Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Breccia]

We've talked, off and on, about China "buying" friends in South America and China through infrastructure projects and the like.

We've also talked, mostly on, about the US losing its clout on the world stage.

In case you weren't sure where things were going, Axios just posted this, and the headline/map tells the story just fine.



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The steps of telling the states to deal with it, then blaming them for their failures while taking credit for their successes.

I mean Pence was talking about DeSantis' "prudent steps". I don't happen to have any, other than again last week.

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Miami-Dade issues curfew until further notice.

It is the most infected county in Florida. Which is saying something.

[Elegiac]

Miami-Dade issues curfew until further notice.

It is the most infected county in Florida. Which is saying something.

Woop.

Guess that imposing curfews in response to protests kinda removed the "well we aren't China" argument against them.

Seriously, every business owner that is lobbying their local/state governments to drag their feet here needs to just go bankrupt already.

[Breccia]

That's odd, you changed the headline.....?

I finally got around to clicking on this. I 100% forgot who this guy even was. Was he just hiding in the proverbial closet except African-American-for-Trump instead of homoesexual this whole time?

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Fauci talks to a medical journal that

Right now, if you look at the number of cases, it's quite disturbing. We're setting records, practically every day, of new cases in the numbers that are reported. That clearly is not the right direction

Little bit of an understatement there.

[Benggaul]

*flips through pages*
*clears throat*
*flips through pages again*
*looks into camera*

Shit is fucked.

57,236 new cases. Florida finally admitted to having more than 10k (after submitting--then retracting a similar number earlier this week) and when (FUCK) Florida is saying their numbers are that high--as in, nearly peak New York high--then what they REALLY mean is they've probably reached New York numbers. They also let their death tally go higher than the 40's for a day that isn't a correction day--64--so that also says something.

Georgia, new record at about 3.5k. North Carolina, new record at 1,855, just edging out their previous record from a couple weeks ago. California, new record at just over 9.3k, so not trailing too far behind Florida. South Carolina, new record at 1,782, edging out their previous record from a couple days ago. Texas hits 7.5k again, Arizona, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama--while not records--continue high upward trends.

Today's death toll at 687 was slightly higher than the previous Thursday. Too soon to tell if this is the beginning of an upward trend as a result of the glut of new cases or just a fluke. We'll know by next week.

And just to put another nail in the coffin of "WE'RE SEEING MORE CASES BECAUSE OF MORE TESTING DERP!", Texas now has the third-highest total cases in the States behind New York and California with only about 76k tests per million pop versus 207k and 109k for New York and California respectively. Florida is sitting at about 94k per million and--if they have another day like today--will be overtaking New Jersey (164k/1 mill pop) for the 4th spot tomorrow. In other words places like Texas and Florida have done FAR fewer tests comparatively yet are still seeing huge amounts of infections.

I didn't honestly think we'd be seeing 60k. I was kind of hoping we peaked prior to the previous weekend and that we'd be seeing a downward slope this week. Now I think 60k is a very real possibility. Which is fucking nuts. ACTIVE cases has risen about 400k in a month.

Wear your fucking masks and shut the fuck up you MAGA dipshit assholes. No more playing nice in this TRUMP SHITSHOW.

Stay safe, folks.

[Breccia]

Shit is fucked.

Now how bad could it poss-

57,236 new cases.

Well, fuck. That's nearly 10% above yesterday's record high.

[Zaydin]

So the CBO has a new projection out for how the coronavirus pandemic is going to scar the US work force for a long time. It's predicting that the economy will be at 4.4% unemployment by.... *checks notes* The fourth quarter of 2030.

Yep, the CBO is reporting that it will take us a decade to get our unemployment numbers back to where we were six months ago thanks to the bungled response to the pandemic. Now granted, it is a prediction for a date 10 years in the future and things will probably change between now and then but it doesn't change the fact that we are going to be reeling from this pandemic for a long time.

[Breccia]

Well, isn't this interesting. I mean horrifying.

Scientists say strain of coronavirus dominant around the world is different than what originated in Wuhan

Link to study's abstract.

A new strain of the coronavirus that was first seen in Italy is now the dominant strain of the virus, a group of scientists said Thursday.

