NOTE: I started writing this a couple days ago.  With the news this morning that President Trump  and his wife have been infected with covid I sincerely hope they are asymptomatic, or have mild cases.  It is no secret I do not think he is, or has ever been, a competent leader of the nation, but I would never wish him or anyone the misfortune of infectious misery.  It is everyone’s wish and in our best interest that the President and Melania have a quick recovery.  

When President Trump revealed that he knew back in January that the corona virus was a terrifyingly contageous pathogen and then eight months and 200,000 deaths later tell a worshiping crowd of supporters that no one should worry because it hardly affects anyone, you would think that would be an indication to most people that maybe this man should not be in charge of anything, let alone the well being of over 300 million citizens.  But talk to a typical attendee of a Trump rally and you get the impression the important thing to remember is whatever the president says last.  Asked why they feel so unconcerned about placing themselves into confined space and not wearing face coverings, most will reply they don’t believe the virus is especially harmful, and you will even get a few who say the whole pandemic is a hoax.  There will curiously be a few elderly citizens who seem to be a bit on the contagiousness fence, but perfectly fine with resigning themselves to whatever fate has in store for them.  If it’s their time to go, so be it.  All is well and good.

I suppose this is fine, and good, for the person expressing his willgness to travel to the great beyond, since whoever it is seems to be expressing some kind of confident courage, or even patriotism, willing to make the ultimate sacrifice in the name of Trumpism and positive economic outcomes. But this is bad, bad for the misguided supporter (no one wants to see you go) and mostly for the rest of us. Besides self protection, the more important reason for social distancing and  wearing a mask is to protect others and prevent this god awful stuff from spreading. Not abiding by basic pandemic protcols is bad and selfish, not good.  For Trump, of course downplaying the disease meshes nicely with his self-centered, narcissism.  It’s all good there.  Instill a false sense of security. People feel it’s perfectly safe to gather and spend money and the economy improves and Trump looks good.  Untill it turns bad again when people infect other people, the economy stagnates, and the whole cycle gets even worse as we head into the flu season.

You can catalog multiple instances of how Trump has been able to twist something bad (i.e. voting twice) into something his entreched followers to believe is good (it’s good for Trump therefore it’s good for you).  Out of the massive dumpster overflowing with very, very bad things Trump has said and done, nothing is more egregious, nothing should infuriate us more, than the damage he is inflicting on our election process.  It is very bad for a sitting president to declare he will not abide by one of the lynch pins of our form of democracy- the peaceful transision of power.  That is so bad it should be considered a disqualifying event. Nothing good can be converted from this border-line treasonous avouchment.

Because Trump is such a master of gas lighting, his susceptible supporters will once again believe this is just another aspect of Trump’s disruptive master plan to fix America, and shrug it off. All they will be hearing from now until election day is how rigged the system is with all of the mail balloting going on.  Nothing good will come of this contemptuous, irresponsibley false, despotic ranting.  Trump realizes the odds of his reelection are not in his favor and he is not above doing anything to stay in power, including imploding our democracy.

It is dumbfounding to me to see conservative media get so worked up about some sort of impending, socialistic conspiracy on the horizon if Joe Biden is elected.  Accordingly it is surmised socialism will be so consuming that within four years the country will be under communist rule. For Pete sakes!   Right before our eyes the current administration has undermind our laws and institutions, neutered the checks and balances of the legilative branch by intimidation,  used paramilitary squads to supress peaceful protest, removed adminstrative oversight from multiple goverment departments, verbally attacked the courts, turned the Department of Justice into his own political puppet, and avariciously profited from his position of executive power.  Cronyism and corruption within the current administration has been rampant and our democracy is migrating from a kleptocracy to autocracy.  The man in charge of our special form of democratic government is so consumed by his fear of  losing an election he is panic stricken to point of dismantling it all to save his job.  President Trump has publicly stated the only way he will lose the election is if the Democrats cheat, and not so subtely encouraged radical supporters to “stand by” if he loses. What he is suggesting is a dictatorial coup. This is all currently occurring.  Yet none of that seems to bother his base, or his Republican sycophants.  Their worry is about some manufactured and very bazzar, futuristic conspiracy theory that the Democratic party is contriving to establish communistic rule.  That is absurd.  The finer point is Trump’s fascist demagogery is bad and dangerously seditious. That is not good.

