Trump Throws GOP Governors Under The Bus
What's a good Republican governor to do, these days? It's hard not to feel at least a little sorry for them as they try to navigate the minefield that is Donald Trump's ego. They think they're doing exactly what Trump has told them to do and then -- BOOM! -- they step on a landmine of blowback, because Trump has either changed his mind or decided to hedge his bets by taking every possible side of an issue (in the hopes that he won't be held responsible, no matter what happens). It's gotten to the point where calling Trump "mercurial" is now actually insulting to the element mercury.
In normal times, a state governor of the same political party as the president usually backs the White House up and echoes the party line espoused by the man at the top. In normal crises, such political ramifications are generally set aside until after the crisis has passed, while both the governors and the White House work to mitigate the disaster. In Trumpian times, however, Trump has already set up the governors to be scapegoats if things don't work out right, and he now appears to be tossing them willy-nilly under the bus before the jury's even in. Even if they're doing exactly what Trump is telling them to do. Which is why I have to feel at least a little sorry for the GOP governors who must now have absolutely no idea what Trump wants them to do next.
Trump's been attacking governors pretty indiscriminately throughout the coronavirus pandemic, of course. He's singled out Democrats, for the most part, but he is now showing that he'll just as easily attack Republicans in a vain attempt to make himself look better. And you can read "vain" in that sentence with either definition, really.
There are two cases in point which show how GOP governors can provoke Trump's wrath by doing exactly what he urges them to do, from the past week alone. The first came when Maryland Governor Larry Hogan -- one of the most-admired governors around during the crisis, by the way -- did exactly what Trump was telling all the governors to do. Trump has maintained for weeks now that the federal government is simply not responsible for providing any of the medical equipment necessary, because that is up to the state governments. For a brief moment, Trump tried to claim absolute power over the governors, but he then reversed course within days and was back to his stock line: "The governors are going to call the shots." This has been Trump's response to test supplies as well as protective equipment like masks and gloves, pretty much from the beginning. Trump only reluctantly (and belatedly) ever uses the powers available to him to avoid a mad scramble between all the states in the open marketplace, by invoking the Defense Production Act. As far as he's concerned, it's totally up to the governors (so he will conveniently avoid all the blame when things devolve into dog-eat-dog fights).
So Larry Hogan decided to do exactly what Trump was urging him to do, and he used his wife's connections to get a planeload of test kits from South Korea. This is right in the middle of Trump desperately dodging the blame for the severe lack of supplies for testing, in pretty much every state in the Union. Part of Trump's deflection was to state over and over again that it was up to the governors to get test supplies, not him. So Hogan went right ahead and did so, getting 500,000 tests from a foreign country sent to Maryland. You'd think that Trump would have nothing but praise for such a move, but for some unfathomable reason, Trump then blew up at Hogan.
When asked about the shipment, Trump responded insultingly: "I think he needed to get a little knowledge, would've been helpful." Trump expanded on this thought: "The governor of Maryland could've called [Vice President] Mike Pence, could've saved a lot of money. He didn't understand too much about what was going on. So now I think he'll be able to do that. It's pretty simple."
Just call Pence. Gosh, it's so easy! Except that just calling Pence doesn't get the job done, as pretty much every governor in the country can attest to. Governor Hogan had a slightly different viewpoint, in response to Trump's nonsense:
If there were an easier way, we certainly would have taken it. The president said the governors are on their own and they should focus on getting their own tests, and that's exactly what we did. His message changed yesterday, I'm not sure why. States have been competing on the open market and the domestic market and the international market... throughout this entire crisis. Competing with each other and the federal government. I'm not sure it should have been that way, but that's the way it is, it's the way the president said it had to be, so that's what we were operating under.
Why was Trump so angry? After all, as Hogan said, he had merely been following Trump's explicit instructions.
But the larger example is playing out right now in Georgia. Trump has been pushing to reopen the economy as soon as possible for over a month now. Pretty much ever since his first social distancing guidelines were announced, in fact. He initially wanted to see "crowded pews" for Easter, if you'll remember. Then he very reluctantly was forced to expand his guidelines from 15 days to run until the end of April. All month long he's been champing at the bit to throw the country's doors wide open at the beginning of May. This is the point where he tried to assume monarchical powers and declared that he and he alone would be the one to decide when to reopen -- and that the governors could be overridden by his decision. This, of course, was laughably false, and when Trump realized this he quickly made a whiplash-inducing U-turn. All of a sudden it was totally up to the governors to make the decision, although the White House would issue some extremely vague guidelines to help them make this decision.
After releasing these guidelines with much fanfare, Trump then completely ignored his own guidelines the very next day, as he saw an opportunity to whip up hatred for Democratic governors in swing states that will be important in the presidential election. "LIBERATE MICHIGAN" he tweeted, egging on some extremely small protests in various state capitals. The message couldn't have been clearer, even after his 180 on who exactly was going to make the reopening decision. Strong upstanding Republican governors would restart their economies as soon as possible and in the manliest way possible -- Trump even openly speculated about this happening before the start of May -- while weak and terrible Democratic governors would wait too long and needlessly prolong the economic disaster, probably for political reasons (in other words: "to make Trump look bad"), because that is precisely the way Trump sees all issues. The political lines would be drawn, and red states would triumphantly reopen and lead the magic economic recovery which would get Trump re-elected in November. So a number of Republican governors took Trump's advice and began announcing early reopening dates for their states.
