Covid-19 - Trump Screws Over The USA

Whatever one’s opinion of alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson and his Government, they have to their credit taken the Coronavirus pandemic seriously - and have not used the crisis for political point-scoring. Moreover, they have put spokesmen out there to be grilled by a not always happy media, despite the entreaties of those who think they should just brand any difficult questions as insufficiently patriotic.

Donald, where's yer hairspray?

Compare and contrast with the USA, where the number of confirmed Covid-19 infections has now passed 100,000. That number is set to soar over the next few days. The country is now the epicentre of the pandemic. And in the midst of it all, Combover Crybaby Donald Trump is using the emergency to screw over those he deems insufficiently loyal to Himself Personally Now - by trying to deny some states vital resources.

That is how much of a Grade A, ocean-going, malevolent, preening, dysfunctional shit he is. And he’s the President. How screwed that makes the USA is clear from his defiance: “The LameStream Media is the dominant force in trying to get me to keep our Country closed as long as possible in the hope that it will be detrimental to my election success. The real people want to get back to work ASAP. We will be stronger than ever before!”

Citizens are dying in increasing numbers, and he wants to take actions that will kill a lot more of them. Worse, as Nahal Toosi of Politico has told, “We obtained the detailed National Security Council ‘pandemic response playbook’ left by the Obama team for the Trump team. It was, basically, ‘thrown onto a shelf.’” The Trump gang ignored it.

As Seth Abramson observed, “Trump Says That Due to the Democratic Governors of Washington (3,369 Coronavirus Cases) and Michigan (3,657 Cases) - the Latter of Whom He Calls ‘the Woman in Michigan’ - Not Being ‘Appreciative’ Enough of Him, He Has Told the Coronavirus Task Force Head ‘Not to Call Them’”. He did WHAT? Yes he did.

Another Tweeter put it this way: “Trump admits telling [Vice President] Pence not to call governors … Trump said he should not talk to them if they don't ‘treat you right.’” He wants them to be appreciative - “we’ve done a great job”, even though he hasn’t.

There has even been the spectacle of Rudy Giuliani going on Laura Ingraham’s Fox News show and claiming this behaviour is OK, because Trump is “the boss”. One observer retorted “He’s a goddamn public servant. Those resources are ours, not his”. Parker Molloy of Media Matters was beyond exasperated, and it showed.

“Here’s the thing: even if every governor tells him to go fuck himself, it’s his job to help anyway. This is fucking insane. He’s making decisions about who lives and who dies based on who kisses his ass the most. Fuck him. Honestly, I’m just fucking over it”. Joshua Potash noted “A reporter just asked Trump, ‘Can everyone who needs a ventilator get one?’ Trump: ‘Look, don’t be a cutie-pie, okay?’” Not in control. Even of himself.

So few would have been surprised to see Trump rage-Tweeting “General Motors MUST immediately open their stupidly abandoned Lordstown plant in Ohio, or some other plant, and START MAKING VENTILATORS, NOW!!!!!! FORD, GET GOING ON VENTILATORS, FAST!!!!!!” He’s so useless, he tagged the wrong General Motors.

Worse, he could get the same result by just invoking the Defense Production Act, which, fortunately, has now happened. But the problem of his questioning lockdowns and other social distancing measures, when so many diehard Trump fans take his every word as unvarnished truth, fuels a culture of denialism which will mean more deaths.

Added to which are all the delays, all the talking down of the pandemic, Trump’s pretence that it was not really happening, and you get a country that is becoming totally screwed. As Paul Krugman put it, “The politics of Covid denial are exactly like the politics of climate change denial, except accelerated by a factor of 100”.

Be careful who you elect to run your country. Their interests may not coincide with yours.

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