Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Saucexorzski]

Blah, blah, blah. Even one cloth layer is better than nothing. Contact tracing and infection rates from the Trump rallies, and state protestes where masks were not worn show much larger infection spread than the BLM protests where most protestors were wearing masks.

Better than nothing sure, and i've said those that dont wear mask deserve blame.....but social distancing is the most important aspect of the multilayer defence against spreading the virus. i find it very problematic that folks here choose to only chastise a select group of folks who chose to disregard the guidelines instead of leveling the blame against all who chose too.

[Benggaul]

Better than nothing sure, and i've said those that dont wear mask deserve blame.....but social distancing is the most important aspect of the multilayer defence against spreading the virus. i find it very problematic that folks here choose to only chastise a select group of folks who chose to disregard the guidelines instead of leveling the blame against all who chose too.

No you don't. You're being a disingenuous ass again.

One group is protesting largely peacefully against gross police misconduct and the systemic racism that pervades American society and did so while taking precautions against the pandemic. Subsequent studies have shown that those protests did not lead to an increase in cases.

The OTHER group stormed government buildings while armed and WITHOUT taking precautions against the pandemic because they couldn't get fucking haircuts. Current outbreaks are happening where people eschew mask-wearing and generally ignore all of the recommendations.

If you can't see why one group would be supported and the other chastised then the problem is you. Not them. OR, as I said, you're just being a disingenuous ass. There's no "herp derp both sides" here.
[Infraction]

[Templar 331]

Better than nothing sure, and i've said those that dont wear mask deserve blame.....but social distancing is the most important aspect of the multilayer defence against spreading the virus. i find it very problematic that folks here choose to only chastise a select group of folks who chose to disregard the guidelines instead of leveling the blame against all who chose too.

Such as who?

[Saucexorzski]

No you don't. You're being a disingenuous ass again.

One group is protesting largely peacefully against gross police misconduct and the systemic racism that pervades American society and did so while taking precautions against the pandemic. Subsequent studies have shown that those protests did not lead to an increase in cases.

The OTHER group stormed government buildings while armed and WITHOUT taking precautions against the pandemic because they couldn't get fucking haircuts. Current outbreaks are happening where people eschew mask-wearing and generally ignore all of the recommendations.

If you can't see why one group would be supported and the other chastised then the problem is you. Not them. OR, as I said, you're just being a disingenuous ass. There's no "herp derp both sides" here.

Oh i can see why one group is supported and one group is not. I just don't understand why the supported one is given a pass and other not. I really do not think ones reason to protest has any bearing on if the virus is spread or not. Like i said in my first post, americans did this to ourselves because we believed in something more important than slowing down the spread of covid.

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Such as who?

All who choose to ignore the social distancing guideline. which means most all who protested, i think there were a few that did very well with masks and social distancing.

[Omega10]

Just one correction: The reason Florida has currently jumped ahead of Texas is purely because Florida reports all of their (erroneous) numbers in one lump sum in the middle of the day--and today it was another record at 11.5k new cases--whereas Texas reports throughout the day and thus far hasn't reported any. Texas will be back at number 3 by the end of the day, though (fuck) Florida has been steadily catching up this past week and may pass them in earnest next week.

Thanks for the correction. Either way, it's looking like New York will be in 4th place by about the end of the month.

[Saucexorzski]

When wearing masks outdoors social distancing becomes a lot less of a concern and we've seen no evidence the protesters have caused a surge. On the other hand, we see a lot of people who refuse to wear masks catching this shit and then spreading it to their community. I wonder why one is being chastised while the other isn't... I guess it'll remain a mystery.

This is 100% false as contact with other humans is the way the virus spreads. The MOST important guideline is to social distance. The use of masks is for those that cannot social distance, such as those deemed essential workers.

[Benggaul]

Oh i can see why one group is supported and one group is not. I just don't understand why the supported one is given a pass and other not. I really do not think ones reason to protest has any bearing on if the virus is spread or not. Like i said in my first post, americans did this to ourselves because we believed in something more important than slowing down the spread of covid.

Clearly not, because you contradict yourself in your second sentence. Stop talking nonsense.

Also, again, if you can't see why the fight to end police brutality and systemic racism is a better reason for protesting--even during a pandemic--than not being able to get a haircut or go to a bar then the problem is you.

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Thanks for the correction. Either way, it's looking like New York will be in 4th place by about the end of the month.

Maybe not within a month given that New York still has twice the total cases of either Florida or Texas, but at this pace they'll certainly be catching up quickly.

[Saucexorzski]

Clearly not, because you contradict yourself in your second sentence. Stop talking nonsense.

Also, again, if you can't see why the fight to end police brutality and systemic racism is a better reason for protesting--even during a pandemic--than not being able to get a haircut or go to a bar then the problem is you.

Its not nonsense, failure to social distance has been and still is a problem. Again the reason one protests for has no bearing on if the virus spreads, the act of being in close proximity to other humans greatly increases chance of spreading. We can argue the merits of the BLM and police reform protests vrs the Trump supporter protests in terms of the reasoning why and id agree with you, Police reform is necessary, addressing the racial bigotry faced by blacks is a good move. But i'm NOT going to give one a pass just because i believe their in their cause when it comes to covid.