As we have recently found out via his income tax information, Trump has maneuvred through his life using smoke and mirrors.  All of his business conduct, the shady practices, tax  manipulation and evasion, accumulation of mountainous debt, falsifing asset values, it’s all incrimmnating evidence of a fraudulent and disasterous businessman.  But paradoxically, Trump supporters  believe that is all part of his genius and that somehow deception and manipulation are good for the country.   You might be able to say he’s a genius in one respect.  He will probably become recognized as one of the most cunning public figures recorded in history. Unconscionable conduct might be good for Trump.  But it is bad for the rest of us.

If President Trump is so concerned with voting fraud, it is his responsibilty to do everything he can to fix it. The reality is he seems to think it is to his advantage to do nothing and even create obsticles to voting.  And anyway as far as fraud goes there is actually little to fix. Recently  the FBI, Homeland Security, the Brennan Center for Justice, all examined data and concluded fraudulent mail voting to be practically nonexistent.  George W Bush’s Justice Department conducted a five year investigation of all aspects of voter fraud and only found 120 cases worth prosecuting.  It was a different voting issue, but the president’s own commision, headed by sycophant Kris Kobach, which was investigating voter registration fraud, had to disband because of lack of evidence. The most prominent person promoting voter fraud is the President of the United States himself by telling people to vote twice.

And you can not evaluate Trumpism without discussing racism.  The subject is so involved it would be sensless to address it here.   All I should need to say about that is it is bad.  I will say I do believe much of the Trump allure has more to do with castism than racism.  But both intertwine, and Trump has subtely used both to divide the coutnry and that is definately not good.

Trump’s view of the world is transactional.   He is only interested in what promotes or protects him.  Covid is just a numbers game to him- polls, TV ratings, and the stock market. Of course he should be concerned with the economy, but not to the extent of blinding disregard for human life.  One of the reasons he did so little to contain the pandemic was he was aware that initially the virus was overwhelmingly affecting “blue” states.  Of course there are “red” voters in “blue” states.  But not in meaningful enough numbers to him.  That now is his approach to the presidential election.  Trump has sewed divsion in this county so thoroughly he can no longer escape the consequences.  He is counting on his unshakable devotees to keep believing his lies and obviously hoping gas lighting the fabrications will either recruit more followers or, in the absence of that, create presidential election chaos.  His irresponsible, divisive approach with covid has had an incalculable impact on ending over 200,000 American lives.  It’s that same approach that could end the American form of democracy.  All of it should be universally understood as bad.

Imagine you are a young teenager walking around an electronics store with an adult, an authoritive figure, like say, your father.  He spots something cool, like, an Apple watch.  And imagine he casually looks around and then tells you he wants you to steal that Apple watch for him.  I know the watch is probably under lock and key but this is all hypothetical.  You probably think  he is kidding, but no, he tells you straight off he is dead serious.  And to prove the point he tells you he’ll be waiting in the car and he hurriedly walks away. Would you attempt that theft?  You’re a kid and you have a general understanding that stealing is wrong.  But it’s your dad.  It must be OK, right?  Would you go ahead and steal the watch for your dad?

Let’s say you you did, got caught, and the whole story became public knowledge.  No doubt society would judge your father harshly and there would be some sort of judicial penalty exacted.   Protective services would likely get involved.  There would be universal agreement your dad is an incorigible role model lacking basic ethical concepts.

There is a similar scene playing out in our politcal world right now and there is nothing hypothetical about it.  It is starkly real.  When Donald Trump asks you to vote for him twice, he is guilty of the same egregeous action that the father is in this fictional scenario.  Only worse.  Intentionally voting twice in a federal election is a felony, under any circumstance, for any reason, but its not Donald Trump who would be prosecuted.  You would be the one at risk of serving a prison term.

