What Will It Take To Get Trump To Change His Deadly Position On The Coronavirus?
By Thom Hartmann A...
Donald Trump is stuck.Back in March and early April, the Trump administration relied on science and epidemiologists and put together a plan for the coronavirus. The Post Office would send five high-quality masks to every American. The economy would be shut down for a month or two so we could assess the situation while aggressively testing and doing contact tracing to isolate outbreaks and control and confine the disease.
Then, on April 7, all the news media, from newspaper to radio to television, announced a new scientific study showing that almost all the deaths had occurred in blue states, and the non-geriatric deaths occurred principally among Black, Hispanic and Native American people.
News reports tell us that following that news the White House held an internal meeting where Jared Kushner suggested that the situation could be used to make the Democrats look bad. Also, since white people were generally surviving the virus, they decided to cancel the entire plan to protect America and instead start pushing to open the economy back up. The Post Office's plan to distribute masks was canceled. Those dying were mostly people of color, so why bother?
But now the coronavirus is most rapidly spreading through and ravaging the central part of America, which is politically red and racially white. And wealthy white donors are getting exposed at Trump fundraisers. This is not what Trump's team was expecting.
But Trump is in a box now. Back when most of the infection was in cities and states run by Democrats and populated by people of color, Trump was enthusiastic about forcing people back to work and ignoring public health guidelines.
Now that his base, rural and small-town white people across the Midwest, South and West, are getting the infection and dying and experiencing long-term disabilities from it, including severe psychiatric syndromes, Trump can't just say that he was wrong between April and now.
So, instead of telling the truth, he's chosen to double down on his lies.
Now he's telling us the coronavirus is no big deal, and we shouldn't even bother to wear masks. That we shouldn't "be afraid" of the coronavirus or let it "dominate our lives." News reports say the slogan in the White House is, "We're all going to get it eventually, anyway."
Trump is staying with Jared's racist political plan to let people of color in blue states die, and doubling down on the herd immunity advice from his Fox News quack doctor, which could mean 6 million dead Americans within the next year.
Even worse, he's let the virus spread so far and wide in America that President Biden may find it very difficult to put the pandemic back into the bottle.
Countries all over the world are getting the coronavirus under control. Life is close to back to normal, including the economy, in multiple countries around the world; they're even playing rugby games in New Zealand next week in stadiums packed with fans. They haven't had a new case in the country in weeks.
America will not return to anything resembling normal until the racists and political hacks among our senior political leadership are voted out and replaced by people who actually care about the health and welfare of Americans.
Go to I Will Vote.com and double-check your registration. As many as 6 million American lives are on the line.
-Thom
Comments
#2
It has spread well past putting it back in the bottle. People like me have to continue to avoid crowds, social distance, wear a mask and wash hands until vaccine is administered. That should be sometime in 2021. It is getting old but is doable. Republicans have never understood that wearing a mask is not about protecting yourself it is about protecting others and is only effective when all wear masks properly. It is just like the Republicans never figured out that the Chinese do not pay the tariffs, we do. Trump has now spread this so far in his Government we are seriously weak. A major crisis could be very bad. This is 1 month before the election and that could be the crisis. Watch Trump try to stop the election or declare Marshall law. VOTE!
#3
We are at a junction of needing to think differently. As reported in the WaPo yesterday, the idea of "winning" from the 1940s ideas of the power of positive thinking drive this group. But...it's not the right thing for a multi-faceted crisis where we need collective intelligence.
As noted by Malcolm Gladwell, pandemics exploit the weak links in societies. If there are too many, the whole system crashes. It is totally wrong now to use a 1940s notion of winning and tout only the strong links of the best institutions in society.
The issue is not one person but a whole system that has been scripted in these ideas for decades. Change will take a new generation of leaders who get it and can build a more inclusive society.
#4
Life in prison might work! Go Bubba!
#5
Herman Cain/coronavirus timeline:
6/24: Attends Trump rally, maskless
7/02: Tests positive for Covid-19
7/10: Says he’s improving
7/15: Says his doctors seem happy
7/27: Says he’s really getting better
7/30: Dies
#6
Considering what Trump is planning, voting is not enough. George Lakey and others have started a effort called Choose Democracy, where you can sign a pledge of resistance, join trainings and explore other resources:
https://choosedemocracy.us/
#7
My apologies but I don't think we are going to rally collective intelligence any time soon through a party who worships a leader who metaphorically delights himself riding the bow of the titanic with his eyes closed not wearing a mask. We have a much more serious problem.
#8
Thank You again for Telling it like it is! MJ
#9
What Will It Take To Get Trump To Change His Deadly Position On The Coronavirus?
Until his daughter (Ivanka) or First Lady (his wife) (Melania) dies from this virus, he will not change his mind on CORONAVIRUS. As he is doing what he has been doing (keep "white" population alive to make sure they maintain the majority of this country by protecting white supremacists, sending all the medical needs to red-states, killing unarmed civilians, running over protesters with police vehicles), he has no plan to stop because Barack Obama (1st African American President) was in the White House for 2 full terms (mocked Donald Trump at White House Dinner) (Republicans have failed to beat/kick Obama out in 2012 election which it became most devastating blow to Republican party and to themselves). Therefore, these extreme right-wing ("white") people don't want any "colored" person to become President in this country again to maintain/exercise their white supremacy.
In other words, right-wing people want to make/transform everything from public (where you must represent everyone) to private (where you can pick and choose even discriminate) so that they have full control and exercise their power. In short, they (right-wing "white") people don't want neither equality nor democracy because it makes them powerless.
#10
If you think the last month has been crazy. The next 27 days will be a lot worse. Then, depending on what happens in the next 27 days, It will get even worse. from 11/3 or whenever the election results are finalized, expect the worse. Marshall law or whatever, January 3rd is when a new Senate is sworn in. Then you have potentially 17 days of extreme resistance. I mean calling out the Proud Boys, military etc. I did not mean to make is such a rosy picture. We are in uncharted territory.
Hope the VP debate goes well tonight. Kamala is highly experienced for this. Go Kamala.
Vote!
#11
Thom talked about Aerosols and dispersant of the virus today on his show. Have you ever been in a room where someone lights up a cigarette or joint from a long ways away and you smell it almost immediately. That is how breath spreads. I have literally been following another car on the freeway and smelled the other driver ahead of me smoking a cigar. That is literally how this virus has the potential to spread. The small plexiglass shields at the debate are not enough. I think Trump knew he was positive at the last debate and spewed as much dispersant as he could.
#12
It is whole system and they designed this way to benefit them. You said "Change will take a new generation of leaders who get it and can build a more inclusive society." But, democratic party selected Joe Biden (old white democrat) (not young democrat). Will he follow new progressive democrats in the House and the Senate? or stick to his old friends from 80s and 90s? That's what Biden has to answer to this country.
Depends how he decides, we've made right choice or wrong choice.
#13
Bernie could have won the primary and beat Trump easily had the phrase democratic-socialism not been so falsely vilified by the fascist right. But that didn't happen, so we work with what we got and move forward.
It's like the two-entrée menu: tuna-melt or rat poison. There will always be that hesitant customer who says, "Gee, I dunno ...just not in the mood for tuna fish today."
Is there really a choice?
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"What will It take to get Trump to change his deadly position on the coronavirus?"
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