[Breccia]

Trump signs PPP extension. Had no choice -- Senate handed it to him with unanimous consent.

This is not new money. This is an extension to apply for the remaining money, which, again, why was there remaining money? So many people applied that it crashed the system.

Also worth noting: apparently last night, Trump declared himself Only I Can Protect History between talking about how Andrew Jackson opposed the Civil War and saying Russia hadn't gone into Ukraine.

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NBC News sums up something we've noticed: Trump avoiding responsibility like the plague.

As the country is hit with record numbers of coronavirus cases, some states are halting their reopenings, and hospitals in hot spots are becoming overwhelmed, President Donald Trump has largely stayed in a place you don't often find him: the sidelines.

The president's lower profile is by design, a senior administration official said.

The latest hope among top aides is that by keeping Trump distanced from the day-to-day, the administration can depoliticize the virus response, the official said. Trump's comments on everything from masks to taking an experimental drug have ignited controversy and have drawn him into battles with Democrats and public health experts. One outside adviser said he has cautioned for months that there is only a downside in having Trump as the public face of the response.

The president made only a few passing references to the surging number of cases this week, saying during a speech on the economy that there are "some areas where we're putting out the flames or the fires and that's working out well." In an interview with Fox Business Network on Wednesday, Trump said of the virus, "I think that at some point that’s going to sort of just disappear, I hope."

Instead, the president focused most of his firepower on defending monuments and military bases honoring Confederate leaders, promoting the economy, making unsubstantiated allegations over mail-in voting and attacking the media. During a speech at Mount Rushmore on Friday, he attacked people who want to remove Confederate, patriarchal and colonial monuments as a threat to the country's existence, only briefly mentioning the virus that has killed more than 129,000 Americans.

Behind the scenes, Trump has also taken a mostly hands-off approach. He is briefed at least once daily on the number of cases and latest efforts on a vaccine and treatment, but he hasn't been attending the coronavirus task force meetings, traveling to the most affected states or strongly urging Americans to change their behavior.

Trump will probably give an update to the country on where things stand with the pandemic next week, but "he isn't going to be the daily voice on this," the senior administration official said. In his place, the White House is sending Vice President Mike Pence on the road to meet with governors and take questions from reporters, while Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator, and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar do more media interviews.

Few things.

First, that bolded, not quite true NBC News. He does go there, he just goes there to hold rallies without masks or social distancing.

Second, we've seen this before: Trump taking the podium to brag about the amazing job he did while leaving the actual work to other people. And if it goes badly, somehow it's socialist Democrat traitors who are somehow to blame. Trump, or people who talk to Trump, have probably told him that his poll numbers sagging harder than his giant obese man tits are not because the country is in danger and because Trump put it in danger, but instead, that Trump is talking about it. Either he believes that, if nobody's looking, it will go away...or worse, his staff thinks this is the case, and whether they are right/wrong there's no good ending there.

Third, any other defense is probably going to fail, too. It's too late to say "we shouldn't politicize this" because Trump was front and center doing that with the too little, too late steps he took in March. I actually do feel that politicizing a lethal virus outbreak is a poor move, but then Trump's rabid fanbase grabbed their weapons of war and took over a state capital to demand a haircut. Sorry. I don't make the rules. I also don't change the rules just because y'all losing.

And of course fourth, we've talked lightly a while ago about Pence being thrown under the #19 bus. I still say Pence is bulletproof. But if Pence is intentionally getting in the way to rescue Trump from himself, and if Trump/Pence staff are saying "We need Trump out of action for as long as possible so we can save American lives", Pence becomes rocketproof as well. For the record, I don't see Pence intentionally contradicting Fauci directly in his face.

The hope is, then, that Pence doesn't fall ill himself. Not only would this further shame the WH with their blatant failures, it would also push Trump's fat ass back into the spot light, and as we've seen recently, he says nothing but lies and falsehoods, trying to tiny handwave the problem and pivot to Confederate statues and Jyna.

[Mekkle]

I already learned that the remaining people still supporting trump either believe that the chinese or democrats are getting trumps staff or himself sick to rig the election. it wouldn't matter. him being in the spotlight doesn't matter anymore.

[Omega10]

Snip

The line I found most interesting was:

In an interview with Fox Business Network on Wednesday, Trump said of the virus, "I think that at some point that’s going to sort of just disappear, I hope."

He is still repeating the meme that the virus will just go away

[Breccia]

(fuck) Florida has been steadily catching up this past week and may pass them in earnest next week.

Pfft. You sound just like...well, lots of people. But one in particular leaps out.

An infectious disease specialist is warning that Florida is "heading a million miles an hour in the wrong direction" in its handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Right now, we are heading a million miles an hour in the wrong direction," Aileen Marty, an expert who helped write Miami-Dade's reopening rules, told "CBS This Morning."

She added, however, that people are not following the rules, which is playing a role in the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the area.