In an article published by the peer-reviewed science journal Cell, researchers working with the Sheffield COVID-19 Genomics Group announced that the new strain "has become the most prevalent form in the global pandemic."

"Dynamic tracking of variant frequencies revealed a recurrent pattern of G614 increase at multiple geographic levels: national, regional and municipal. The shift occurred even in local epidemics where the original D614 form was well established prior to the introduction of the G614 variant," the scientists wrote in their abstract, referring to the two strains.

"The consistency of this pattern was highly statistically significant, suggesting that the G614 variant may have a fitness advantage," they continued.

Scientists disagreed with the reasoning for the new strain's dominance; researchers with the study suggested that the newer strain may be more virulent, while others contended in comments included with the study that the dominance could be due to its spread in the U.S., which has largely failed to blunt its rising trend of new coronavirus infections and now has more than any other country.

Researchers on the study added that while their findings may indicate that the newer virus strain has a higher transmission rate, there was no evidence yet pointing to the idea that it was more severe than the strain thought to have originated late last year in Wuhan, China.

"In infected individuals G614 is associated with lower RT-PCR cycle thresholds, suggestive of higher upper respiratory tract viral loads, although not with increased disease severity," they wrote.

The U.S. now has more than 2.7 million confirmed cases of the virus, and on Thursday set another record for new coronavirus cases in a 24-hour period. Italy, which was hit hard by the virus earlier this year, has largely seen its trend of new cases drop off and now reports under 200 per day across the country.

Obviously, the damn thing has us flanked. Oh, goodie. This won't help the race for a vaccine at all.

But, side effect, we might have to start pointing out that not only is CHINA VIRUS CHINA VIRUS CHINA VIRUS racist and deflecting, it's arguably also factually incorrect. Or, maybe worse, those who said that might have to grimace in silence as some people say TEXAS VIRUS TEXAS VIRUS TEXAS VIRUS? I don't think the variant's oranges are tracked down yet, but let's be honest, do y'all want to take that chance?

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Yep, the CBO is reporting that it will take us a decade to get our unemployment numbers back to where we were six months ago thanks to the bungled response to the pandemic.

Indeed, they projected that Trump will never see unemployment numbers as low as Obama's ever again.

[Redwyrm]

Wear your fucking masks and shut the fuck up you MAGA dipshit assholes. No more playing nice in this TRUMP SHITSHOW.

Stay safe, folks.

Heard the best/worst conspiracy theory in the gym earlier this week. Guy basically was complaining that wearing masks was a liberal plot to, now get this, infringe on his second amendment rights. Because, you can't conceal carry AND wear a mask.

And then followed it up by saying "Liberals think we are stupid, we see what they are doing" or something to that effect.

[kaid]

*flips through pages*
*clears throat*
*flips through pages again*
*looks into camera*

Shit is fucked.

57,236 new cases. Florida finally admitted to having more than 10k (after submitting--then retracting a similar number earlier this week) and when (FUCK) Florida is saying their numbers are that high--as in, nearly peak New York high--then what they REALLY mean is they've probably reached New York numbers. They also let their death tally go higher than the 40's for a day that isn't a correction day--64--so that also says something.

Georgia, new record at about 3.5k. North Carolina, new record at 1,855, just edging out their previous record from a couple weeks ago. California, new record at just over 9.3k, so not trailing too far behind Florida. South Carolina, new record at 1,782, edging out their previous record from a couple days ago. Texas hits 7.5k again, Arizona, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama--while not records--continue high upward trends.

Today's death toll at 687 was slightly higher than the previous Thursday. Too soon to tell if this is the beginning of an upward trend as a result of the glut of new cases or just a fluke. We'll know by next week.

And just to put another nail in the coffin of "WE'RE SEEING MORE CASES BECAUSE OF MORE TESTING DERP!", Texas now has the third-highest total cases in the States behind New York and California with only about 76k tests per million pop versus 207k and 109k for New York and California respectively. Florida is sitting at about 94k per million and--if they have another day like today--will be overtaking New Jersey (164k/1 mill pop) for the 4th spot tomorrow. In other words places like Texas and Florida have done FAR fewer tests comparatively yet are still seeing huge amounts of infections.