Here we go again with an infuriating example of Trump’s behavior getting swept under the rug.  We should not just gloss over this.  This is the president of the United States issuing a request that citizenry commit a fucking felony.  What kind of president does that?  What kind of human being does that?

Stop and think of the implications of this remark.  Not only is it yet another example of the president’s contempt for the law, of his belief that laws don’t apply to him.  It is a damning indictment of his character.  And I know Trump supporters will somehow justify the statement as just Trump being Trump.  But come on!  Can there be a more flagrant example of his shallowness? Well, ok calling dead veterans losers and suckers is profoundly superficial, and of course from his past remarks you have to believe this is  Trump being Trump at his absolute worst. But until  someone is willing to step out from behind the shield of anonymity and collaborate these damning stories Trump can escape total eviceration.  However, he asked people to vote twice on national TV.

Donald Trump, as many who know him have said, will stop at nothing to promote his self interest.   How much worse can that get then prodding people to commit a felony on his behalf.  This is so brazenly wrong. To be concerned only with what is good for you at the expense of everyone else, an expense that involves criminality, underscores his total lack of conscience.  When it comes to anything that is remotley central to his interest, the man seems incapable of understaning what is right or wrong.

No matter how the White House tries to spin this, I basically am imploring anyone on the voting fence to please take the time to really think about what is revealed about the current president in this singular act.  The absolute best spin you can attach to this is ignorance.  That he understands little about processes of democracy would then be damning in itself.  This perplexing remark, at it’s worse, indicates we have a president who will stop at nothing, who sees nothing wrong with the continued underminingg of the laws and institutions of the country, if he feels it is in his best interest.

And this also speaks to who we are, what kind of society we live in. To Trump, cheating and political criminal activity are perfeclty normal, no big deal.  And the manner in which he so casually made this remark suggests he believes a good percentage of the people of this country must be bound with similar threads of morality.  I refuse to believe that is true. Yes we have our share of miscreants and criminals, but when it comes to believing in the democratic principles of this nation, it is a safe argument to say hardly anyone gives any consideration to voting twice or pariticipating in other acts of voter fraud.   Think about it.  Have you ever once thought about voting twice?  Hell, in a typical U.S. election half the county doesn’t even vote once.

Several recent reports have been issued about voter fraud, all concluding the incidents of that happening are minuscule- ranging from 0.0003 to 0.0025 percent.  Voting twice is something that would hardly cross the mind of the average, normally ethical U.S. citizen- until now.    And the guy who is out there promoting that very idea that is so antithetical to the most basic of our constitutional principles is none other than the president of the United States!   Come on!  And to underscore just how embedded this pernicious infection of our democracy is becoming, during an interview with Wolf Blitzer the atorney general of the county claimed ignorace of state law in order to give cover to the president on this issue.  How fucked up is that?

Every day Trump is claiming the election is going to be chaotic and rigged, when he is actually the one creating the chaos and trying to rigged it in his own favor.  Of course audaciousness is a typical characteristic of authoritarianism.  Get ready for two months of gaslighting “the likes of which you have never seen.”

Obviously I am one who fails to understand the Trump attraction. I consider him to be a danger to the nation’s constitutional fabric as well as the public health.  Whenever I see a packed gathering of Trump supporters not wearing masks I envision a mass suicide of lemmings edging towards their terminal precipice.  For whatever reason, the man has his followers. To me he is a man lacking a normal sense of conscience and is ingrained with distorted concepts of right and wrong.  It is my hope that most of us understand it is far from trivial to ask someone to commit a felony by voting twice.  It should be recognized as flagrantly irresponsible and an unforgivable wrong.

Son of a bitch!  I told you so.  No football this fall.  At least in the Big 10 and Pac 12.  Who’s to blame?  I’ll tell who’s to blame.

