choice would have been Rush Limbaugh who recently informed the rubes that the coronavirus was the "common cold."

    Yea?? Will they get as high as 12,269?? Because that is how many Americans that Odumbo's incompetence killed during the Swine Flu pandemic..

    Like I said, prove it was incompetence.

    So far, the CDC has estimated (based on weekly influenza surveillance data) that at least 12,000 people have died from influenza between Oct. 1, 2019 through Feb. 1, 2020, and the number of deaths may be as high as 30,000.

    https://www.health.com/condition/cold-flu-sinus/how-many-people-die-of-the-flu-every-year

    So according to your own metric you keep prattling on and on about in your flailing attempts to deflect from current events, Trump's incompetence has managed to kill approximately the same number of Americans in only 4 short months as the entire H1N1 outbreak. That pathetic right-wing talking point makes Fat Orange Lying Bastard seem exponentially inferior in comparison to their constant deflection to Obama.

  22. [22] 
    Michale wrote:

    So far, the CDC has estimated (based on weekly influenza surveillance data) that at least 12,000 people have died from influenza between Oct. 1, 2019 through Feb. 1, 2020, and the number of deaths may be as high as 30,000.

    Since we're not talking about the flu, I wonder why you think this is relevant.

    I could just as easily point out that your Messiah, Odumbo has killed a hundred x more innocent people in cruise missile strikes than President Donald Trump..

    Prove that Odumbo WASN'T incompetent..

    You can prattle on with all your childish insults but facts are facts..

    12,269 Americans died due to Odumbo's incompetence in the Swine Flu pandemic...

    Not a PEEP out of any of ya'all..

    Therefore, sugar.. It's obvious ya'all don't care about Americans dying.. Unless ya'all can use it to beat President Trump over the head with..

    These are the facts that NO ONE has refuted..

    Honey-lips... :D

  23. [23] 
    Michale wrote:

    Bernie Bros warn of ‘massive exodus’ if Democrats nominate Joe Biden

    The Bernie Bros are vowing revenge.

    As the presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders continues to crash and burn, the socialist’s most hard-core supporters are vowing they will never vote for Joe Biden at the ballot box — even if that means handing Trump a second term.

    “We will never – NEVER boost or support Joe Biden or defend his abysmal record and terrible policy positions,” Henry Williams, executive director of The Gravel Institute, told The Post. “We will tell people, as we always have, to vote their conscience and to make decisions based on the interests of all the world’s oppressed people … I do expect a massive exodus from the Democratic Party.”

    Rogers, along with David Oks and Henry Magowan, are the driving forces behind the brief presidential campaign of Mike Gravel, an 89-year-old former Alaska senator who left the race in August. The trio then became enthusiastic Bernie Bros.

    “I don’t know if I could vote for Biden,” said a high-profile local Democratic Socialist. “Biden is just an old white guy who inspires nobody. I sincerely think he will lose the electoral and popular vote and I know I won’t be voting for him in New York.”

    The grumbling from Sanders die-hards is no idle threat. A whopping 12% of them voted for Trump in 2016, according to an analysis by Cooperative Congressional Election Study. That added up to roughly 216,000 voters in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, exit polls showed. Trump’s combined margin of victory in those states was 77,744.
    https://nypost.com/2020/03/14/bernie-bros-warn-of-massive-exodus-if-democrats-nominate-joe-biden/

    Who could have POSSIBLY predicted this would happen!??

    Oh wait.. :D

    I hope you people enjoy saying President Donald Trump for the next 4+ years.. :D

    And hay.. if this convid thing is as serious as ya'all say.. We might have to suspend the US elections in 2024 and keep President Trump in power for a 3rd term.. :D

    Since he's doing such an awesome job on everything and all.. :D

  24. [24] 
    Kick wrote:

    Mike
    30

    Since we're not talking about the flu, I wonder why you think this is relevant.

    Since it's you who keeps bringing up the H1N1 pandemic of 2009 as a metric to deflect from current events, allow me to explain how I nor anyone else on this forum can help you if you are so damn dumb that you don't know that the H1N1 pandemic you keep prattling on about was an outbreak of influenza A... which I guess I had better point out to you is "the flu." I don't wonder why, but please let us all know "why you think this is relevant." [emphasis added]

    I could just as easily point out that your Messiah, Odumbo has killed a hundred x more innocent people in cruise missile strikes than President Donald Trump..

    You needn't explain to anyone on the forum how you "easily point out" things in order to endlessly deflect from relevant current political topics, least of all me.

    You can prattle on with all your childish insults but facts are facts..

    12,269 Americans died due to Odumbo's incompetence in the Swine Flu pandemic...

    Since we're not talking about the flu, I wonder why you think this is relevant. ~ Michale

    Not a PEEP out of any of ya'all..

    More lies and deflection from you about what you can't know won't help in your useful idiot crusade to deflect from what we do know about President Pathological Lying Con Artist Ordered The Numbers Be Kept Low to Protect His Own Ass Donald Trump.

    Therefore, sugar.. It's obvious ya'all don't care about Americans dying.. Unless ya'all can use it to beat President Trump over the head with..

    What you don't know would fill volumes, and what you claim to know would fill quadruple that.

    These are the facts that NO ONE has refuted..

    No one on this forum need refute your lying repetitive exercises in deflection. No one could prove what they've said outside this forum anymore than you could prove they didn't, and you're dumber than a rock if you believe it proves anything since it's quite obvious that no one here posts to please the right-wing dipshit crowd.

    The fact is, you don't know shit, and when anyone tries to post anything factual that doesn't fit your right-wing head-up-your-ass worldview, you whine like a toddler and let loose with your standard lame-ass cut-and-paste circular deflection routine. You know the one... that standard argument of ideology that simply indicates you have nothing in the tank to defend Your Orange Worship because he's a pathological lying sack of shit who's more concerned with keeping the numbers low for his reelection than doing what is necessary to protect the citizens of this country. Full stop.

    Trump fiddle-farted around, lied repeatedly, ordered his administration that the numbers be kept low in order to help his reelection and denied the facts on the ground while Rush Limbaugh was conveniently informing the rubes that the coronavirus was the "common cold." Meanwhile, I personally instructed everyone I know what was coming so they could prepare accordingly -- even to the point of posting a "read between the lines" warning on this very forum -- while you and your right-wing ilk and the Dipshit Donald administration were busily spinning the facts in an attempt to downplay in order to protect President Pathological Lying Sociopath Worried About Reelection... and here we are now in a "national emergency"... "two very big words," according to Trump.

    So contrary to your "ya'all don't care" utter asinine bullshit deflective spew, it's spectacularly obvious who it is that doesn't.

  25. [25] 
    Michale wrote:

    So contrary to your "ya'all don't care" utter asinine bullshit deflective spew, it's spectacularly obvious who it is that doesn't.

    Yep, it is "spectacularly obvious" who doesn't care about dead Americans..

    Ya'all...

    If ya did, you would have said something when all those tens of thousands of Americans were dying under Odumbo..

    NONE of ya'all said a peep..

    So, obviously ya'all don't care about them at all..

    The FACTS are clear...

  26. [26] 
    Michale wrote:

    NONE of ya'all said a peep..