I didn't honestly think we'd be seeing 60k. I was kind of hoping we peaked prior to the previous weekend and that we'd be seeing a downward slope this week. Now I think 60k is a very real possibility. Which is fucking nuts. ACTIVE cases has risen about 400k in a month.

Wear your fucking masks and shut the fuck up you MAGA dipshit assholes. No more playing nice in this TRUMP SHITSHOW.

Stay safe, folks.

Given the age of a lot of communities in florida with this transmitting widely there now the death tolls are going to get pretty gruesome once it catchs on into those retirement areas.

[Breccia]

Given the age of a lot of communities in florida with this transmitting widely there now the death tolls are going to get pretty gruesome once it catchs on into those retirement areas.

The story I keep seeing is, it's being spread by the youth -- hence the low death count. The second someone visits grandma the rules change.

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Oh, fuck, this is the worst timing ever.

Supreme Court restores Alabama voting restrictions

The Supreme Court voted 5-4 on Thursday to block a trial judge's order that would have eased the use of absentee ballots for three Alabama counties, the New York Times reports.

Why it matters: The decision temporarily allows election officials in Lee, Jefferson and Mobile counties to enforce an ID requirement for disabled voters and those 65 or older in an upcoming primary runoff election, the Times reports.

Alabama state officials asked the Supreme Court to intervene in the district court's decision, arguing that it "had come too close to the election and threatened its integrity," per the Times.

I would say "I hope y'all know what y'all doing" but I think we already know the answer to that.

[swiftowner]

The story I keep seeing is, it's being spread by the youth -- hence the low death count. The second someone visits grandma the rules change.

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Oh, fuck, this is the worst timing ever.

Supreme Court restores Alabama voting restrictions



I would say "I hope y'all know what y'all doing" but I think we already know the answer to that.

Requiring old people to get id’s in the middle of a pandemic, so that they can go vote... and possibly die for their right to vote, and about “right”

[Breccia]

Wow, the hits just keep coming today. Fuck this timeline.

One, Fauci -- possibly speaking on this very peer-reviewed paper or just knowledge because he's the leading US expert -- warns that the mutation will make the spread easier. I could quote, but I just don't feel like it anymore.

Two, Trump is apparently forming a State Department pandemic team.

"Didn't we use to have --"

Yes.

The Trump administration disbanded the National Security Council's pandemic response office in 2018 -- and now, on the defensive after a failed response to the coronavirus pandemic, they are planning to launch a similar office at the State Department.

The National Security Council hosted an interagency meeting Thursday to discuss the plans for the office, which will fall under the leadership of a new position: coordinator for pandemics, a senior administration official said.

Former officials say the administration could have been better prepared for the pandemic if it had left the original office in place instead of trying to replicate it even as the virus gained new ground. As the US hit a record Wednesday for the highest single day count of new infections, these former officials said having the original unit in place "absolutely" would have made a difference in coordinating a more expedient and effective response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has now cost more than 125,000 American lives.

The article goes on, but you get the idea. Trump is trying to re-hire welders for the Titanic while it's several days out to sea and sinking.

I honestly don't even know why the State Department. Oh, wait, yes I do.

The goal of Thursday's meeting was to flush out the details and establish a proposal for President Donald Trump to approve -- but the push to start a new office has drawn criticism from health experts and former officials, some of whom question whether this new unit is being located at the State Department, and not the NSC, simply to differentiate from the Obama administration effort.

Look, the article goes on from there, but you know it already without reading it. Medical experts say this move is between bad and literally retarded. They point out Trump had multiple task forces, led by multiple people, they didn't work. And of course, all of this could have been handled in a much more effective fashion, saving tens of thousands of American lives so far, if the original team had just done their job instead of being fired by a reality TV game show host.

In a health security crisis, speed is essential. When this new coronavirus emerged, there was no clear White House-led structure to oversee our response, and we lost valuable time

-- the head of the team that Trump fired

[Benggaul]

Given the age of a lot of communities in florida with this transmitting widely there now the death tolls are going to get pretty gruesome once it catchs on into those retirement areas.

The general word is that the retirement community is locked up tight and the average age of those testing positive is in the mid-30's, so there's hope. For now.

