I read that two pastors of megachurches in the Deep South are disobeying emergency public health regulations by continuing to pack people into their churches. Religious libertarians? No. These are scofflaws who are risking their congregants’ lives to keep the money rolling in and to enhance their reputations in the pentecostal demi-monde. If they want to jump off the pinnacle of the Temple, let them go ahead, but they’ve neither calling nor right to take others with them.
30 III 2020: Who disrespects the federal government??
Our liar-in-chief declared recently that people who “disrespect” him are showing disrespect for the Federal Government. Why?
1) He thinks he is Louis XIV, “l’état, e’est moi” — what a gas bag!
2) Trump routinely accuses others of faults that are especially his own. Is it not he who has shown the greatest disrespect for the Federal Government in the last three years?
And what is it that shows disrespect for Trump. Quoting his own words back to him … oh so aggressive and nasty! I guess we must bear in mind that Old Uncle Donald is not, in fact, 100% there, and so it’s nasty, not-nice to ask the President to explain the inconsistency of his public statements.
29 III 2020: He’s no Mussolini
Been reading about the miscellaneous jeers, insults, confusion, lies, and self-aggrandizement that have flowed from the hands and mouth of our President through the last week. One might think Trump is another Mussolini raging from a balcony on the Piazza Venezia. But Trump makes me think of an much-disliked little rich kid shouting insults from the balcony of his parents’ condominium at the kids below with whom he is afraid to play. Why? He won’t play because he might lose, might embarrass himself, or (heaven prevent it!) get hurt. Moreover, he cannot play because he has never learned the rules of the game, has little or no understanding of sportsmanlike behavior, and thinks all that stuff is for losers anyway.
28 III 2020: Viewed from afar …
What follows is a quotation from an article on the corona virus pandemic by Burnhanettin Duran, a columnist with The Daily Sabah from Istanbul:
The United States, which was expected to lead humanity in this difficult time, cannot even manage its own crisis. As a matter of fact, America could be the outbreak’s next epicenter. U.S. President Donald Trump, who believes that weakening international organizations would serve his country’s interests, isn’t even thinking about a global response to this medical emergency. Sadly enough, we cannot forecast what will happen if the virus spreads from high-mobility nations to other regions and, in particular, conflict zones like Syria and Yemen.
Experts agree that the COVID-19 outbreak is unlike any crisis that mankind has faced in the past. The pandemic’s impact on humanity, they say, can only be compared to the world wars. The medical emergency’s economic impact alone will be more severe than the Great Depression.
28 III 2020: And a little child shall lead them???
I am reading more about the petty and perilous behavior of Trump and his gang in the midst of the pandemic. He is compelled to “get even” with anyone at all who offends or, especially, criticizes him. At least that is suggested by his denunciation and attempted freezing out of any who do not “appreciate” him and his efforts to control the virus. Of course, “appreciate” really means “praise me to the skies and don’t mention my screw-ups.” This sort of childish behavior of Trump’s is not new, though lately it has been exaggerated, probably because of the acceleration of his mental decay. Can anyone imagine a worse situation than our country facing the greatest crisis in living memory with a mentally ill little boy as president?
I am surprised that I have not read about any of Trump’s evangelical witch doctors pronouncing that the corona virus crisis is God’s punishment of the United States for allowing gay marriage and equality for women, etc. For my part, I do not see the enormity of the CV plague as a divine punishment of the U.S. for electing a notorious public sinner, but it surely is the consequence of electing a deranged incompetent.
27 III 2020: Block lies, contain deceit
I was happy to read that KUOW, an NPR station in Seattle, has stopped live airing Trump’s rallies (a.k.a. “briefings”). They have, they say, not enough time to fact-check Trump’s mendacious ramblings, so they are going to present a post-examination coverage of what Trump has to say. They call Trump’s deceits “false information,” and assert that false information has a disastrous effect on public health and national security. I heartily agree, but I would not use the term “false information,” but would prefer to use the simple noun “LIES.”
His very presence through these briefings is a lie, the lie being that Trump is in charge and is taking prompt and constructive steps to deal with the crises. In the tradition of the “big lie,” he uses his time on the air to keep repeating his lies, ignoring informed contradiction and blocking it out. The improvement of his approval rating suggests that his deceits are having their effect on the Trump addicts and the unobservant.
People in public life need to become far more aggressive in telling the country that Trump is not-to-be-believed and, in a crisis like this, should be ignored.
20 III 2020: The best way to confront the corona virus crisis
After watching Trump’s tantrum at today’s briefing I came to the conclusion that the best step that could be taken to help the U.S. through the corona virus plague is for Trump to resign the presidency. Remember the old line, “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem,” and Trump is clearly not part of the solution.
His sociopathic episodes have become more frequent and intense. His inability to focus and irascibility have increased. He can’t remember lines his staff make up for him because he is overwhelmed by his impulse to contradict learned and experienced public servants whose information and ideas he cannot understand.
Neither Trump nor his appointees nor Mitch and the other crooks in the Senate are of any real help. If America is to be saved, it will be saved by those whom reactionary propagandists call “The Deep State.”
12 III 2020: It’s bringing out their best.
The uproar about the Corona virus has been showing the Trump Administration at its best. Trump set Pence up to fail as the Corona Virus Tsar so he could ditch Pence closer to election time. But the blame is not sticking to Pence because Trump cannot, as one might expect, keep his mouth shut, so it’s he and not Pence who is making all the memorably stupid remarks about Corona virus. His dummies, Kelly Ann, Stephanie Grisham, Rush Limbaugh, and creatures in Congress, are repeating whatever Trump the Ventriloquist says.
How, then, can I say that the Corona virus is bringing out the best of Trump and Co.? I can because we’re seeing them at their best, doing the best they can. We all hoped that if we said our prayers, avoided cracks in the sidewalk, and kept our fingers crossed we might get through Trump I-IV without a major crisis that would demand some real competence from Trump and the other characters in his comic strip. Well our luck has run out. We’re dealing with a pandemic and we’re dealing, at least some of us, with our chagrin at having elected and supported an industrial-grade liar and loser.
29 II 2020: Let’s ditch Donnie
Why do the news media keep reporting the silly statements of our Crown Prince? The mere fact that Donnie is our ruler’s son and heir makes him neither competent nor interesting.
29 II 2020: Everyone’s against me
Overheard in the W.H.:
Donald: Mike, what do you make of this corona virus?
Mike: Oh, Mr. President, I think the best thing to do is do nothing at all. That worked very well for me back home in Indiana.
Donald: But Mike, why is this happening just as my campaign is getting started?
Mike: I don’t know, Mr. President, but it must be part of God’s plan.
Donald: So God’s a traitor too! Time for the Trump Treatment. I’m going to have Foxx and my evangelicals tell some really embarrassing lies about God.
Mike: Mr. President, they’ve lied about God for years. They must have run out of lies.
Donald: Mike, I wouldn’t worry about that.