    So, obviously ya'all don't care about them at all..

    The FACTS are clear...

    Because, logically, if you care about dead Americans you would express some concern or sympathy when over 12,000 Americans died due to Odumbo's incompetence..

    Or are you saying that Odumo was competent when he allowed over 12,000 Americans to die???

  27. [27] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:

    To all,

    I would like to wish everyone here well as we muddle through the next few months of this pandemic.

    As long as we all do our part and take care of those around us, I am sure that we, as a planet, will get out on the other side in good shape. And, hopefully, great learning will endure and progress will be made in the aftermath as to how we all go about improving the overall response to things like this. We should, in fact, be expert by now. But, alas ...

    I find the tedious and unenlightening - when not fully despicable - nature of the preponderance of the comments here to be inordinately untenable. They have surely devolved to a point where I want no part of it ...

    In essence you claim that President Trump share's 30 points of similarity with Hitler and that reflects badly on President Trump's character...You further claim that, since [Obama] only shares 20 points of similarity with Hitler, [Obama] is as pure as the driven snow and he simply cannot be compared to Hitler whatsoever in any way, shape or form...Such an opinion is ludicrous on it's face and it is patently obvious that the opinion is borne of partisan animosity...

    Absolutely, positively, unequivocally unfit for this blog.

    I am ever hopeful, though, that this place below Chris's columns can and will change - if for no other reason that to ensure the comments sections of this excellent blog reflect the high quality of the masterfully-written headlining columns.

    And, to Chris … I'll be here whenever you post a new column to enjoy the always enlightening and mostly provocative nature of your thoughtful pieces.

    So, take care all!

    Biden for President!

  28. [28] 
    Michale wrote:

    Absolutely, positively, unequivocally unfit for this blog.

    And yet, the Left Wingers insist on making a Trump/Hitler comparison that has NO BASIS in fact or reality..

    It's only borne of hate and bigotry...

    Ya'all accused the GOP of being racist when they allegedly attacked Odumbo in such a manner..

    Biden for President!

    Sorry, Liz..

    But that just ain't gonna happen..

  29. [29] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:

    Heh.

  30. [30] 
    James T Canuck wrote:

    I suspect gun violence will still take more US lives than this latest pandemic...

    Hmm?

    LL&P

  31. [31] 
    Michale wrote:

    I suspect gun violence will still take more US lives than this latest pandemic...

    Facts to support???

    None???

    Shocking... :eyeroll:

  32. [32] 
    Michale wrote:

    Democrats and Their Media Allies Impugned Biden’s Cognitive Fitness. Now They Feign Outrage.

    IT IS VIRTUALLY REQUIRED in Democratic Party politics to periodically express revulsion about the bigoted political attacks wielded for years against former President Barack Obama: images designed to emphasize his African roots, false claims he was Muslim, the campaign of de-legitimacy based in the racist allegation that he was born in Kenya.

    But that mandated Party denunciation often obscures the undeniable fact that — while Republicans seized on and drove them — all of those attacks also emanated from within the Party, particularly from the 2008 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, which employed them to try to sink Obama’s rival presidential candidacy. In February, 2008, Clinton campaign officials widely circulated a photo of Obama meeting with tribal elders while dressed in Somali garb on a trip to rural Kenya, an act which Obama’s campaign chief David Plouffe angrily denounced as “the most shameful, offensive fear-mongering we’ve seen from either party in this election.”
    https://theintercept.com/2020/03/09/it-was-democrats-and-their-media-allies-who-impugned-bidens-cognitive-fitness-yet-now-feign-outrage/

    Love 'im or hate 'im...

    Glenn Greenwald doesn't pull any punches and has absolutely NO REGARD for partisan bullshit..

    He is like CW used to be back in the heady and wonderful days before the onset of HHPTDS...

  33. [33] 
    Michale wrote:

    In other words, the very attacks that Democrats with virtual unanimity today vilify as disgusting, racist smears were ones that emanated from their own party — either from the Clinton campaign itself (maliciously spreading the photo of Obama in Kenya in traditional Somalian clothing and suggesting he is Muslim) or from various Clinton supporters (falsely claiming he was not eligible to run for office).

    And now they are doing the exact same thing when it comes to plainly valid questions concerning Joe Biden’s cognitive fitness: expressing revulsion and scorn at the mere mention of these questions and declaring the topic off-limits to all decent people even though establishment Democrats were the ones who first spread insinuations and even explicit accusations about Biden’s cognitive decline when they thought doing so could help them defeat him and/or because it genuinely concerned them regarding his ability to defeat Trump.

    The Dim establishment has damaged Biden beyond all hope.. Oh sure.. With the Establishment's push, he can (and likely will) easily push Bernie aside.. That will result in tens of thousands of pissed off Bernie bros, but the Dims think that won't matter..

    President Trump has a WHOLE plethora of campaign ads written by the Dim Establishment on the damaged goods that is Joe Biden...

    The Dim Establishment is the instrument of Joe Biden's doomed General Election campaign..

    How deliciously ironic is that. :D

  34. [34] 
    Michale wrote:

    PRIOR TO JOE BIDEN’S MASSIVE VICTORY in the South Carolina primary and his even-more impressive Super Tuesday showing, many viewed his candidacy as all but dead. A fourth-place finish in Iowa was followed up by a fifth-place finish in New Hampshire, causing the corporate donors on which he centrally relies to flee and his political obituaries to be widely written.

    But since then, he has consolidated his status as Democratic front-runner and, as is customary, he is receiving far greater attention than previously, particularly on the question most on the minds of Democratic voters: his “electability” against Trump. And one of the towering questions in that regard is his cognitive fitness: it is visible to the naked eye that the 77-year-old six-term Senator and two-term Vice President is in serious cognitive decline.

    That is a grave matter not just because the establishment wing of the Democratic Party wants to put him in charge of the world’s most dangerous nuclear arsenal, a large chunk of the planet’s health, and the welfare of hundreds of millions of people, but also because it directly pertains to whether he can sustain the rigors and spotlight of a General Election against the incumbent President. And multiple incidents over the past couple weeks — from Biden’s forgetting the words of the most iconic and memorized passage of the Declaration of Independence to confusing his wife for his sister to spouting sentences that make no sense — have only intensified those worries.

    Democrats wanting to nominate Joe Biden would be like Republicans wanting to nominate Saint Ronald Reagan, 10 years after he left office..

    Once again, we see how President Trump has engineered the Democrats in their default LOSE-LOSE situation.. :D

  35. [35] 
    Michale wrote:

    But, as the Democratic establishment has united with creepy speed and obedience behind Biden in order to stop the Sanders candidacy, those who now raise these concerns instantly come under a withering assault of insults and attacks from Democratic Party operatives along with their crucial media allies: thinly disguised pro-Biden reporters who continue to insist on wearing the unconvincing and fraudulent costume of neutrality. They are invoking the classic Orwellian formulation from the novel 1984: “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”

    DH commented above how when it comes to the Democrat Party there is so much art that imitates life...

    No what is this more apparent than the factual comparisons between Orwell's 1984 and the Democrat Party...