But then Trump decided to hedge his bets once again. Perhaps it was the constant refrain from all the experts briefing him that this was a reckless and dangerous thing to do, or perhaps he just wants to (as usual) take every single position on the issue so that later on he'll be guaranteed to have at least one quote to point to where he appeared prophetic. That's been his standard operating procedure on lots of things already, so perhaps that's it.
For whatever reason, Trump unloaded on Georgia's governor yesterday, when asked about the wisdom of allowing nail salons, beauty parlors, and tattoo parlors to reopen on Friday. Trump stated that he had in fact told Governor Brian Kemp (before Kemp made his decision) not to move too quickly, and suggested that these types of business should not reopen until "phase two" of his guidelines. This was obviously fiction, as it's pretty easy to figure out what really happened -- the media started making a big deal of the spas and tattoo parlors, Trump's advisors told him what a hideously bad idea it was, and then Trump told Kemp he wasn't happy -- long after the decision had already been made. Not the other way around, as Trump tells the story.
Trump even unloaded on Kemp yet again in today's White House Propaganda Hour, including a "golden oldies" rendition of his "I have all the power, not the governors" riff from last week. He stated that he allowed Kemp to make his wrongheaded decision, although Trump "could have stopped him" by somehow overruling him (even though Trump knew all along that the decision was a bad one). This, of course, is not even slightly true, but it's just a side issue here.
So what do you now do if you're a Republican governor, desperately wanting to avoid getting on Trump's bad side? Larry Hogan thought he was doing exactly what Trump directed, by bypassing the federal government to secure supplies from South Korea. Trump told him he should have asked Mike Pence instead, which obviously wasn't working for Hogan. Brian Kemp also must have thought that he was doing Trump's bidding, by being one of the first states to lift restrictions. Trump has been all but begging the governors to reopen their economies as quickly as possible for weeks now, and Kemp thought he was doing exactly what Trump wanted, right up until Trump threw him under the bus (and then backed the bus up to run him over again, in today's briefing).
There are two important conclusions to draw from all this, whether you're sitting at home or are a Republican governor wondering just what the heck Trump wants you to do next. The first is that nobody knows whether Trump will praise their efforts or denounce them until after the media reports on it. Think about what changed between when Trump told the governors what to do and when Trump got angry that they had done exactly what he told them to do. In between, the story ran on television. And to Trump, nothing is real until he sees it on cable news.
In Hogan's case, Hogan got lots of praise for making things happen in an innovative way (his wife was born in South Korea and was apparently instrumental in securing the planeload of tests). But this meant two things: (1) Hogan didn't just look good, he looked better than Trump, which is an unforgivable sin to Trump, no matter what party you belong to, and: (2) Trump looked bad, because the whole reason Hogan had to get the tests from a foreign country in the first place was that he couldn't rely on the federal government to get them for him. Which is why Trump lashed out.
In Kemp's case, he looked bad in the media reports when Trump thought he should have looked good. Trump has been goading the governors to do precisely what Kemp did on precisely the timeline Kemp did it on -- saying states could be reopened "even before" the end-of-April deadline. In other words, Trump should have been happy with such a pioneering governor who was validating Trump's own theory. But the headline to all the stories was about the type of businesses that will be allowed to reopen tomorrow, with a focus on the most ridiculous businesses on the list (from a medical safety viewpoint). So Kemp wound up looking bad, meaning if Trump supported him he would also wind up looking bad. Which, of course, is simply not an option to Trump, so he blithely tossed Kemp under the bus.
This brings us to the second important conclusion for Republican governors: Trump will not hesitate to throw you under the bus if things look like they're turning sour in any way, because that is how Trump has set the whole thing up, by design. The Republican governors are all, in essence, either (choose your own favorite metaphor) scapegoats, sacrificial lambs, or whipping boys. What is important to Trump is what has always been most important to Trump, and that is Trump himself. If anything any Republican governor does even slightly contradicts whatever fantasy storyline Trump is currently spinning, or (even worse) gets bad press, then Trump is going to go into his "I hardly know the guy/gal" routine -- and that's the best you can hope for. The worst is to be tossed under the wheels of the Trump bus, and then get repeatedly run over. Just ask Brian Kemp. He'll tell you, right after he wipes off the treadmarks off his face.
-- Chris Weigant
Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
Science, solutions, solidarity.
Governor's should just do the right thing and forget about what the president thinks about it.
Maybe, now they will.
Kick,
First he pushes Plaquenil and now "disinfectant." Who'll volunteer for intravenous Clorox? No? How about some bronchoalveolar Lysol lavage? Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated. OMG... The Trump stupidity... it burns.
That was just too funny! Oh, man … have to laugh to prevent something else from happening. :(
Except that Trump has an inordinate influence over some 44% of the electorate. So all Repugs stand in abysmal dread of being thrown under the bus by The Donald. It's the narrative they set up going back to Obama and now they have to sleep in the bed they've made.
