Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Breccia]

So, sex counselling Trump-shill believes you must be a RINO if you're a Republican and don't support Trump right now.

Hm. This is the poll in question.

Let's see what it actually says.

1) Since March 13, Democrats, Republicans, and Independents all dropped in approval of how Trump has handled the coronavirus. US adults dropped from 60% to 50%. It might have something to do with huffing bleach.

2) The word "sleepy" does not appear. Sorry, Trump, that's not how quotes work.

3) The poll does not mention Biden at all. RCP does not list a recent Gallup poll of Trump vs. Biden, but every poll they do have puts Biden in the least barring one tie. 538 doesn't mention Gallup either, but does mention Trump tied in two polls and ahead in two (including +19 in a Utah-specific one and +1 in Georgia, HAHHAHAHA Trump is up by 1 in Georgia HAHAHAHA), and losing in every other poll. Was Trump having a senior moment? He seems confused. "Gallup" is a specific name of a specific group.

4) The number 96 does not appear in the Gallup poll. The number 93 does, but 93 and 96 are not the same number. Was Trump having a senior moment? He seems confused. "96" is a specific number with a specific meaning. Maybe he was talking about some other poll?

5) Trump is bragging about 49% and admits it's his highest. He's bragging about getting almost the majority -- kind of like the general election.

6) And of course the closing line

Trump's average approval rating throughout his three-plus years in office remains at 40%.

is worth separate, special note.

So Trump lied or was confused about 96%, lied or was confused about which poll had him beating Biden, lied or was confused about a quote in the poll he thought he was citing, cherry picked from what was left and still ended up bragging about almost breaking even.

In 140 characters.

[Kaleredar]

It is not about being man made in a laboratory but about it getting out of lab due to human error, that is what they mean by it being from a lab. Or at least i hope so as the lab made creation is a theory that has been debunked already by science.

Again, though... that doesn't change Trump's mishandling of the situation.

If the house next to yours is on fire, and you go and douse your roof with gasoline thinking it's water... is it really just the house next door's fault if yours starts to burn?

[beanman12345]

Intelligence has a pretty checkered past especially after 2001 and then the subsequent torture that they kept hidden from Bush(not Cheney) and Obama, but 20,000 lies means there isn't anything Trump can say that I'll ever believe, so if he says it came from a lab, I don't believe it did.

[jonnysensible]

looks like donald and the gop are going to go all in on 'china and the democrats in cahoots!'

[Breccia]

looks like donald and the gop are going to go all in on 'china and the democrats in cahoots!'

They will have two, maybe three days to do that before Biden smears Trump standing next to Xi saying "It's just one guy coming over from China, we're going to be fine".

[Xyonai]

They will have two, maybe three days to do that before Biden smears Trump standing next to Xi saying "It's just one guy coming over from China, we're going to be fine".

Or run adds about Trump's Debt to that Chinese State owned bank, can't forget that!

[Benggaul]

Okay, let's get it over with.

67,444 dead. 1,691 for the 2nd of May, following the trend of lower numbers for the weekend due to sporadic reporting--Kentucky hasn't submitted any numbers for today, for example. 29,744 new cases, also following the same pattern. Both of those are pretty much in the range they've been for weeks past, but I'm hoping for less of a "correction" Monday and Tuesday as the first wave seems to be passing through the larger cities and out into less populated suburban and rural areas/states. Even though the charts don't really reflect it, I'm hoping the initial "ground zero" states for the virus have passed their inflection point. I'm thinking Middle America still has a few weeks left.

Of course, all of this is going to get muddied as some states are opened up and shit gets stirred up again, and we're definitely going to be sailing past 70k well on the way to at least 80k in the next weeks. By the end of the month it's entirely feasible we'll be within wailing distance of 100k. Already.

[solinari6]

Did the bump in cases from Easter Sunday Services ever happen?

[Benggaul]

Did the bump in cases from Easter Sunday Services ever happen?

Hard to say. Easter was April 12th. On April 21 there was the highest total daily death count for the entire pandemic and the 24th and 25th saw the highest spike in confirmed cases. Of course, testing's STILL not up to snuff and definitely wasn't then and we have some states not reporting deaths accurately--or at all--so it'll probably have to wait until all of the dust has settled before we can get a real answer on that.

Also bear in mind that in the beginning of April it was still mainly kicking off in larger cities with suburbs and rural areas having very few cases. I hate to generalize, but it seems to me most of the people inclined to ignore the warnings and go to mass in large groups were from less populated regions to begin with.

[Breccia]

Did the bump in cases from Easter Sunday Services ever happen?

It looked like turnout was small anyhow. Good.

[Benggaul]

It looked like turnout was small anyhow. Good.

And this, yes. Common sense seemed to prevail in most areas, and in several others where there WAS a mass they tried to get clever with it (priest said mass from the doorway while everyone stayed in their cars in the parking lot, etc.).

There does look like there was a small increase--but it's going to be really tough to figure out if it's from the same areas where people crowded churches. There's a lot of holes in the data available.

[Breccia]

"Operation Warp Speed" is the official name of the vaccine project.

I am not kidding.

- - - Updated - - -

Okay, let's get it over with.

US endures worst one-day death toll yet as states reopen

According to data from the World Health Organization, 2,909 U.S. residents died on Thursday, shattering the previous record of 2,471 deaths that were reported on April 23, CNBC reports.