  36. [36] 
    Michale wrote:

    The problem with all of this? Aside from the fact that Biden’s cognitive decline is visible to the naked eye and it is incredibly reckless and repressive to demand that it be supressed, these concerns were first raised not by Trump operatives nor by Sanders supporters, nor were they first raised within the last several weeks. Quite the opposite is true: they were raised repeatedly over the last year principally by Democratic Party officials and their most loyal allies in the media.

    Just like it was the Clinton camp who first brought us the birther nonsense, it was the Dumbocrat Establishment who birthed the Dementia Joe meme...

  37. [37] 
    Michale wrote:

    Before Biden became the consensus establishment choice three weeks ago — and Democratic operatives thus tried to impose a ban on speaking ill of him while deceitfully pretending they and their clients never did so for fear that it could cost them future consulting or political gigs within the Biden-controlled Party — it was commonly and routinely acknowledged, even on DNC propaganda outlets such as MSNBC, that Biden’s cognitive decline was an open secret among Democratic Party officials who believed it posed a serious threat to his ability to campaign, let alone beat Trump, let alone govern as President.

    The facts are clear..Ragnorak is upon the Democrat Party.. And it was they who pulled Surtur's crown and dumped it in The Eternal Flame

    The FACTS don't lie people..

    Joe Biden has NO HOPE of winning the Presidency..

    There is simply NO PATH to victory for the Democrat Party...

    Everyone here who has more than 2 brain cells to rub together has already conceded this as fact..

  38. [38] 
    Michale wrote:

    The list of prominent political and media figures raising these concerns {Joe Biden's cognitive decline} throughout 2019 is long and diverse. That this is some recently manufactured script — “coordinated” by the Sanders and Trump campaigns to smear Biden — is so laughably and provably false that pro-Biden reporters should be ashamed to show their faces as they claim it. But centrists — as they’ve proven since Trump’s presidency began — casually arrogate unto themselves the right to disseminate the most unhinged conspiracies without the need for any evidence and without the slightest regard for whether they are true.

    It was the Democrat Party who claimed Joe was "touched" and in cognitive decline...

    Now they are trying to rewrite recent history.

    And the Democrat Party will fail.. :D Like it ALWAYS fails.. :D

  39. [39] 
    Michale wrote:

    Whatever else is true, there are large numbers of people who have long been watching Joe Biden who have been admitting that they see his cognitive decline and that it deeply worries them about his ability to beat Trump. That includes, indeed has been led by, Democratic politicians, operatives and pundit-journalists now supporting him while feigning outrage over this discussion (that they started) and pretending that it’s all some morally reprehensible fabrication recently churned out by his enemies.

    Some are motivated by desperation to push Biden to the Oval Office and will sacrifice the truth, their integrity and their dignity to do it; others are power-flatterers who now see Biden as the new King of their royal court on which their wealth and access depends and so are re-writing their own history to delete what they said about him. Regardless of motive, it’s clear where these valid concerns about Biden’s cognitive decline originated: from within Biden’s own partisan establishment circles. The video and textual evidence is undeniable. When you hear them spin this lie, just confront them with this evidence. Most importantly, do everything possible to make sure voters see it before they pass the point of no return. Voting in democracy is valuable only when it is informed, not the by-product of elite deceit and propaganda.

    Again... The facts are clear..

    Democrats have NO PATH to victory...

  40. [40] 
    Michale wrote:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_flu_pandemic

    It's AMAZING how much Odumbo's Swine Flu Pandemic sounds EXACTLY like the beginnings of our current pandemic..

    Nearly IDENTICAL..

    And yet, not a single solitary ONE OF YOU can point to a comment you made back then on the seriousness of Swine Flu..

    I mean, look at the facts..

    We have some 40-odd dead Americans...

    Odumbo's Swine Flu had ***OVER 12,000 DEAD AMEIRCANS***

    You people are bat-shit hysterical over this lame convid stuff that has killed some 40-add Americans.

    NONE of ya'all said ONE SINGLE WORD about Odumbo's Pandemic that killed over 12,000 Americans.

    This begs the question..

    How can **ANYONE** take ya'all seriously??

    What makes ya'all think ya'all have a SHRED of credibility when ya'all display such BLATANT and OBVIOUS hypocrisy???

    Think about it..

    40-odd Americans dead and ya'all are bat-shit hysterical...

    Over 12,000 Americans dead and ya'all didn't say a SINGLE word..

    How does that equal credibility???

    "Anyone?? Anyone?? Beuhler??"

  41. [41] 
    Michale wrote:

    Compared to what?

    On the misguided response to covid-19.

    Compared to what? That should be the question that every fear-mongering news story on the coronavirus has to start with. So far, the United States has seen forty-one deaths from the infection. Twenty-two of those deaths occurred in one poorly run nursing home outside of Seattle, the Life Care Center. Another nine deaths occurred in the rest of Washington state, leaving ten deaths (four in California, two in Florida, and one in each of Georgia, Kansas, New Jersey, and South Dakota) spread throughout the rest of the approximately 329 million residents of the United States. This represents roughly .000012 percent of the U.S. population.

    Much has been made of the “exponential” rate of infection in European and Asian countries—as if the spread of all transmittable diseases did not develop along geometric, as opposed to arithmetic, growth patterns. What actually matters is whether or not the growing “pandemic” overwhelms our ability to ensure the well-being of U.S. residents with efficiency and precision. But fear of the disease, and not the disease itself, has already spoiled that for us. Even if my odds of dying from coronavirus should suddenly jump ten-thousand-fold, from the current rate of .000012 percent across the U.S. population all the way up to .12 percent, I’d happily take those odds over the destruction being wrought on the U.S. and global economy from this unbridled panic.

    By comparison, there were 38,800 traffic fatalities in the United States in 2019, the National Safety Council estimates. That represents an average of over one hundred traffic deaths every day; if the press catalogued these in as much painstaking detail as they have deaths from coronavirus, highways nationwide would be as empty as New York subways are now. Even assuming that coronavirus deaths in the United States increase by a factor of one thousand over the year, the resulting deaths would only outnumber annual traffic deaths by 2,200. Shutting down highways would have a much more positive effect on the U.S. mortality rate than shutting down the U.S. economy to try to prevent the spread of the virus.
    https://newcriterion.com/blogs/dispatch/compared-to-what

    Again.. How can ANYONE have faith in ya'all's credibility in the face of ya'all's outright HYSTERICAL claims that are totally lacking in ANY scientific facts whatsoever..

    I have a .000012% chance of dying from coronavirus..

    OOOOooooo Scary... :eyeroll:

    I hadn't thought it possible, but ya'all have reached new lows in ya'all Trump/America hate and bigotry...

  42. [42] 
    Michale wrote:

    There have been 5,123 deaths worldwide so far—also a fraction of traffic deaths worldwide. And unlike coronavirus, driving kills indiscriminately, mowing down the young and the old, the sick and the healthy. The coronavirus, by comparison, is targeted in its lethality, overwhelmingly striking the elderly or the already severely sick. As of Monday, approximately 89 percent of Italy’s coronavirus deaths had been over the age of seventy, according to The Wall Street Journal. Sad to say, those victims were already nearing the end of their lifespans. They might have soon died from another illness. No child under the age of nine has died from the illness worldwide. In China, only one individual in the ten-to-nineteen age group has succumbed.