It's possible that they can see the light.
Methinks it will get positively brutal when the campaign heats up in August or September.
So... KICK is Victoria, Don Harris and Michael are who they are, and Joshua is whom?
I, MtnCaddy am Taras Michael Stratelak.
Joshua is a poet.
Joshua is, affectionately and to be more precise, our poet.
Elizabeth I agree that it's possible that they can see the light. But I worry that the millions of rubes who bought into The Donald will subconsciously fight tooth and nail before they fess up to have been suckered so badly!
They've never had the lives of their own citizens on their hands before. I believe we may be at an inflection point, long coming as it has been.
Here is something that you should really have a look at, just for fun …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PBiBacMtlI
Update for those interested -
Michale seems to be back. Maybe.
He seems to be getting caught in the spam filter, which was a problem in the past that I thought I had fixed. But whether he's able to post or not, I consider it good news since the last update from him was rather worrisome.
Anyway, tomorrow's Friday so I'll be real busy all day, but I hope I can get the Michale posting problem worked out so we can all hear how he's doing.
-CW
Take your time.
So Trump thinks injecting bleach or disinfectant will cure Covid-19? He should go first; he'd get the greatest ratings ever.
Of course the few adults in the room would wrest the syringe from him, but just maybe, a straitjacket would be involved.
Whitsett had thanked Trump and Pence because she attributed her recovery from the coronavirus to having taken the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine -- a treatment Trump has frequently supported during White House news briefings.
The congresswoman said the drug had “saved my life.”
Whitsett also thanked the president during an appearance on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” earlier this month.
“I really want to say that you have to give this an opportunity," she said on the show, referring to the drug. "For me, it saved my life. I only can go by what it is that I have gone through and what my story is, and I can't speak for anyone else. So that's not what I'm trying to do here. I'm only speaking for myself.”
During the White House meeting on April 14, Whitsett hinted she was already receiving pushback from Democrats for thanking Trump.
“Thank you for everything that you have done,” Whitsett told the president, according to The Detroit News. “I did not know that saying thank you had a political line. … I’m telling my story and my truth, and this how I feel and these are my words.”
There is no room for ANYTHING but Trump/America hate in the hearts of Democrats...
Anyone who says otherwise??
"OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!!!"
This is what ya'all's Democrat Party has come to..
Aren't ya'all SOOOO proud?? :eyeroll:
MC
Elizabeth I agree that it's possible that they can see the light. But I worry that the millions of rubes who bought into The Donald will subconsciously fight tooth and nail before they fess up to have been suckered so badly!
Let's make a vow, you and I..
You and I vow to show up here when the final votes are tallied, when President Trump wins re-election and compare notes and predictions..
Will you do that???
Will you come in here and concede to all of Weigantia that I was factually accurate and you let your bias and bigotry and hate cloud your reason and logic??
Balls in your court.. :D
I mean, you just HAVE to know that Biden can't win..
With all the sexual assault acts that Biden has committed against a multitude of women (ALL WOMEN ARE TO BE BELIEVED, remember??) you just HAVE to know that Team Trump has some real and juicy rape and more sexual assault accusations lined up..
Team Trump is simply waiting for the Dumbocrats to officially make Biden their nominee..
THEN Team Trump will utterly decimate the character of Joe Biden...
You just HAVE to know that's how it's going to play out, right???
Also in Thursday, a state-level Democratic lawmaker in Georgia reversed a decision to resign after facing pressure from other Democrats for saying he supported the president.
State Rep. Vernon Jones of Lithonia said he was convinced to remain in office after receiving an outpouring of support following his initial plan to step down.
“I will not allow the Democrats to bully me into submission,” Jones said. “I will not let them win. I will NOT resign.”
Once again, there's yer Trump/America hating Democrat Party..
TOE THE LINE... OR ELSE...
Do you people not realize how utterly caustic and soul wrenching ya'all's hate really is???
CW,
He seems to be getting caught in the spam filter, which was a problem in the past that I thought I had fixed.
Thanx for your efforts, CW... Much appreciated.. :D
'em darn pesky NNL filters! They have a mind of their own!! :D
Photos released of Andrew Gillum hotel room: report
https://www.foxnews.com/us/photos-police-body-cam-video-released-of-andrew-gillum-hotel-room-report
Ooohhh how the Democrat Golden Boy has fallen...
Typical Democrat...
DO AS I SAY NOT AS I DO scumbag
The photos released Wednesday show vomit-stained and rumpled bed sheets, a box for a party light disco ball, spilled white pills on the carpet and a vial of a drug often used for erectile dysfunction. But the newly released photos and officer body-cam video shed no further light on what Gillum was doing or why he was there last month.
OH.. I think it is QUITE clear what Gollum was doing and why he was there... :^/
He was being a Democrat...
Reposted for Clarity
The photos released Wednesday show vomit-stained and rumpled bed sheets, a box for a party light disco ball, spilled white pills on the carpet and a vial of a drug often used for erectile dysfunction. But the newly released photos and officer body-cam video shed no further light on what Gillum was doing or why he was there last month.