This guy, the Michigan pin-head without the mask.  God damn it!  I warned you.  And this was your year too.  Michigan would finally beat Ohio State.  But Noooo!  All becasue you felt compelled to exercise your constitutional right to be a testicular douchebag.  Yes our country is lauded above all others for it’s unique ability to prioritize individual freedoms over goverment restrictions.  But as we all should realize by now our libertarianism has come back to bite us in the ass, overwhelming the need to protect the common good.  The country should be proud of its history of rugged individualism.  But we are finding out we are not so good as a collecive.

And this guy, the man supposedly in control who has more interest in his golf game and television ratings than dealing with a pandemic crisis.  If there is one thing he should be paying attention to it is the collective- like the multitude of professional health experts with a world-wide collection of pandemic data and proven mitigation protocols.  Leading the developed world in pandemic morbidity statistics is not exactly the kind of American exceptualism we expect.  But here we are with chaotic decisions about opening schools being thrust upon us, and no football.  God damn it!  And a president who still can not grasp the fact that he is the person most responsible for this swirling shit storm.  It’s the virus, stupid!  If we do not get it under control soon, CDC director Redfiled has warned we will likely experience one of the most difficult falls in our lifetimes.  Sadly I will miss football.  More importantly I would prefer that my family and friends bypass hospitalizations and funerals. This is still America.  Certainly we are capable of putting aside politics and petty self interests and move forward with something we really should be better at- ensuring the common good.

This David Brooks’ editorial pretty much encapsulates how the majority of us feel, I believe. The National Humiliation We Need  Like David Brooks, I believe there is some positive, universal abstract that dwells in our society that can heal much of what ails us.  Love that David Brooks.

Laura Ingraham, not so much..   Fox Medical Expert’s Suggestions for Covid Recovery

We don’t need this kind of shit. I did happen to catch one of Laura Ingraham’s commentaries that was mentioned above, and it was appaling.  Accusing Dr. Fauci and somehow blaming science in general for being political is absurd, and so hypocritical when members of the Fox opinion team are themselves guilty of politicizing our pandemic predicatment.  Ingraham is on record with her thoughts about covid 19 and science. She is basically suggesting that her audience should ignore Dr. Fauci and science.  The opinion staff has had no small part in advancing ludicrous deep state conspiracy theories concerning the immunologist.

I am just an occasional viewer of the Fox News channel,  but this core opinion arm of Fox News garnishes a huge viewing audience.  I know there is not much I could say that would dissuade viewership.  But for your own health and the good of the country please, if this group is giving any kind of medical advice, ignore it, or at least fact check it.  If we are ever to extract ourselves from this deepening viral hole, it will only be by following the advice of scientific experts  and mutually cooporating in our efforts.  Contrary to what spills forth from Fox’s powerful megaphone of editorial disinformation, science isn’t about choosing sides.  It is about systematically studying the natural world and in very large measure passing along critical observations to the rest of us.  Science might warn you of something, but it is not out to get you.

With a straight face Laura Ingraham proffered the idea that Dr. Fauci’s credibility should be discarded since no democratic voting process took place in his support.  She actually said that.   Dr. Fauci is not running for office.  We don’t insert science on an electoral ballot. We are not going to be able to “vote” our way out of this pandemic.  Science It is not political. It is fact, as best as can be understood, at that paricular time.

This paticular time requires we pay attention to science.   Please wear a mask in public.  Evolving scientific studies show not only will wearing one protect others but it will protect you as well.  No one is trying to infringe on your freedom.  We all want the freedoms we have had before this disease was thrust upon us.  The surest way out of this health and economic crisis is for everyone to wear a mask.  David Brooks’ shrouded hope is that there is within us a common national pride  that can bring us together. We need that.   We have serious problems to deal with in our country.  The most significant right now is the mitigation of the corona virus.  Unless we get that problem under control, and very quickly, there will be more and more of an unacceptable number of us who are not going to be around to help solve those remaining.