October 2, 2020

Thoughts and Prayers covid-19: day 195 | US: GA | info | act

The New York Times reports:

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President Trump revealed early Friday morning that he and the first lady, Melania Trump, had tested positive for the coronavirus, throwing the nation’s leadership into uncertainty and escalating the crisis posed by a pandemic that has already killed more than 207,000 Americans and devastated the economy.

Mr. Trump, who for months has played down the seriousness of the virus and hours earlier on Thursday night told an audience that “the end of the pandemic is in sight,” will quarantine in the White House for an unspecified period of time, forcing him to withdraw at least temporarily from the campaign trail only 32 days before the election on Nov. 3.

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And this shows just how out-of-touch these people are:

“ During late-night conversations, aides to Mr. Trump were discussing whether he should give an address to the nation on Friday from the White House or find some other way for him to reassure the public. But the aides were still in a state of shock as they absorbed the news, and there was no immediate word on how far the infection may have spread among senior White House officials, who generally do not wear masks in deference to the president’s disdain for them. ”

When has ’Rump ever “reassure[d] the public” about anything? Why are aides “in a state of shock”? Is this satire from the NYT? We never saw this coming...

“ Even if Mr. Trump does not become seriously ill, the positive test could prove devastating to his political fortunes given his months of playing down the enormity of the pandemic even as the virus was still ravaging the country and killing about 1,000 Americans every day. He has repeatedly predicted the virus was “going to disappear,” asserted that it was under control and insisted that the country was “rounding the corner” to the end of the crisis. He has scorned the advice of scientists, saying they were mistaken about the severity of the situation. ”

What a shame. Try yelling “fake news” at this one. What is that quote by Neil DeGrasse Tyson: “The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it.” Yeah, that one.

Excuse my schadenfreude, but if anyone deserves this, it’s ’Rump. And since he’s the self-proclaimed best at everything, he’ll likely come out of this unscathed personally, but hopefully not politically. Maybe he’ll try some of that bleach he was touting.

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On a totally unrelated note: do you think these two headlines are related?

Yeah, me neither.