OH.. I think it is QUITE clear what Gollum was doing and why he was there... :^/
He was being a Democrat...
But let's take stock of all the Covid fear-mongering predictions from the Hysterical Democrats in their bid to nullify a free, fair, legal, democratic and Constitutional election..
QUARTER OF A MILLION DEAD AMERICANS!!!!
Democrats spewed this stat with glee.... Of course, the FACTS clearly show that we won't even APPROACH this number..
THERE WON'T BE ENOUGH VENTILATORS FOR EVERYONE!!!!
Of course, the FACTS clearly show that there is no ventilator shortage...
HOSPITALS WILL BE OVERRUN!!!!!
While it's factually accurate to say hospitals are busy, the FACTS clearly show that they are NOT "overrun".. Hospitals are handling the load by rescheduling surgeries that are not life threatening..
I should know... The Costal Cartilage that connects my 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 rib to my sternum is flapping in the wind... I have to wait until the pandemic passes before I can have my surgery to repair it..
Regardless, ALL of these hysterical fear-mongering predictions have failed to materialize..
JUST like all the fear-mongering climate change predictions that Dumbocrats love so much.
What IS it about Democrats who claim to preach and adhere to science, but then zoom off into flights of fancy and wishful thinking that have absolutely ***NO*** basis in reality???
One can only hope that some Trump supporters will see the light and be able to overcome admitting they have been duped.
Of course, that presupposes that ya'all's bigotry is based on actual fact.. That Trump supporters ARE being duped.
When ya'all finally concede you are wrong, yer entire theory falls apart..
Much like the Democrats' Covid and climate change theories.. :D
Unfortunately the only light the Dem supporters are willing to see is a grail shaped beacon and not the real holy grail
Did you say 'bacon'???
Of course, that presupposes that ya'all's bigotry is based on actual fact.. That Trump supporters ARE being duped.
When ya'all finally concede you are wrong, yer entire theory falls apart..
It's actually funny..
Ya'all had the EXACT SAME THEORY in 2016...
"Ooo Trump supporters are being duped!! They'll realize it when Hillary slaughters Trump in the election!!!"
And what happened??
Ya'all failed.. Utterly and completely failed..
2020 is the same song and dance from ya'all that ya'all tried (and FAILED) in 2016...
Will you accept reality then??
1 MILLION quatloos says ya'all won't...
I guess the FACTS got yer tongues, eh??
Or, in this case, yer fingers.. :D
So Trump thinks injecting bleach or disinfectant will cure Covid-19? He should go first; he'd get the greatest ratings ever.
Of course, President Trump said nothing of the sort..
But explain the facts to Trump/America hating bigots is an exercise in futility..
But I still have hope ya'all will see the light.. :D
What did he say, Michale …
“Then I see the disinfectant, one minute. Is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside, or almost a cleaning. Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it’d be interesting to check that so that you’ll have to use medical doctors with. But it sounds interesting to me. So we’ll see, but the whole concept of the light, where it goes in one minute. That’s pretty powerful.”
Definition of disinfectant. : an agent that frees from infection
This is nothing but the old PRESIDENT TRUMP IS A RACIST bullshit all over again..
Trump/America haters twisting and spinning President Trump's words to feed their hate and bigotry...
The WHO announced today the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT Accelerator), a landmark collaboration to accelerate the development, production and equitable distribution of vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics for COVID-19.
The ACT Accelerator brings together the combined power of several organizations to work with speed and scale.
It is reassuring to know that many world leaders are supporting this initiative and that global leadership on this issue is alive and well and working day and night to bring this pandemic to an end.
https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-launch-of-the-access-to-covid-19-tools-accelerator
This is nothing but the old PRESIDENT TRUMP IS A RACIST bullshit all over again..
AND the bullshit claim that President Trump supports NAZIS...
AND the bullshit claim that President Trump supported the racists at Charlottesville...
AND the bullshit claim that President Trump did a Muslim ban....
It's ALL nothing but bullshit spin based solely on hatred and bigotry...
That's *ALL* it is...
Settle down, Michale.
Preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the novel #coronavirus (2019-nCoV) identified in #Wuhan, #China????????.
Yea.. We can trust the WHO...
Nothing but a China sycophant...
:eyeroll:
Settle down, Michale.
I always get excited when the facts are on my side.. :D
It goes without saying I get excited a lot here in Weigantia.. :D
But seriously..
The WHO claimed there was no danger of HUMAN TO HUMAN transmission from covid-19??
That's a pretty big error..
And NOW we're supposed to TRUST their efforts????
Ya'all spin President Trump's words to fit ya'all's agenda..
The WHO came right out and SPECIFICALLY bullshitted about the danger of the coronavirus??
Yet ya'all trust the WHO implicitly..
Yea.. NO agenda there, eh? :^/
The WHO claimed there was no danger of HUMAN TO HUMAN transmission from covid-19??
FALSE. I'll be back in a minute to refute all that you have said on this topic.
FALSE. I'll be back in a minute to refute all that you have said on this topic.
Actually, it's not false..
Preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the novel #coronavirus (2019-nCoV) identified in #Wuhan, #China????????.
-WHO, https://twitter.com/who/status/1217043229427761152?lang=en
Herein lies the EXACT problem.. You cherry pick your facts and only believe that which supports the Anti-President Trump agenda...
Facts *ARE* facts.. Whether you choose to believe them or not...
WHO said there was no clear evidence of HUMAN TO HUMAN transmission..
How would YOU respond to someone who claimed that there was "NO CLEAR EVIDENCE" of humans causing climate change...
You would label that person a "denier"...
It works both ways, Liz..
WHO was touting the China position to the detriment of the ENTIRE WORLD...
Even if it was an HONEST mistake (which there is no clear evidence to support it was) it's a mistake of EPIC proportions that has caused almost 200 hundred thousand deaths worldwide.
And yet, you want to trust them now???
Based on what???
The fact that President Trump is against them...
Michale,
Dr. Ryan, the Executive Director of WHO Emergency Response Programme addressed criticism about that very question of human to human transmission as well as WHO stance on flight restrictions at one of the recent WHO press briefings. I think it was very instructive and so I am posting it below in full. Which is my own transcript of his remarks.
I would just add that when this is all over I will put up the WHO response to this pandemic for comparison against the Trump administration response any day of the week and twice on Sundays.
And, please, stop spreading disinformation.
Human to Human Transmission
"WHO will be examining all of the actions taken by everybody in this. So, in that sense, the idea of having a defense at this point seems rather strange [to try to defend actions taken by WHO before it undergoes its usual after-incident report].
"In the first weeks of January, WHO was very, very clear - we alerted the world on 5 January. Countries around the world, including the US, began to activate their incident management systems on 6 January. Through the next number of weeks and beginning on 10 January, WHO produced multiple updates to countries including briefing multiple governments and scientists around the world on the developing situation - and that is what it was - a developing situation. The virus was identified on 7 January and the sequence was shared with the world on 12 January.
"We're dealing with a completely new virus. In the initial reports in which there were no mentions of human-to-human transmission it was a cluster of atypical pneumonia or pneumonia of unknown origin. There are literally millions and millions of cases of atypical pneumonia around the world every year. And, in the middle of an influenza season, sometimes it's very difficult to pick out a signal of a cluster of cases. In fact, it's quite remarkable that such a cluster was picked out - 41 confirmed cases ultimately in a cluster in Wuhan.
"There is always a risk with a respiratory pathogen that it can move from person to person. We've seen with MERS, for example, it can spread from person to person but in very particular environments - in an occupational environment and in healthcare environments. And, when WHO issued its first guidance to countries on 10 January it was extremely clear that respiratory precautions should be taken in dealing with patients with this disease; that labs needed to be careful in terms of their precautions when taking samples because there was a risk that the disease could spread from person to person in these environments.
"There is a difference between viruses in the potential for human to human transmission. For example, avian influenza H5N1, can spread from person to person but it doesn't spread efficiently in community settings; it can spread in specific settings like in family, occupational and healthcare environments but it doesn't tend to spread efficiently at the community level. The determination was NOT whether human to human transmission was occurring. The determination was whether the virus was spreading efficiently at community level outside those environments. And, that is not an easy determination to make and one has to make that very carefully."
Flight Restrictions
"With regard to flight restrictions - [Dr. Ryan has] certainly been on the record on a number of occasions saying that the imposition of flight restrictions by countries is the sovereign right of any member state.
"WHO does not control the law on this. WHO's only function under the International Health Regulations (IHR) is to challenge member states who put in place flight restrictions to ensure that they have a public health justification for imposing those restrictions and that we are bound then to share those justifications with other countries who may be affected by those flight restrictions.
"That is the role of WHO - to ensure that restrictions on flights are public health-based, evidence-based and limited to controlling the disease, have a balanced impact on travel and trade and are short-lived and only of a duration needed to control the public health event of concern. That is the framework - the IHR is a framework negotiated by 194 countries and WHO simply implements that framework on behalf of our member states."
Just one more point, Michale - the WHO is an organization that is made up of 194 member countries. And, Saudi Arabia announced $US 500,000,000 donation to the WHO subsequent to Trumps pause on US funds to the WHO in the same amount.
Even if it was an HONEST mistake (which there is no clear evidence to support it was) it's a mistake of EPIC proportions that has caused almost 200 hundred thousand deaths worldwide.
There is quite a lot of evidence … just look at all of the technical guidance WHO produced and reported since January 10, 2020.
I can produce the appropriate links for you here, if you like.
I wish Trump would have followed that guidance but, he knows best.
You know what your problem is, Michale? You rely too much on twitter.
Twitter is a lousy place to give or receive accurate information.
I'm sure that tweet will get its fair share of attention when the WHO does its after action review. Which will be share with all of its member states and the rest of the world.
I'm watching the Cuomo presser through of this commenting and … I just cried.
You'll have to give it a look and you will know exactly what made me cry. It was right at the end of it, just before the questions.
God Bless America … and retired Kansas farmers. :)
Did you say 'bacon'???
somehow that whole line of reasoning just doesn't seem... y'know, kosher.