[Breccia]

Well. It has not been a good month for the Secret Service. Some of the SS agents organizing Pence's Arizona trip have tested positive. Naturally, so did some of the police they talked to. It's a "chicken and the egg" thing at this point who was first.

Well, the rising cases here in Arizona is why I’m here. It’s why we brought the White House Coronavirus Task Force here

--Pence, in Arizona

Sending the task force to the state spiking the hardest sounds a lot like sending the police commissioner into a SWAT firefight.

[Pannonian]

Well, isn't this interesting. I mean horrifying.

Scientists say strain of coronavirus dominant around the world is different than what originated in Wuhan

Link to study's abstract.



Obviously, the damn thing has us flanked. Oh, goodie. This won't help the race for a vaccine at all.

But, side effect, we might have to start pointing out that not only is CHINA VIRUS CHINA VIRUS CHINA VIRUS racist and deflecting, it's arguably also factually incorrect. Or, maybe worse, those who said that might have to grimace in silence as some people say TEXAS VIRUS TEXAS VIRUS TEXAS VIRUS? I don't think the variant's oranges are tracked down yet, but let's be honest, do y'all want to take that chance?

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Indeed, they projected that Trump will never see unemployment numbers as low as Obama's ever again.

If it continues like this, i think i'll start calling it the US virus...

I hope that people come to their senses and will stay at home tomorrow, and not celebrate in masses. Wont they?

[Paranoid Android]

The Trump administration quietly classified ICE as a "security agency" in order to block all employee information from public disclosure under FOIA, per internal ICE memo leaked to me.

This includes ICE employees' names, job titles, salary, and more:
https://t.co/j2cLiu4aF8 https://t.co/VNyOrHLiVt

https://twitter.com/kenklippenstein/...134228993?s=19

Have not seen much news on this. In the link is a pic of a memo or directive from ICE.

On June 11, the administration classified ICE as a “Security Agency,” according to a memo signed by Albence and dated June 26. This new designation puts ICE employees in the same category as high-level intelligence officials, and blocks from disclosure information that is typically public, such as name, job title, and salary. The memo was provided to The Nation by an ICE official on condition of anonym

So this goes to all employees not just field agents.

This pretty makes ICE have incredible protection from immunity from the law.

Trump's defense is of course his police force, which no doubt he using as a hammer is under threat. So it is to keep the morale of employees of working is secrecy for ICE.

The problem is other agencies don't have this, the IRS for one.

[rayvio]

there was a time when I was a child when America seemed like a paradise. they had more than 4 flavours of pop tarts. they had more than one flavour of coke. they had more than 4 TV channels (or the 20ish the posh people with satellite dishes had). and this was before I even discovered root beer (at the time I mistakenly believed it was the same thing as ginger ale) or many of the other good things about the US. pretty sure there was a lot screwed up with America even back then (much as there was and is in the UK and everywhere else) but the current madinistration (that's not a typo, that's what you get when the bad kind of crazy is in charge) would make almost anything seem good. hell, there are fictional super-villains who are probably ruined for the future generations because the danger they threaten seems comical in comparison to the levels of damage that has actually been done by this moron

and the truly amazing thing is it just keeps on getting worse. it's like a bad comedy sketch that just keeps adding another punchline every time you think it's finally over. and it would be funny if it weren't real, in a so-bad-it's-funny kind of who-writes-this-crap kind of way...

[Twdft]

This pretty makes ICE have incredible protection from immunity from the law.

Hail Hydra

[Poopymonster]

Woop.

Guess that imposing curfews in response to protests kinda removed the "well we aren't China" argument against them.

Seriously, every business owner that is lobbying their local/state governments to drag their feet here needs to just go bankrupt already.

Guess that invisible hand of the free market isn't perfect when it's dry fisting your business.

[Thekri]

Heard the best/worst conspiracy theory in the gym earlier this week. Guy basically was complaining that wearing masks was a liberal plot to, now get this, infringe on his second amendment rights. Because, you can't conceal carry AND wear a mask.

And then followed it up by saying "Liberals think we are stupid, we see what they are doing" or something to that effect.

Was he concealing his gun in his mouth? Because that isn't sanitary.