If Only 100,000 Americans Die Trump Thinks He "Did a Great Job"

Thom plus logo On January 20, the United States and South Korea both diagnosed their first patient with the coronavirus. South Korea immediately begin testing their population and started a nationwide program of social distancing.

Here, Donald Trump said that the coronavirus was a "Democrat hoax" and ridiculed the idea of doing anything about it. As a result, South Korea has flattened their curve, had fewer than 200 people die, and is adding only a few deaths every day, while here in the United States we are looking at 100,000 to 2 million deaths.

Donald Trump's incompetence, inaction, and decision to politicize a pandemic is leading to more Americans dying than who died in all of our wars combined and now he is claiming that if only 100,000 Americans die he "did a great job."

And the red state governors, like Ron DeSantis in Florida, who followed Trump's path are continuing to add to the death toll even today by ignoring science and keeping businesses and public events open.

-Thom

Comments

deepspace's picture
deepspace 3 years 1 day ago
#1

Trump is still in denial and thinks he can bend the force of nature to his will.

Dr. Deborah Birx standing alone in the dark on the White House lawn seemed a bit apprehensive. Plainly, the good doctor was acutely aware of the take-charge "war president" lurking in the background somewhere, intently following her every word on TV, chin jutted out. The whole shadowy scene had the creepy feel of a hostage video.

She said that"If we do things together well, almost perfectly," then we hope fewer than100,000 to 200,000 of us would die over the course of the pandemic. But her unspoken tells seemed to indicate a much higher body count in a real-world scenario. The overly optimistic "happy numbers" are mainly promoted by the miserable liar in that shadowy building behind her, not from any broader consensus in the scientific community, where some have calculated U.S. casualties as high as one to two million if our scattershot response lacks resolute coherence and robust enthusiasm. Coherent Republicans? Gulp.

Sure, in a perfect world where everyone takes the pandemic seriously and carefully follows every safety protocol, where we have plenty of personal protective equipment, test kits, ventilators, medical supplies, ICU beds, etc., etc., where doctors, nurses, and staff aren't themselves infected and taken off duty right when they're needed the most, and where hospitals are not entirely overwhelmed at the peak of the curve, then, yes, maybe one or two hundred thousand -- only.

Right. "Perfect." There's that word again. Why is everything always perfect with this guy when it's clearly not?

Dr. Birx defines the best-case scenario, still horrible as hell, as "...one hundred percent of Americans doing precisely what is required." Uh-huh. That pie-in-the-sky dream is a losing bet every time. To maintain any semblance of credibility, she had to admit on camera that the much-ballyhooed lower number is merely their "wish." Of course it is.

Willie W's picture
Willie W 3 years 1 day ago
#2

Looks like Trump was right. Way back when, he said he could shoot someone on a crowded NY city street and still get elected. And now, the spin. If this "gun shy" President had not been so preoccupied fending off the never ending barrage of fake Democratic attacks, he would have reacted to this virus with focused attention much much sooner. Spin this a little faster, and it should catch on. ............"We bad!"

Legend 3 years 1 day ago
#3

Under pressure the Governor of AZ changed his stance an issued a statewide stay at home policy. AZ has one of the highest elderly populations in the USA.

Current worldwide deaths are at 39000 (3000+ are ours). We are expecting 100000 to 200000 deaths. I do not have words for how poor this has been handled. April 2020 will be remembered.

Legend 3 years 1 day ago
#4

It is actually kind of funny that this far into a pandemic that our leaders do not realize that anyone in this office picture could be passing this virus onto the upper levels of our Republican Government. All for a photo op.

commchf 3 years 1 day ago
#5

Thom,
I'm seeing "unfoxmycablebox" trending that seems to contradict a claim you've made thhat Fox is on every TV because they give it away for free. Care to unconfuse me?

Rich

deepspace's picture
deepspace 3 years 14 hours ago
#6

commchf:

Tinhip is wrong again. Thom has not "...been making that false claim for years."

And you are wrong too. Thom never said, "...Fox is on every TV because they give it away for free."

From where and from whom exactly did you two chuckleheads get that anyway -- Hannity, Limbaugh, the Swamp Net? Because I happen to have listened to Thom's various shows regularly since before he was even on Air America. Nowadays I do so through the podcast subscription, which is commercial-free, great for on the go, and normally available right after each live hour. I have also read several of his books and most of his articles. Sorry, I can't recall him ever saying anything even remotely like what you alleged.

Evidently you did not listen to him very well, you commented without listening at all, or you are repeating misinformation that you've heard from a third party. Perhaps you are just another dime-a-dozen troll, like Tinhip, throwing shade with no intention of knowing the facts.

But if you are honestly confused and are actually interested in setting the record straight (in which case I apologize for the above characterization), I humbly offer my understanding with the following:

What I do remember Thom saying (correct me if I'm wrong) is that Fux News is usually included in most of the market's basic packages at no additional charge, whereas their main competition, MSNBC, is normally not included and must be added in at extra cost.

Don't know; don't care; haven't watched commercial TV since 9/11. Big Corporate product brainwashing on Big Media is way too loud and obnoxious and frequent for my taste. In fact, the constant interruption diminishes attention span and the ability to concentrate.

The larger question you should ask, though, is why anyone in their right mind would want to watch Fux News in the first place? They continually misinform their viewership with unsourced or under-sourced opinion/news, which is slanted so far to the right that a 2012 study [here and here] concluded that people who watch Fux News know less about the world around them than people who hardly watch any news.

I also strongly recommend The Brainwashing of My Dad.

Thom's Blog Is On the Move

Hello All

Thom's blog in this space and moving to a new home.

Please follow us across to hartmannreport.com - this will be the only place going forward to read Thom's blog posts and articles.

From Cracking the Code:
"No one communicates more thoughtfully or effectively on the radio airwaves than Thom Hartmann. He gets inside the arguments and helps people to think them through—to understand how to respond when they’re talking about public issues with coworkers, neighbors, and friends. This book explores some of the key perspectives behind his approach, teaching us not just how to find the facts, but to talk about what they mean in a way that people will hear."
to understand how to respond when they’re talking about public issues with coworkers, neighbors, and friends. This book explores some of the key perspectives behind his approach, teaching us not just how to find the facts, but to talk about what they mean in a way that people will hear."
From The Thom Hartmann Reader:
"Thom Hartmann channels the best of the American Founders with voice and pen. His deep attachment to a democratic civil society is just the medicine America needs."
Tom Hayden, author of The Long Sixties and director, Peace and Justice Resource Center.
From Screwed:
"Thom Hartmann’s book explains in simple language and with concrete research the details of the Neo-con’s war against the American middle class. It proves what many have intuited and serves to remind us that without a healthy, employed, and vital middle class, America is no more than the richest Third World country on the planet."
Peter Coyote, Actor and author of Sleeping Where I Fall