JL
CW: Why was Trump so angry? After all, as Hogan said, he had merely been following Trump's explicit instructions.
Two reasons Trump is "so angry":
1. Larry Hogan having to go outside the confines of the United States in order to procure tests for SARS-CoV-2 proves without doubt that tests and the supplies required for testing are not readily available in the United States.
2. Gullible people will fall for darn near any ruse or pathological lying bullshit, and useful idiots will bend themselves into a pretzel making excuses for Trump's sheer ignorance and colossal ineptitude... but you simply cannot con a virus. :)
Mike
24
But let's take stock of all the Covid fear-mongering predictions from the Hysterical Democrats in their bid to nullify a free, fair, legal, democratic and Constitutional election..
I have a better idea. Rather than deflecting to some unnamed persons that aren't any of us here in Weigantia, let's take stock of your own prediction:
By your own metric, Donald Trump is a failure of epic proportions, and he's just get started and only a few months in.
I should know... The Costal Cartilage that connects my 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 rib to my sternum is flapping in the wind...
Like your mouth, then? With all that flapping and yapping going on medially along your anatomical sagittal plane, best take care you don't break in half longitudinally.
I have to wait until the pandemic passes before I can have my surgery to repair it..
You don't say!? Wouldn't it have been nice if someone had tried to warn you what might be coming to a neighborhood near you since it was happening in theirs? Oh, wait... they did:
But you were too busy calling that person names, insulting them, and twisting yourself into a pretzel to defend Donald Trump to even consider the facts on the ground. And now you want to tell everyone about the facts of how your surgery got delayed because of the resultant pandemic from the disease you referred to repeatedly as "decidedly non serious"? *laughs*
Thank you for the nice assist and volunteering to shine a klieg light on your own stupidity. Just when I thought you were a selfish prat who thinks only of himself. :)
Mike
41
Actually, it's not false..
Preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the novel #coronavirus (2019-nCoV) identified in #Wuhan, #China????????.
-WHO
Do you need the words "preliminary investigations" explained to you?
WHO said there was no clear evidence of HUMAN TO HUMAN transmission..
WHO said: "Preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities..." So what part of "preliminary investigations conducted by" others needs explaining to you?
Donald Trump was vouching for and praising China and President Xi and their "great relationship" too... so why lay it all on the WHO?
SARS-CoV-2 could have crawled out of Trump's ass, and it still doesn't change the fact that Trump downplayed it, and the useful idiots referred to it as a "hoax" and "non serious" and now here you are trying to shift blame to the WHO as if it somehow erases everything Trump said. It doesn't. Trump was "all in" with China.
Liz,
You know what your problem is, Michale? You rely too much on twitter.
And you rely too much on deflection and downright denial..
Do you deny that it was WHO who made the claim???
Funny how ya'all rely so much on Twitter when ya'all are bashing President Trump..
But when Twitter can be used to show ya'all's failed agenda??
All of the sudden, it's not a valid source..
You see the logic of that argument???
somehow that whole line of reasoning just doesn't seem... y'know, kosher.
I see what you did there.. :D
Trump owes tens of millions to the Bank of China — and the loan is due soon
The president's financial dealings with the state-owned bank complicate his attacks on Biden.
By MARC CAPUTO, MERIDITH MCGRAW and ANITA KUMAR
Donald Trump is warning “China will own the United States” if Joe Biden is elected president.
But Trump himself is tens of millions of dollars in debt to China: In 2012, his real estate partner refinanced one of Trump’s most prized New York buildings for almost $1 billion. The debt includes $211 million from the state-owned Bank of China — its first loan of this kind in the U.S. — which matures in the middle of what could be Trump’s second term, financial records show.
... continued
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/24/trump-biden-china-debt-205475
Russia owns Trump. China owns Trump.
Is anyone else seeing a pattern here?
"I was asking a sarcastic — and a very sarcastic question — to the reporters in the room about disinfectant on the inside," the president continued. "But it does kill it, and it would kill it on the hands and that would make things much better. That was done in the form of a sarcastic question to the reporters."
When a journalist in the Oval Office pointed out that Trump had turned to experts next to the stage when he first raised the idea on Thursday, the president claimed he was asking those officials "whether or not sun and disinfectant on the hands … can help us."
The president's explanation drew skepticism among those who watched the briefing, where Trump directly turned to other government officials to ask about the idea.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/494519-trump-says-remarks-about-heat-light-disinfectant-were-sarcastic
__________
So, yes, he was talking about injecting disinfectant -- the kind you use on your hands. Said he was being "sarcastic." *shakes head*
And with that nuggett, Trump throws all the useful idiots under the bus who were flailing in their explanations that Trump wasn't really talking about "disinfectant." Ummmm, yes. He says he was talking about disinfectant!
Russia owns Trump. China owns Trump.
Is anyone else seeing a pattern here?
Yea.. Yer an ignorant moron who believes ANY Trump/America hating bullshit..
I am sure, in your mind, the Romulans and Cardassians also "own" President Trump..
So much hate and bigotry in your soul...