    Comparing the relative value of lives makes for grisly calculus, but one is forced to ask: are we missing the forest for the trees? If the measures we undertake to protect a vulnerable few end up exposing them, along with the rest of society, to even more damaging risks—was it worth the cost?

    An example: there were 34,200 deaths in the United States during the 2018–19 influenza season, estimates the cdc. We did not shut down public events and institutions to try to slow the spread of the flu. Yet we have already destroyed $5 trillion in stock market wealth over the last few weeks in the growing coronavirus panic, reports The New York Times, wiping out retirement savings for many.

    If there are aliens out there, they are laughing at the foolishness of humans...

  43. [43] 
    Michale wrote:

    The dickhead Democrat who said, "DON'T BE CALM!!! DON'T BE CALM!!!! PANIC!!! PANIC!!!".....

    NOW wants to deploy the US military...

    Yes... You heard that right.. A Democrat in a leadership position wants to deploy the US Military...

    Tell me, people.. At what point... At what crossed line... does the RATIONAL side of yer brain says, "Now, wait a minute.. This is getting out of hand.."

    At what point does your hate and bigotry give way to your rational side??

    Do ya'all even HAVE a rational side left???

  44. [44] 
    ListenWhenYouHear wrote:

    This was one of my favorite stories about Trump’s brilliance:

    “I like this stuff. I really get it. People are surprised that I understand it,” the president went on. He started talking about his tour of the CDC he’d taken before his talk to the press. “Every one of these doctors said, ‘How do you know so much about this?’ Maybe I have a natural ability. Maybe I should have done that instead of running for president.”

    The man is clueless when it comes to sarcasm, apparently! The CDC doctors were mocking him, right to his face, and he thought they were actually impressed by him!

    This was another odd statement from the Presidunce:

    “But I think, importantly, anybody, right now and yesterday, that needs a test gets a test. They’re there, they have the tests, and the tests are beautiful. Anybody that needs a test gets a test,” Trump said.

    Yes, he was lying — once again— that anyone who wanted a test could receive one; but I was confused more by his attraction to the test kits... which he described as BEAUTIFUL!?!?

    The take away from this is that Trump obviously wants to f*ck these kits!

    Somewhere in this country, someone will be given a test kit with “Ivanka” scribbled on the top with a sharpie marker and a small hole (your pinkie might fit in it) drilled into the side of it. I suggest requesting a different test kit!

  45. [45] 
    Michale wrote:

    "Blaa Blaaa Blaaa I hate President Trump. Blaaa Blaaa Blaaa.. I am a hater and a bigot.."
    -Russ

    There.. Now everyone knows your comments til Nov when President Trump is re-elected in a landslide..

    You don't even have to bother to show up any more :D

  46. [46] 
    ListenWhenYouHear wrote:

    Kick [32]

    Well said! The idiot cannot defend his master’s mishandling of this outbreak, so he has to try to get everyone focused on an argument that has nothing to do with our current situation!

    Hope you are well! We are staying healthy... Devon’s department will only respond to “in progress” calls and are citing and releasing as many violators as the law allows. Washington State is typically well prepared for epidemics; but that relies on being promptly notified by the CDC of when there are outbreaks.

    Stay well!

    R

  47. [47] 
    ListenWhenYouHear wrote:

    Michale,

    Trust me, I am sick of reading the putrid bullshit spewing from an old, overweight, racist, pathologically lying, micro-phallused, narcissistic sociopath with a fragile ego and signs of dementia affecting his already limited intellect...

    We already had Trump for that; we definitely do not need you!

    But thanks for conceding that you cannot defend Trump’s stupidity.

  48. [48] 
    Kick wrote:

    Russ
    53

    I know, right!

    As of the time I left the plane with you, we had 240 cases. Well, that's at least what was on a very fine network known as Fox News. You love it. But that's what I happened to be watching.
    ~ Donald Trump at the CDC

    Just in case you were wondering why Trump's information is almost always incorrect and also demonstrably lower than the data from the professionals at the CDC wherein he was located.

    And was that a trip to the CDC or a campaign rally? You just know those doctors were trying not to burst out laughing while Dotard Donald was regaling them with his oft repeated tales about the size of his "cranium." I mean, every medical professional knows it was The Donald who recognized the wisdom in:

    * Firing Rod Blagojevich off his reality TV show. "Your Harry Potter facts were not accurate. Who did the research?" and also

    * Pardoning Rod Blagojevich for his cannot-count-them-on-two-hands multiple criminal convictions during his interrupted attempt to sell Barack Obama's senate seat and multiple shake downs related thereto.

    Hard to believe that young "Einstein" Trump was sent to a reform-type military school for disciplining; I mean, who was the fool who didn't enroll that "genius" into medical school? You're fired!

    Maybe I should have done that instead of running for president.
    ~ Donald Trump

    And just in case Americans from coast to coast weren't already "clued in" to what was obviously foremost on the "really big brain" of the Presidunce <--- props , Trump wore one of those sKAG campaign hats to the CDC. How 'bout that caronavirus; can he get a "lock her up"?

    Anybody that needs a test gets a test…. the tests are all perfect like the letter was perfect. The transcription was perfect. Right? This was not as perfect as that but pretty good.
    ~ Donald Trump

    That test was as perfect as that "not a letter" and "not a transcript" that Trump keeps referring to as a "transcription"... you know the one... the one that helped get him impeached in perpetuity.

    Somewhere in this country, someone will be given a test kit with “Ivanka” scribbled on the top with a sharpie marker and a small hole (your pinkie might fit in it) drilled into the side of it.

    Because "the tests are all perfect"... BEAUTIFUL... like the American flag he bangs on a regular basis; maybe he has a natural ability, and you know he's automatically attracted to beautiful... it's like a magnet... don't even wait. Can he get a Tic Tac?

    Hey, Russ, can you just imagine what the right-wing useful idiots would have said if Barack Obama had ever molested the American flag even one time? Or how about if Obama took a trip to the CDC wearing a campaign hat and prattling on and on about the greatness of a left-wing television network and asking about the ratings for his town hall on there "last night"?

    Can't speak for everybody, but I think the country would be much better served if Trump would just shut up and allow America's preeminent public health officials to do their jobs rather than their current regular exercises in appearing at press conferences alongside him and debasing themselves in repeated attempts to fill that empty hole in Trump's ego that's obviously in perpetual need of feeding.

  49. [49] 
    Kick wrote:

    Russ
    55

    Hope you are well!

    We are. We kicked Ebola's ass so... more prepared and been through it before.

    We are staying healthy...

    Great to hear... and you are required to keep reporting in from ground zero.

    Stay well!

    We will... y'all too. Let me know if you need anything. I'll figure out a way to get it to you. Seriously.

    XOXOXO

  50. [50] 
    Michale wrote:

    Russ,

    But thanks for conceding that you cannot defend Trump’s stupidity.

    There is no need to defend that which does not exist.

    Ask yourself one question, Russ.

    If President Trump is so "stupid"....

    Why do ya'all Trump/America haters KEEP LOSING TO HIM!!????

    BBBBBWBWAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    I mean, look it it..