"It's absolutely the saddest thing, the most unnecessary situation that we're finding ourselves in," Marty said. "And it's behaviorally driven."

That statement is especially noteworthy when compared to Florida's extremely lax rules on the topic. DeSantis and Florida were doing he absolute minimum, and maybe even not that -- and yet, people weren't following even such comparatively tame rules. As @Benggaul has been updating us, Florida would have had yet another streak of record-breaking days except it went 10,500 -> 9,500 -> 11,500 or so, breaking the record only twice instead of three times.

But moving on from fuck Florida, it's time for Guess the Speaker!

President Trump receives well-deserved criticism for failing to serve his country in Vietnam. Yet, given the lack of loyalty to the troops he has displayed in recent months, that might have been for the best. Were he in A Company back then, he wouldn’t have charged across that bridge — he would have hung back and let the rest of us fend for ourselves. I and the others might never have made it home.

That's General Wesley Clark, former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO. He goes on to note, accurately, Trump's response has been between "hoax" and "I didn't do it" and not once was it "What? Why didn't anyone tell me? These are serious charges and we must defend our troops!"

If you think Clark is biased, I ask you to find the statement Trump issued in which he said he would take action. Considering we have GOP lawmakers who wish to take action, this isn't asking too much.

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He is still repeating the meme that the virus will just go away

I mostly believe this is an attempt to handwave what is the greatest threat to his tenure -- which is saying a lot, considering he's broken almost every promise he made plus also turned even the US Military against him for a photo op.

Alternatively, he could be the guy saying "If I keep flipping this coin, eventually it'll turn up tails, so I'll keep betting on 'tails' double-or-nothing until I'm right and that makes up for all the times I was wrong". It's a two-headed coin. There's no cure and no vaccine.

Either way, remember how it was one person coming over from China? Remember when the 15 cases were dropping? Remember how it would die in the April heat? It's fucking July and the hottest states are surging.

[Zan15]

https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics/...ry?id=71604361
Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr.'s girlfriend, tests positive for coronavirus



Oops...

isn't it nice to be working somewhere (president) that you can have every single person around you tested 24/7/365...…multiple times a day......for a hoax.....


meanwhile finally got test back on the person I know in a small state that is one of just the couple that has seen infection rates drop below 1%....after 6 days. Negative but she is still sick-ish. Must be the actual flu I guess.... they want to get tested again for anti bodies they think after 6 days they must have fucked up.

[alexw]

Better than nothing sure, and i've said those that dont wear mask deserve blame.....but social distancing is the most important aspect of the multilayer defence against spreading the virus. i find it very problematic that folks here choose to only chastise a select group of folks who chose to disregard the guidelines instead of leveling the blame against all who chose too.

No its actually not. The single biggest determinant in controlling the spread of the virus is the use of face masks. The reason New York has been able to control its outbreak is because of face masks.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegw.../#588bc2bb6497

[PhaelixWW]

The reason New York has been able to control its outbreak is because of face masks.

That and the fact that the people most likely to be exposed to the virus (either by necessity or stupidity) may have already contracted and recovered from it already and are thus hopefully immune for at least a while.

If you have a place that has a high preponderance of stupidity while also not having already recovered from 20% infection prevalence... then yeah, shit's gonna get ugly.

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In other words, masks are more important than the guideline to socially distance.

Not really, no. Socially distancing is still far more effective than wearing a mask. It's not always possible to comply with social distancing guidelines, however. Doing both is still the best, of course.

Doing neither is just stupidity rampant.

[Breccia]

Socially distancing is still far more effective than wearing a mask.

Doing neither is just stupidity rampant.

Driving in the correct lane is still far more effective than wearing your seat belt. Doing neither is asking for death.

By the way, Trump's 4th of July campaign rally drew about 7,500 people and we don't know how many National Park Service staffers were positive, because they weren't required to get tested. Which to continue this metaphor, would be getting on the road without working headlights.

Fifteen states broke records this week, at least one day, which to further torture this metaphor would be states turning off street lamps.

And the WHO finally ended hydroxychloroquine tests on account that it didn't help and raised the risk of injury or death, which bla bla metaphor bla is like the DMV saying "no, practice time on bumper cars doesn't count".

All of this, of course, as Trump tweets his frustration that the Fake News Enemy of the People keep reporting case numbers are going up. Which is like yelling at the cop for knowing how fast you were driving.

Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.

[Elegiac]

There is video of her speaking somewhere just before she was confirmed as having it. She talks into her mic for a while then hands the mic off to Trump Jr. What are the chances he also ends up having it?

Human to Trump transmission of COVID-19 has not yet been confirmed as possible by the CDC.

[Zaydin]

They must have Charlie Sheen's tiger blood or something so it can't infect them.

More likely that COVID-19 doesn't want to contract a severe case of Trump.

[Breccia]

What are the chances he also ends up having it?

I'm sure they're such God-fearing Republican Christians that they abstained from fluid exchange, so minimal.

(snicker)

[Smitzelplix]

The line I found most interesting was:



He is still repeating the meme that the virus will just go away

I think Trump has been watching too much Futurama.