No wonder you are such a sad sack....
Despite fossil fuel pledge, Biden still taking money linked to oil industry
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is getting more aggressive in his virtual campaigning; Peter Doocy reports.
A board member of the petrochemical giant Phillips 66 with ties to Joe Biden has donated the maximum allowable amount to his presidential campaign, and Biden's campaign recently paid $85,000 to a travel company linked to the donor, Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings from April show -- despite Biden's pledge "not to take contributions over $200 from oil, gas, and coal industry executives, lobbyists, and PACs."
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fossil-fuel-biden-oil
And the condemnation from the Weigantian Peanut Gallery??
{{{cccchhhiiiiirrrrppppp... cccchhhiiirrrrppppppp}}}
Non-existent...
Funny how ya'all condemn liars.. But ONLY liars with a -R after their names..
Add that a confirmed serial sexual harasser?? (ALL WOMEN ARE TO BE BELIEVED)
Hypocrisy at it's finest... :eyeroll:
Funny how no one wants to talk about the sexual harassment committed by Biden....
Hypocrisy at it's finest... :eyeroll:
No, hypocrisy at it's finest would require a mirror on your part...
51,445 dead due to covid-19 and counting...
Funny how ya'all rely so much on Twitter when ya'all are bashing President Trump..
I don't go anywhere near Twitter, you twit. I know better than that. Ah, fish in a barrel. It's so easy because the truth is easy.
Michale,
Why doesn't president Trump follow the scientific and technical guidance provided by the WHO - since 10 January to present - instead of wasting so much of his time on the Twitter?
Why is president Trump afraid of taking questions from the hapless WH reporters? Is it because he's afraid of being sarcastic?
Hehehehehehehehehehehe.
Oh, Michale … sigh.
Mike
54
Yea.. Yer an ignorant moron who believes ANY Trump/America hating bullshit..
"Yer" a Trump chump who keeps insinuating that Trump is America and also a lying wannabe with a high school education and a swamp trailer who's ignorant enough to believe a mobbed up con artist and money launderer for multiple Russian oligarchs who also owes China millions and millions of dollars. Trump isn't America, but you're a ginormous sucker.
Donald Trump owes China millions and millions of dollars; that is not bullshit.
I am sure, in your mind, the Romulans and Cardassians also "own" President Trump..
This is called a straw man argument, and it just makes you look stupid and unable to provide a decent rebuttal. You didn't need any help in the "looking stupid" department, but it is obvious you are in a generous mood today regarding same.
So much hate and bigotry in your soul...
Noun, verb "hate and bigotry."
Noun, verb "hate and bigotry."
Noun, verb "hate and bigotry."
Your ad hominem attacks just wouldn't be the same without the standard noun, verb "hate and bigotry" you bring to every comment over and over and over like "yer" stuck on stupid with nothing else to say.
No wonder you are such a sad sack....
I'm great, Mike! Thanks for your concern! :D
By the way … I hope Trump and his supporters keeps accusing Biden of sexual assault … until the cows come home.
HA!HA!HA!
You've got NOTHING, Michale … except a whole lotta shaking goin' on ... to go along with your disinformation.
EM
59
Why is president Trump afraid of taking questions from the hapless WH reporters? Is it because he's afraid of being sarcastic?
Heh! Now that was a good one, EM!
Poor Trump chumps. After all those explanations about what Trump meant by "disinfectant," he throws them under the bus by saying he actually meant "disinfectant" because it works on the hands! *laughs*
I don't enjoy this, Michale. Please make it stop!
EM
62
By the way … I hope Trump and his supporters keeps accusing Biden of sexual assault … until the cows come home.
What better way for them to say "we are ginormous hypocrites" than to keep prattling on and on about "sexual assault" when they support Donald Trump who has been accused by a multitude of women of sexual assault and walking into their dressing room... which, by the way, Donald Trump confessed to walking into the dressing rooms multiple times of naked teens and women... bragged about it too. It's on tape, of course.
Which, for the record, is not to say that there is any credence, whatsoever, in any sexual assault allegation against Senator Biden.
The WHO claimed there was no danger of HUMAN TO HUMAN transmission from covid-19??
That's a pretty big error..
Nope, it’s a pretty big LIE that came from YOU, not the WHO!
WHO never stated that there was no danger of human to human transmission from COVID-19; they stated that early tests had not found cases of human to human transmission of the virus. Who would be stupid enough to think that because no cases had been discovered that there was absolutely no risk of it occurring???
Oh, wait...I guess Karma’s bitch, Michale, would fall under that category! Glad to see you did not choke to death on your own bile. Cannot wait to hear how harsh your criticisms of Trump’s mishandling of this epidemic are compared to Obama’s mishandling of the Swine Flu!
EM
66
Which, for the record, is not to say that there is any credence, whatsoever, in any sexual assault allegation against Senator Biden.
Exactly... and they obviously don't care about sexual assault, adultery, paying off porn stars, a grown man hunching an American flag or prattling on and on about how he'd like to "date" his own daughter if they support Donald Trump. #sick
Russ,
they stated that early tests had not found cases of human to human transmission of the virus.