    Trump is so stupid, yet he has beaten ya'all Trump/America haters AT EVERY JUNCTURE...

    Ya'all lost the election.. Trump destroyed yer chosen one..

    Ya'all lost with yer Russia Collusion delusion.. President Trump was completely and utterly exonerated..

    Ya'all Trump/America haters tried a faux impeachment coup.. President Trump totally decimated that coup and pushed ya'all Trump/America haters to new depths of depression.. :D

    I won't even bother to mention how many times President Trump has beat ya'all Trump/America hates in court.. DOZENS... HUNDREDS of times, President Trump has handed ya'all yer asses in court.. :D

    So.... IF President Trump is "stupid" as you claim..

    That makes ya'all Trump/America haters A HUNDRED TIMES stupider...

    Because President Trump **ALWAYS** sends ya'all home crying with yer dicks in yer hands.. :D

    So, thank you for conceding that you are one hundred times more stupid than President Trump.. :D

  51. [51] 
    Michale wrote:

    Joe Biden: The Democrats’ Exhausted Surrender

    We're about to find out whether anyone really would be better than Trump.

    How did the Democrats end up with Joe Biden as their presumptive nominee?

    After three years of preparatory media fire about diversity and change, and chumming the electorate with promises of free college alongside all the health care-they-care-to-eat, Democrats started with six women, a couple of black people, the gay guy, and progressive ideas ranging from the necessary to the kooky. The full list included 30 players.

    They ended up choosing a candidate left over from 1958. Joe Biden is old, he’s tired, he lost the race for president twice already (once for plagiarism and once for lying about his education), and he appears to be in some state of cognitive decline. Between the hair plugs and the botox, he looks waxy, like grandpa putting himself out there for one last fling after Grandma Obama passed away, God rest her soul.

    The Democrats’ entire premise is false. They misunderstood Trump’s election as a fluke if not an outright scam. This was sustained by a relatively small group of disconnected people who, through cancel culture, peer pressure, and the need to fill a 24/7 media vacuum, convinced each other they were right.
    https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/joe-biden-the-democrats-exhausted-surrender/

    I mean, seriously people..

    Where is all the diversity ya'all have been PROMISING and LIVING BY and PREACHING ABOUT for the last 3+ years???

    I mean, ya'all go on and on and on about diversity and intersectionally and when the rubber meets the road???

    You choose an old white guy millionaire as your champion..

    But hay.. Thanx for negating and exposing ya'all's diversity argument as the utter bullshit that it is... :D

    Even when I lose... I win!! ;D

    Isn't Weigantia great!!!??? :D

  52. [52] 
    Michale wrote:

    The process of elimination was nudged along by old-fashioned party power plays. Black voters were massed by local pols in South Carolina to come out for Biden. Someone behind the curtain (almost certainly Obama) made the calls to Buttigieg and Klobuchar and told them, as he likely did in 2016 with Biden to clear the way for Hillary, “kid, this ain’t your night.”

    That’s how you end up with Joe Biden.

    One writer called Biden’s success the product of the “politics of exhaustion.” This sees a Democratic electorate not anxious for change, but just tired of being tired. The unrelenting apocalyptic news cycle burned them out, and all they want is to put someone acceptable enough in charge. When Nancy Pelosi declared the morning of Super Tuesday, “Civilization as we know it is at stake in the 2020 election,” they had had it.

    You end up with Joe Biden, running on three things: 1) he’s not Trump; 2) maybe he’ll die in office and his VP will take over early in his term; and 3) Joe’s cognitive decline appears slightly less severe than Trump’s. Not exactly “Hope and Change.”

    Biden candidacy also means sweeping three years of Democratic messaging under the bed. The list of once-familiar subjects Joe won’t be able to talk about is a long one. Russiagate imploded on its own. Impeachment centered on Hunter Biden and ain’t nobody on the Democratic side gonna bring that up.

    Democrats ENTIRE MESSAGE from 2016 to present has been stricken from the record.. :D

    All their talk of diversity??? Gotta hide that now..

    Russia Collusion delusion?? Who wants to open old wounds??

    The Faux Impeachment Coup?? For god's sake, let's not drag Hunter out into the open again.. He'll be tanked on meth with his dick in some other new bimbo..

    Yea.. Ya Dumbocrats sure have a winner here.. :D

  53. [53] 
    Michale wrote:

    President Bone Spurs? Biden received five student draft deferments during the Vietnam War, same as Trump. In 1968, when his student status was wrapping up, Biden was medically reclassified as “not available” due to asthma. Yet in his autobiography, he describes an active youth as a lifeguard and high school football player. He also lied about being on the University of Delaware football team.

    Trump’s naughty finances? After leaving the Obama White House, Joe and his wife made more than $15 million, mostly via sweetheart book deals. They made nearly twice as much in 2017 as they did in the previous 19 years combined. The University of Pennsylvania gave Joe $775,000 to teach, and then was nice enough to grant him indefinite leave of absence from actually teaching. Biden charged the Secret Service $2,200 a month in rent for a cottage on his property so they could protect him. Since leaving office, he’s made $2.4 million on speaking engagements, including $10,000 for travel expenses to the University of Buffalo. A speech at Southwestern Michigan in October 2018 included $50,000 in travel expenses.

    Taxes? After failing to close the loophole with Obama, Joe left office to create his own S Corporation. As a result, he receives money for things like book advances and speaking fees not directly, which would cause him to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes as with salaries, but laundered as divestitures from a corporation he owns. As corporate money, nasty personal taxes are fully avoided, and the corporation can claim nearly unlimited “business expenses” to be deducted against those profits. Joe’s S Corp also donated his own money back to his PAC. Legal laundering.

    Trump’s sexism and racism? Young people, Google “Anita Hill” now. You’ll be hearing a lot about her come the fall.

    Of course, since ya'all have condemned President Trump for avoiding the Vietnam draft, you will condemn Biden for the same, right??

    No??? Yea.. That's what a hypocrite is.. :eyeroll:

    Biden has lied thru his entire career... You condemn him for that?? Of course not... He has a -D after his name so he gets a pass..

    Playing the game to get rich?? Ya'all have attacked President Trump incessantly for that... I am sure ya'all will give Biden the same treatment, eh?? Of course not.. There is that pesky -D after Biden's name so all the cheating and lying is perfectly acceptable to ya'all..

    Biden used tax loopholes that Obama wanted to close but couldn't...

    And on and on and on...

    Ya'all have pretty much abdicated on ever President Trump argument with Joe Biden.. :D

    Once again, it's hilarious..

    Even when I lose.. I win.. :D

  54. [54] 
    Michale wrote:

    Biden represents to many Democratic voters that they will never see health care reform again in their lifetime (his comeback drove a $48 billion gain for health insurance stock; they know.) They also won’t see a woman president for who knows how many years. Income inequality will remain the salient characteristic of our society. To win, the 77-year-old Biden will have to break the record for oldest man sworn in as president (Trump holds the title now).

