I don’t know about everyone else but whenever I encounter a strange new easily transmitted deadly virus for which there is no cure or vaccine I ALWAYS check with game show hosts, not doctors or scientists, to find out the real deal.
It gives me a warm happy feeling that our President is spending time retweeting game show host and certified nutjob Chuck Woolery instead of telling people what they could do to stay safe, asking scientists what they need to speed up vaccine availability, or reviewing some best practices from nations who have slowed transmission.
/sarcasm off
/sarcasm off
Donald Trump defended his retweet this week of Chuck Woolery’s claim that Centers for Disease Control officials and others are “lying” about the coronavirus.CBS News Catherine Herridge asked Trump, “You reposted a tweet yesterday saying that CDC and health officials are lying. You understand this is confusing for the public. So who do they believe? You, or the medical professionals like Dr. Fauci?”
“I didn’t make a comment,” Trump told Herridge. “I did. I reposted a tweet that a lot of people feel. But all I am doing is making a comment. I’m just putting somebody’s voice out there. There are many voices. There are many people that think we shouldn’t do this kind of testing, because all we do, it’s a trap.”
In a tweet on Sunday, Woolery wrote, “The most outrageous lies are the ones about Covid 19. Everyone is lying. The CDC, Media, Democrats, our Doctors, not all but most, that we are told to trust. I think it’s all about the election and keeping the economy from coming back, which is about the election. I’m sick of it.”
“I didn’t make a comment,” Trump told Herridge. “I did. I reposted a tweet that a lot of people feel. But all I am doing is making a comment. I’m just putting somebody’s voice out there. There are many voices. There are many people that think we shouldn’t do this kind of testing, because all we do, it’s a trap.”
In a tweet on Sunday, Woolery wrote, “The most outrageous lies are the ones about Covid 19. Everyone is lying. The CDC, Media, Democrats, our Doctors, not all but most, that we are told to trust. I think it’s all about the election and keeping the economy from coming back, which is about the election. I’m sick of it.”
Trump retweeted the comment, which triggered questions from White House reporters on whether Trump was attacking his own health officials about the coronavirus.
On Wednesday, USA Today published an op ed from Trump’s trade adviser, Peter Navarro, in which he attacked Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who is a member of the White House’s coronavirus task force.
Navarro wrote that “Fauci has a good bedside manner with the public, but he has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him on.” “So when you ask me whether I listen to Dr. Fauci’s advice, my answer is: only with skepticism and caution,” he wrote.LINK
On Wednesday, USA Today published an op ed from Trump’s trade adviser, Peter Navarro, in which he attacked Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who is a member of the White House’s coronavirus task force.
Navarro wrote that “Fauci has a good bedside manner with the public, but he has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him on.” “So when you ask me whether I listen to Dr. Fauci’s advice, my answer is: only with skepticism and caution,” he wrote.LINK
The takeaway here is not just that Trump is stupid. We all knew that already. No the thing to remember about this latest kerfuffle is just how massive, bloated and weak Trump's ego is. He is President during a worldwide pandemic. He isn't handling the pandemic very well, to put it mildly. Rather than admit that, even if only to himself and do better, Trump's response is to claim that there is no pandemic or that it's all a hoax by the Chinese/the liberals/the media/President Obama/insert enemy of the day to make him look bad.
And a certain percentage of his followers line up enthusiastically to drink the poisoned Kool-Aid of his lies. Some of them are dying as a result of doing so. But I guess as long as they think they're "owning the libs" they're happy to remove themselves from the planet.
I, however, have a host of things I'd like to do and experiences I'd like to have before the curtain falls on my role in this play called life.
And as much as I am indifferent to the idiocy of some Trump voters competing to win the 2020 Darwin awards, in their frenzied competition to kiss Trump's ample backside they may inadvertently sicken yours truly. And THAT would be a horrible tragedy indeed.
The idea that we shouldn't do testing because that makes Trump look bad is asinine. That's like coughing up blood and going to the oncologist only to have the doctor tell you might have cancer but that he really doesn't want to risk his remission stats this year. After all that might impact his bonus or his plans for expanding his clinics. So the doctor suggests that instead of getting a test to confirm a cancer diagnosis why don't you just go home and drink some ginger ale. After all you probably just have an upset stomach.
"But he that sows lies in the end shall not lack of a harvest, and soon he may rest from toil indeed, while others reap and sow in his stead."
I think that Tolkien quote from The Silmarillion accurately sums up the problem with creatures like Trump. Via malice or stupidity other people act on his lies. And we all suffer.