The grim news comes as Americans grow weary of the stay-at-home measures that have shuttered businesses and put millions of people out of work. State leaders around the country continued to see protests from demonstrators who want to reopen the economy and return to their jobs. Demonstrations took place in California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Tennessee and Washington on Friday.

CDC spokeswoman Kate Grusich told CNBC the agency’s data gets “validated through a confirmation process with jurisdictions.”

“CDC does not know the exact number of COVID-19 illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths for a variety of reasons,” the government agency said, according to the network. The CDC has also noted it might not have a more accurate death toll until December 2021.

As of Saturday night, the U.S. has over 1.2 million cases of coronavirus and over 66,000 deaths from the disease, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

[Paranoid Android]

So Trump fawning over Kim Jun-Un!. My goodness! This guy!

[Benggaul]

US endures worst one-day death toll yet as states reopen

Yeah, I was just about to post that as well. I'm not sure how they're measuring since worldometers is 100% up to date with publicly available information--the only difference being that they start and stop their day at midnight GMT. Unless they're getting information that the public isn't--which also doesn't speak well about how this is being handled.

[jonnysensible]

So Trump fawning over Kim Jun-Un!. My goodness! This guy!

on topic 'S Korea says troops exchange fire along N Korean border'

when will the decadent south learn!

[Breccia]

Trump declares national emergency executive order ordering protection increases for the power grid.

"Oh shit, did US Intelligence hear something about Taliban or ISIS? Or was there a credible threat from a hacker group?"

Um...

The executive order bans the use of equipment for the power grid that was manufactured by a company under the control of a foreign adversary, or the buying of any equipment that poses a national security threat.

"...."

“Additional steps are required to protect the security, integrity, and reliability of bulk-power system electric equipment used in the United States,” Trump wrote. “In light of these findings, I hereby declare a national emergency with respect to the threat to the United States bulk-power system.”

The order also established a task force to protect the power grid from attacks and share risk management information to prevent interference. Members of the task force will include the secretaries of Commerce, Defense and Homeland Security, as well as the Director of National Intelligence.

Trump noted in the order that the power system is a target for those “seeking to commit malicious acts” against the U.S., pointing to concerns around cyberattacks in particular.

"...this is about Huawei, isn't it?"

That's my take on it. I don't have any problem protecting the power grid, but I don't know why a national emergency had to be declared about it, and more importantly, why Trump didn't announce this proudly to a room full of applauding people. I know a declaration of national emergency grants special powers, but I don't see why it's necessary. Energy is an executive department, he can announce broad sweeping changes like "clean coal exists" without an emergency.

- - - Updated - - -

Do your job, get fired.

UPDATE: This is now official.

President Trump announced his intent to nominate a new inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), weeks after acting inspector general Christi Grimm released a report detailing shortages of testing and personal protective equipment (PPE) in hospitals responding to the coronavirus pandemic.

"We will continue to serve the American people by ensuring that their health and welfare are protected. Our agency began preparing to assist a new Inspector General appointee over a year ago, when the previous presidentially-appointed and senate-confirmed Inspector General first announced his intention to retire from government service. We will continue to work conscientiously to support a smooth leadership transition," said Tesia Williams, spokesperson for the office of the inspector general for HHS.

Mr. Trump criticized Grimm in early April, calling the findings in her report "wrong."

"Did I hear the word inspector general? Really?" Mr. Trump said during a White House briefing, demanding that the reporter who asked the question give him the name of the inspector general who wrote the report. "Where did he come from, the inspector general? What's his name? No, what's his name? What's his name?"

He also criticized Grimm and her report on Twitter, writing: "Why didn't the I.G., who spent 8 years with the Obama Administration (Did she Report on the failed H1N1 Swine Flu debacle where 17,000 people died?), want to talk to the Admirals, Generals, V.P. & others in charge, before doing her report."

Grimm is a career investigator who has served both Republican and Democratic presidents.

Good news! Trump finally nominated a post! It's been vacant since June 2019

- - - Updated - - -

China: It's Dangerous
America: It's only a Flu

LEGO denies involvement.

No, really. That's what it's come to. LEGO had to specifically and directly refute this. Kind of like...uh...Lysol had to.

[Justank]

UPDATE: This is now official.



Good news! Trump finally nominated a post! It's been vacant since June 2019

I didn't see a name in that article, is there actually a nomination for the post or just "intent"?

[Breccia]

I didn't see a name in that article, is there actually a nomination for the post or just "intent"?

Intent, it seems. Nominating someone would be the fastest way to replace his own acting IG without drawing even more ire for firing yet another doctor during a virus outbreak, so it's a sound tactical move, but qualified willing nominees don't appear out of thin air and the Senate has its own problems. Honestly, right now, confirming a HHS IG for Trump's last six months is probably less important to them than judges who serve for life.

[Paranoid Android]

Quick rundown of POTUS day.

Calls a female tv host a dog; Offers well wishes to a murderous despot; posts video congratulating himself on his election; Accuses members of FBI of treason; quote tweets pizzagate instigator; sends 15 tweets about assorted nonsense, 2 about covid.

https://twitter.com/Timodc/status/12...393555968?s=19

I like summaries so I don't need to read or link his tweets.

[Masark]

"Operation Warp Speed" is the official name of the vaccine project.

I am not kidding.

I have a feeling this will be more like Operation Threshold and they'll soon want us to forget it ever happened.