    But Biden’s worst enemy heading into November will be low voter turnout. His opponent for Democratic votes will be Mr. Just Stay Home. That’s why those polls showing broad dissatisfaction with Trump are pointless. The Trader Joe Moms of Northern Virginia are never going to vote for Trump, but they just might vote for no one. There are ominous signs: polls for states Biden won on Super Tuesday, including Massachusetts, Texas, and several southern states that helped catapult the former vice president into front-runner status, found that young voters did not show up at the rate they did in 2016.

    The black voters who saved Biden in South Carolina are notoriously fickle when it comes to turnout. Older Americans, who favor Trump, historically turn out at 30 to 40 percent higher rates than younger voters. The exaggeration of white privilege that became a cornerstone of the Democratic Party—whites are racist, opioid-soaked gun nuts—is also one of the reasons Democrats risk losing the 2020 race, as it leads inexorably to the devaluation of the very voters needed to clinch the Electoral College.

    Biden’s new status triggered the mainstream media to drop any talk of the issues that have dominated their agenda for three years in favor of droning on about electability. It makes little sense. Why else vote for someone if not because he represents something you like? You want electability? Run a puppy. Biden represents the endpoint of the idea that anyone must be better than Trump.

    That’s betting the whole house on one thin straw. It’s what happens when you settle for Joe Biden.

    It's as I said.. Democrats have NO PATH to victory.. Either with Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders..

    It's really THAT simple.. :D

  55. [55] 
    Michale wrote:

    http://sjfm.us/pics/Trumpinator.jpg

    Get it while they're hot, people.. :D

    And get used to it..

    You are going to have to hear (and hear FROM) President Trump until at least 20 Jan 2025.. :D

  56. [56] 
    Michale wrote:

    “President Bush did not lash out precipitously at Iraq after 9/11. He did not snub the U.N. or our allies. He did not dismiss new inspection regimes. He did not ignore Congress. At each pivotal moment, he has chosen a course of moderation and deliberation…in each case in my view he has made the right rational calm deliberate decision.”
    -Joe Biden, 2002

    Once again.. THE FACTS...

  57. [57] 
    Michale wrote:

    Ya'all condemn liars, right???

    3 Tallest Biden Tales On Foreign Policy

    The former vice president has made a habit of distorting his national security record and telling stories that just aren't true.
    https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/three-of-bidens-all-time-tall-tales-on-foreign-policy/

    Oh.. Except when the liar has a -D after his name.. :eyeroll:

  58. [58] 
    Michale wrote:

    Wonder how soon it will be til Democrats demand the postponement of the Nov 2020 elections..

    They know they are going to lose and lose big...

  59. [59] 
    John M wrote:

    [56] Michale wrote:

    "Com'on JM.. Point me to your comments about the 12,000+ Americans who died under Odumbo and his Swine Flu incompetence.."

    This is Totally BULLSHIT. H1N1 and Swine Flu were both caused by the same virus which we have a VACCINE for. We do not have a vaccine for Coronavirus yet. There was NO incompetence by Obama, no matter how much you want to keep repeating that lie, does not make it so. We would NOT have 30,00 deaths a year from Flu, IF everyone who should be vaccinated, GOT vaccinated. Until we make vaccination MANDATORY, that's on individuals, NOT Obama.

    "40 Americans have died with Trump as President and you are HYSTERICAL, attacking President Trump at every turn..."

    According to Dr. Fauci of the CDC

    1) Coronavirus is MORE contagious than the Flu

    2) Coronavirus is 10 TIMES more deadly than the FLU

    Michale you are just PLAIN WRONG. Those are the FACTS.

    "Show me where you said ***ANYTHING*** about 12,269 Americans dying in 2009 because of Odumbo's incompetence..."

    AGAIN, where's YER PROOF??? You and I both know there ISN'T ANY.

  60. [60] 
    John M wrote:

    [7] Michale wrote:

    "Do Democrats STILL believe that illegal immigrant criminals should be given free and full healthcare???"

    YES

    Or do you want NON-TREATED SICK people spreading disease to the rest of us????

    Because THAT is the LOGICAL CONCLUSION to YOUR POSITION.

  61. [61] 
    John M wrote:

    [13] Michale wrote:

    "We wouldn't have to make such a huge run on toilet paper if we would just learn how to use the 3 sea shells..."

    We wouldn't have such a shortage of tissue if more men just used PIE instead. :-)

  62. [62] 
    John M wrote:

    [23] Don Harris wrote:

    "Okay, Star Trek comparisons.

    What was that episode where the two planets fought wars by computer and the casualties showed up voluntarily to be killed?"

    That would be the original series episode "A Taste of Armageddon." Data was not in it because The Next Generation, which Data would appear in, was 20 years later.

    And the point of the episode was to criticize and condemn complacency to the horrors of war, to death principally, when it is out of sight, out of mind. A comment on Vietnam at the time, and and being immune to the reality of what you are doing when you bomb populations from high above without being able to see the consequences of your actions.

  63. [63] 
    Michale wrote:

    We wouldn't have such a shortage of tissue if more men just used PIE instead. :-)

    OK, first off.. Eeewwwwwwww

    Second off, our resident PIE expert, JL might have an issue with pie being used in such a manner..

    And thirdly, what if it's chocolate pudding pie??

    "Did we have any chocolate pudding in that fridge!!??"
    -TOMMY BOY

    And the point of the episode was to criticize and condemn complacency to the horrors of war, to death principally, when it is out of sight, out of mind. A comment on Vietnam at the time, and and being immune to the reality of what you are doing when you bomb populations from high above without being able to see the consequences of your actions.

    Excellent episode synopsis and analysis, JM....

    My hat is off to you...

  64. [64] 
    Michale wrote:

    "Do Democrats STILL believe that illegal immigrant criminals should be given free and full healthcare???"

    YES

    So, in a shortage of beds and treatment...

    Let's give the advantage to criminals who have no right to be in this country over Americans who are citizens.

    THAT is what you are advocating...
    Because THAT is the LOGICAL CONCLUSION to YOUR POSITION.

    And the logical conclusion to YOUR position is that illegal immigrant criminals are pampered while Americans die...

    Here's the best solution..

    Instead of giving them free healthcare..

    DEPORT THEM..

    That would prevent them from spreading the disease to non-sick Americans.

    And it's 1000% guaranteed to be effective..

    Unlike your solution which simply means more Americans will die..

    Is THAT what you really want to see??

    As an aside.. Kudos on yer capitalization.. :D Yer learning, young padawan...

  65. [65] 
    Michale wrote:

    This is Totally BULLSHIT. H1N1 and Swine Flu were both caused by the same virus which we have a VACCINE for. We do not have a vaccine for Coronavirus yet. There was NO incompetence by Obama, no matter how much you want to keep repeating that lie, does not make it so.

    And yet, you call President Trump incompetent because some 50-odd Americans have died..

    But Odumbo is NOT incompetent even though over 12 THOUSAND Americans died..

    Care to show your math on that???

    Some 50-odd Americans dead...

    PRESIDENT TRUMP IS INCOMPETENT!!!

    TWELVE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY NINE Americans are dead..

    Odumbo is the epitome of competence..

    Sheeyaa right.. :eyeroll:

    Face it.. Yer only bitching at PRESIDENT Trump because you don't like him..

    Odumbo has a -D after his name so he gets a pass for anything and everything..