Don't fall into Michale's trap. The tweet put out by the WHO social media people did say what Michale said they said. Ahem. But, that tweet was imprecise and not concise, as tweets often are not.
The WHO has paid a heavy price for not being accurate in that tweet. But, they have been precise and concise and accurate in all of their advice and technical guidance since before 10 January, well before that tweet. Lesson learned for the social media department at the WHO!
Of course, a respiratory pathogen that causes pneumonia of unknown origin is capable of human to human transmission. That's Epidemiology 101.
What the tweet should have said is that there was no initial evidence coming from Chinese officials that this novel coronavirus was efficiently transmitting at the community level, as not all respiratory viruses do. And, at the time, there were no reported cases in health workers.
As far back as 10 January - well before the infamous tweet - WHO advised using the usual precautions including respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene when dealing with this novel coronavirus, especially in healthcare and laboratory settings, so as to protect against human to human transmission in those settings.
Michale, can't deal with this because he deals primarily in disinformation.
EM
What the tweet should have said is that there was no initial evidence coming from Chinese officials that this novel coronavirus was efficiently transmitting at the community level, as not all respiratory viruses do. And, at the time, there were no reported cases in health workers.
Well, they said "preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities."
I don't see the big deal, really. If Mike actually thought being wrong about the coronavirus is disqualifying, then Mike and Donald Trump fail his own metric in spectacular fashion. #SSDD
True dat.
But, it was the no evidence of 'human to human transmission' bit that caused all the unnecessary trouble for the WHO.
Kick [52]
Russia owns Trump. China owns Trump.
Is anyone else seeing a pattern here?
I think you left out one.... don’t forget that our good friend Saudi Arabia owns Trump, as well!
EM
70
Michale, can't deal with this because he deals primarily in disinformation.
And has a long history of disparaging and calling names any poster on this comments section who happens to report facts that don't agree with the con artist he worships out of disinformation and sheer ignorance.
They whine incessantly about "Trump didn't mean this, he meant this" and make every excuse in the book for the jaw-dropping stupidity of the Moron President. It's the right-wing-lunatic fringe, and it's as though they're brainwashed and stuck on permanent stupid.
You cannot fix the kind of sheer stupidity and lawlessness that Donald Trump represents, and it's psychotic as well as asinine to even try to make excuses for him. Trump is a liar and a criminal. It is why his lawyers will not allow him to testify under oath. Trump's day of reckoning will come. Full stop.
And, I'll bet SA took some special glee when they made a US$500,000,000 donation to the WHO after Trump put the stupid pause on US funding in that precise amount to the WHO. :)
And has a long history of disparaging and calling names any poster on this comments section who happens to report facts that don't agree with the con artist he worships out of disinformation and sheer ignorance.
Well, the juvenile name-calling can and should be ignored and not returned in kind.
I apple-o-gize for calling him a twit, recently.
Trump's day of reckoning will come. Full stop.
Hopefully, sooner rather than later. Another four years is quite unimaginable.
Russ
74
I think you left out one.... don’t forget that our good friend Saudi Arabia owns Trump, as well!
You've certainly got me there, but in my defense, it wasn't an exhaustive list. :)
But right you are, Russ; Saudi Arabia definitely owns Trump. There's a reason Saudi Arabia was the first foreign nation to be visited by Trump (actually, there are several reasons).
A terrorist kills 3 Americans -- 19-year-old airman from St. Petersburg, Florida, a 23-year-old ensign and recent graduate of the United States Naval Academy from Coffee, Alabama, and a 21-year-old airman apprentice from Richmond Hill, Georgia -- and injures several others at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida. Donald Trump -- who never misses a chance to vilify Muslim killers of Americans and the countries they are from -- rushes to defend the homeland of the Muslim terrorist who killed multiple Americans and injured multiple others. Why?
Because that Muslim terrorist murderer was a Saudi Arabian national, and Trump didn't waste any time leaping to Saudi Arabia's defense, now did he? And you also didn't hear the usual useful idiots whining about the Muslim killer either, did you? Trump offered no criticism of the Saudis who assigned the murderer to the United States naval base on a training mission. Nary a criticism of an American murdering Muslim terrorist.
"They are devastated in Saudi Arabia," Trump said. "And the king will be involved in taking care of families and loved ones. He feels very strongly. He's very, very devastated by what happened and what took place. Likewise, the crown prince. They are devastated by what took place in Pensacola."
Then there is Jamal Khashoggi... American journalist murdered by Saudi Arabia.
Yes, sir. Saudi Arabia owns Trump.
Good point, Russ. :)
Liz,
I thought WHO got in trouble because even though they claimed that Chinese tests had failed to find human to human transmissions, those tests ignored reports from Taiwan that had found cases of human to human transmission. Taiwan is not technically recognized as a sovereign country by the WHO — it is still part of China. Maybe I have my facts mixed up, but I thought this was what the stink was all about.
@russ,
i think you might be thinking of hong kong, which is semi-autonomous and has been having protests recently. taiwan at least until recent years was essentially the old imperialist government of china in exile.
JL
Russ[81] - see new column.