  66. [66] 
    John M wrote:

    [30] Michale wrote:

    "Prove that Odumbo WASN'T incompetent.."

    You CAN'T PROVE a NEGATIVE.

    How about you PROVE that the Virgin Mary didn't intervene during the Cuban Missile Crisis to help the FIRST and ONLY Catholic President avert a Nuclear War and thereby created a new TIMELINE that we are all now living in???

    It is FAR easier to prove that something DID happen or ISN'T TRUE, rather than prove the opposite that something unforeseen or unexpected DIDN'T happen.

    That's why rumors and lies spread faster than truth.

    Why people believe and buy into falsehoods and opinion.

    And why the burden in court is to prove guilt, not to prove innocence.

  67. [67] 
    John M wrote:

    50] Michale wrote:

    "Compared to what?

    On the misguided response to covid-19.

    Again.. How can ANYONE have faith in ya'all's credibility in the face of ya'all's outright HYSTERICAL claims that are totally lacking in ANY scientific facts whatsoever..

    I have a .000012% chance of dying from coronavirus..

    OOOOooooo Scary... :eyeroll:"

    How many FALSE comparisons does it take???

    Here is REALITY if Coronavirus was left to spread UNCHECKED:

    The worst-case figures reflect what would happen if no action is taken to slow the virus, which spreads from person to person. If this transmission is unchecked, each person with the virus could infect about two to three others, causing the contagion to grow.

    According to the CDC projected that 2.4 million to 21 million people in the US could end up in the hospital, overwhelming emergency wards and ICUs. The number of deaths in some models ranged from 200,000 to 1.7 million. The fatality rate of the virus is estimated as high as 3.5% by the World Health Organization.

    200,000 to 1.7 million deaths is a WHOLE LOT more than that for the Flu or car accidents per year, wouldn't you say Michale???

    So please stop with your trying to downplay things with your bullshit. It's one thing to preach "don't panic", and another thing to encourage "engagement in risky behavior" because you refuse to believe what the experts are telling you!!!

  68. [68] 
    John M wrote:

    [51] Michale wrote:

    "If there are aliens out there, they are laughing at the foolishness of humans..."

    YES, they will MARVEL at our STUPIDITY of allowing ourselves to be killed off by a PREVENTABLE disease through fear, ignorance and willful and deliberate refusal to take sensible precautions.

    "That does seem to be the rule doesn't it? Analyze the problem, choose whatever strategy makes least sense and then do it."

    – Doctor Lazarenn, Babylon 5, Season 2, episode "Confessions and Lamentations" The Markab civilization is wiped out by the Drafa plague.

  69. [69] 
    Michale wrote:

    You CAN'T PROVE a NEGATIVE.

    Actually, according to Victoria, you can..

    So, have at it... :D

    And why the burden in court is to prove guilt, not to prove innocence.

    Except when it comes to President Trump..

    Ya'all expect him to prove his innocence..

    Or are you conceding that President Trump is completely innocent of all accusations against him?? :D

    Here is REALITY if Coronavirus was left to spread UNCHECKED:

    And if it does, the VAST MAJORITY of Americans ***WILL SURVIVE***...

    It's less deadly then the simple flu fer christ's sake..

    And ya'all are treating it as the end of the world..

    ALL because you want to beat President Trump over the head with it..

    Over TWELVE THOUSAND Americans died under Odumbo..

    Did YOU say a thing about it then?? NO you did not..

    Don'tcha think it's kinda hypocritical that you hysterically attack President Trump because some 50-odd Americans died..

    And you were COMPLETELY silent when over TWELVE THOUSAND Americans died...

    YES, they will MARVEL at our STUPIDITY of allowing ourselves to be killed off by a PREVENTABLE disease through fear, ignorance and willful and deliberate refusal to take sensible precautions.

    And yet, it WASN'T stupidity of Odumbo's that killed OVER TWELVE THOUSAND Americans..

    Funny how that is, eh? :D

    "That does seem to be the rule doesn't it? Analyze the problem, choose whatever strategy makes least sense and then do it."

    That was the Odumbo strategy..

    And you said nothing at the time..

    Because yer Messiah had a -D after his name and you couldn't speak against the -D Messiah, could you...

  70. [70] 
    John M wrote:

    [76] Michale wrote:

    "So, in a shortage of beds and treatment...

    Let's give the advantage to criminals who have no right to be in this country over Americans who are citizens."

    NOT an ADVANTAGE, and NOT what I said.

    "And the logical conclusion to YOUR position is that illegal immigrant criminals are pampered while Americans die..."

    So where is your compassion for your fellow Human??? Lying in a cot being treated for life threatening pneumonia is being pampered????

    "Here's the best solution..

    Instead of giving them free healthcare..

    DEPORT THEM.."

    NOT REALISTIC or even PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE to deport them ALL. So it still begs the question, what the HELL do you do with those SICK who REMAIN behind???

    "And it's 1000% guaranteed to be effective.."

    NOT FACTUALLY ACCURATE

  71. [71] 
    John M wrote:

    [77] Michale wrote:

    "And yet, you call President Trump incompetent because some 50-odd Americans have died..

    But Odumbo is NOT incompetent even though over 12 THOUSAND Americans died..

    Care to show your math on that???"

    YES. Here it is AGAIN for you:

    According to the CDC projected that 2.4 million to 21 million people in the US could end up in the hospital, overwhelming emergency wards and ICUs. The number of deaths in some models ranged from 200,000 to 1.7 million. The fatality rate of the virus is estimated as high as 3.5% by the World Health Organization.

  72. [72] 
    John M wrote:

    [83] Michale wrote:

    "Here is REALITY if Coronavirus was left to spread UNCHECKED:

    And if it does, the VAST MAJORITY of Americans ***WILL SURVIVE***..."

    So, tens of thousands of UNNECESSARY deaths of the most vulnerable among us is acceptable to you???

    "It's less deadly then the simple flu fer christ's sake.."

    LIE. FALSE. Have you not been PAYING ATTENTION!!! Argue with Dr. Fauci of the CDC, NOT ME.

    Dr. Fauci, DIRECT QUOTE / Congressional Hearing:

    "COVID-19 is at least 10 times “more lethal” than the seasonal flu, even if the mortality rate drops far below the World Health Organization’s current estimate of 3.4%."

    "Over TWELVE THOUSAND Americans died under Odumbo..

    Did YOU say a thing about it then?? NO you did not.."

    NON SEQUITOR. NOT COMPARABLE.

    "Don'tcha think it's kinda hypocritical that you hysterically attack President Trump because some 50-odd Americans died..

    And you were COMPLETELY silent when over TWELVE THOUSAND Americans died..."

    LONG TERM TRENDS, makes this comparison, COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT and FALSE. Facts and circumstances of the current outbreak are totally different.

    "And yet, it WASN'T stupidity of Odumbo's that killed OVER TWELVE THOUSAND Americans.."

    EXACTLY TRUE. Glad you AGREE.

    "Because yer Messiah Trump had a -R after his name and you couldn't speak against the -R Messiah, could you...

    Michale?

  73. [73] 
    Michale wrote:

    JM,

    NOT an ADVANTAGE, and NOT what I said.

    It sure as hell is an advantage.. It's EXACTLY what you said..

    You just don't like the characterization because it PROVES you put the welfare of illegal immigrant criminals over your fellow Americans..

    So where is your compassion for your fellow Human???

    I have no compassion for scumbags who violate our laws with impunity...

    Lying in a cot being treated for life threatening pneumonia is being pampered????

    It's NOT life-threatening, you dolt!!!

    That's just your ignorant hysteria talking..

    NOT REALISTIC or even PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE to deport them ALL.

    Bullshit.. If you can shut down a country you can deport illegal immigrant scumbags...

    You just have to have the morality and the will..

    So it still begs the question, what the HELL do you do with those SICK who REMAIN behind???

    There WON'T BE ANY illegal immigrant criminals left behind..

    NOT FACTUALLY ACCURATE

    When we deport all illegal immigrants criminals, then there won't be any illegal immigrant criminals to get Americans sick and there won't be any need to give illegal immigrant criminals health care that should go for Americans..

    DUH...

  74. [74] 
    Michale wrote:

    JM,

    So, tens of thousands of UNNECESSARY deaths of the most vulnerable among us is acceptable to you???

    It was acceptable to you under Odumbo..

    That's the FACT that you don't get or you simply refuse to acknowledge..

    NON SEQUITOR. NOT COMPARABLE.

    You saying it's not comparable does not make that factually accurate..

    It's indeed EXACTLY comparable.. You just don't like what the comparison says about you.. It PROVES yer nothing but a Party slave...

    EXACTLY TRUE. Glad you AGREE.

    "I said I understood.. I didn't say I agree."
    -Spock, STAR TREK, A Taste Of Armageddon

    I understand that your SOLE BASIS for your hysteria is the fact that you don't like President Trump and you worshipped Odumbo...

    NO OTHER CONCLUSION fits the FACT that you scream hysterically against President Trump when some 50-odd Americans have died and you were COMPLETELY silent when Odumbo's incompetence killed over TWELVE THOUSAND Americans with Odumbo's Swine Flu pandemic...

  75. [75] 
    James T Canuck wrote:

    Skipping over Michale's usual dross and drivel, as one does, I did see something interesting...A Star trek reference.

    I was amused last week, like all previous weeks where Trump opens that cut under his nose and word salad is served, Trump proudly announced that he had 'made a deal' with the medical insurance industry to cover the costs of,and relating to, C19. Naturally, I spat out my beer upon the hearing of this most generous act of kindness.

    What? Are these parasites abandoning the pan-American 20th century zeitgeist of survival of the wealthiest?

    Nope, as usual, Trump got the simplest thing wrong or just flat out lied (Trump's usual go-to's) about the insurance industry's benevolence.

    What a cluster fuck. Seriously, you can't refer to a 'public healthcare system' that by design isn't interested in you unless you grease their palms, as 'public'. Why even discuss whether illegal aliens should get medical attention when the citizenry at large are themselves over-burdoned by medical expenses because of the neolithic belief that medical care is only a right of the wealthy, and the poor, huddled masses be damned.

    And I now circle back, after having taken the scenic route through the swamp, to the Star Trek reference...The episode was "Symbiosis" In this installment, Picard and the Enterprise rescue a couple of scruffy cats and their cargo from destruction along with two other, nicely turned out, individuals. (coincidentally, the two males were also rivals in Wrath of Khan) Long story short, it turns out that the cargo is in fact 'medicine' that one, presumably the scruffy society, can't live without. It later turns out that the medicine had long since served its purpose and was now being produced as an addictive drug, to the detriment of one society and boon to the other. After much debate, "a deal" is made and the 'medicine' is handed over, as the producers contritely confirm that they are living in the lap of luxury, while the addicted struggle to produce payment for their imposed addiction.

    Sound familiar? It should.

    Insurance company's waiving fees for a test that no one in America bothered to order in time, because payment was an issue, is as stupid as it gets. That's the truth of it and you all know it, not a single set of bollocks was in the chain to simply say " order ten million, we'll figure out the math when the dust settles." Meanwhile, more people have been tested in Spuzzum, British Columbia, where they thought they were 'beyond Hope', than in the entire US of A.

    LL&P

  76. [76] 
    Michale wrote:

    Skipping over Michale's usual dross and drivel, as one does, I did see something interesting...A Star trek reference.

    I still have that large space in your head, eh' nuck? :D

    You just CAN'T help but swoon over me.. :D

    As usual, your Trek analogy is sophomoric and shows how utterly ignorant you are of Trek...

  77. [77] 
    Michale wrote:

    That's the truth of it and you all know it, not a single set of bollocks was in the chain to simply say " order ten million, we'll figure out the math when the dust settles."

    Even a moron like you can be accurate with your "facts" with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight...

    DUH...

  78. [78] 
    Michale wrote:

    The loss of a few of the sheeple to coronavirus is just the cost of doing business.

    Can't protect people from LIFE...

    Most everyone here should pretend we're talking about JUST President Trump supporters..

    Then they won't have *ANY* problem just letting them die..

  79. [79] 
    Michale wrote:

    I have suspended all One Demand rallies for at least the next two months.

    Even the one's held in Weigantia??? :D

  80. [80] 
    Michale wrote:

    Donald Trump tells America to go on lockdown until AUGUST with '15 days to stop the spread,' saying old and vulnerable people must stay home, social gatherings over 10 must end, bars and restaurants should close and school should be at home
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8118415/Donald-Trump-tells-America-lockdown-15-days-stop-coronavirus.html

    President Trump is doing EXACTLY what ya'all have told him to do..

    What do you want to bet that ya'all STILL attack him for it.. :eyeroll:

    Hate and Bigotry.. That's all ya'all got...

  81. [81] 
    Michale wrote:

    Idris Elba tests positive for coronavirus
    https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/idris-elba-tests-positive-coronavirus

    Ironicly enough, Elba's message is the SAME message as President Trump's...

    "DON'T PANIC... REMAIN CALM"

    Democrat's message???

    "DON'T BE CALM!!! DON'T BE CALM!!! PANIC!!!! PANIC!!!!"

  82. [82] 
    ListenWhenYouHear wrote:

    Michale

    Do you really think it is wise to call for denying people medical treatment based on their criminal history given your own personal legal troubles? Being in the country without proper documentation is an administrative misdemeanor. Are you also suggesting that we deny medical treatment to anyone currently with a suspended license — since they, too, are criminals?

    Or is this just one of your xenophobic rules that apply to people Trump has told you are scary and you should fear?

  83. [83] 
    ListenWhenYouHear wrote:

    I suggested to Ralph that the best way forward at this point would be for Ralph to join the race NOW as a small donor only independent candidate to put pressure on the Dem nominee to make the small donor commitment.

    And what response has Ralph given to your idea? I am guessing that he passed on the opportunity! Where would he get the money to even start his campaign? From the legions of believers that have signed onto your brilliant strategy?

    Your plan does nothing to get the Big Money out of politics as campaign donations are capped at $5400. PAC’s and SuperPAC’s have no caps. They don’t even have to report where, specifically, their money has come from. Politicians are not bought by major corporation through campaign donations. You want to focus on donations of $5400 while ignoring the $10 million donations that PAC’s can receive.

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