Cluster F

The War on Drugs? If you tuned into the beginning of yesterday’s daily Trump rally/virus news conference you would have been forgiven for thinking that the virus crisis was over.  Instead of Drs Birx and Fauci we were greeted by a podium manned by Trump, Defense Secretary Esper and Attorney General Barr there to discuss the war on drug cartels and a major counter-narcotics operation launched to protect the American people from the deadly scourge of illegal narcotics.  And who can blame Trump for wanting some diversion, his other war, the one we really care about, isn’t going all that well, in fact, it would be fair to say it’s a clusterf-ck of mammoth proportions, and by that I mean a chaotic situation where everything seems to go wrong, caused by incompetence and communication failures and by communication failures think lying on steroids. Earlier in the day, VP Pence, who’s supposed to be heading the government’s efforts, or at least those efforts not being headed behind closed doors by that logistical whiz kid, son in law/Middle East peacemaker Jared Kushner, admitted that the US virus trajectory was following the tragic Italy model, rather than the far more successful Korea one, those millions of quick tests, or for that matter tests of any kind are still not happening, respiratory equipment and protective gear are still not where they should be, and, the US has actually been sending key items overseas, something that Pence is trying to stop but that Trump denies.  As to that protective equipment, when the daily conference finally went into viral mode, Trump again questioned why health professionals needed so much of it, this time extending his rant about all those masks “going out the back door” to hospital gowns and other protective gear.  By the way, in case you don’t know it Trump is #1 on Facebook, he managed to squeeze that in because who doesn’t brag about irrelevant rankings during a crisis.  He also claimed to be “building” more hospital ships as if a ship going into production now would do anything to help with the current crisis and last night the NY Times reported that a lot of those ventilators that make up the government’s emergency reserve are inoperable because the contract to keep them in tip top shape expired and wasn’t reupped until late January.  

More Gaslighting: There was one funny, okay, dark humor funny moment that occurred after VP Pence tried to answer a question about the administration’s decision not to reopen the federal Obamacare exchanges.  Pence, playing straight man to Trump’s crazy man, responded with a long song and dance about all the people covered by either Medicaid or Medicare, refusing to acknowledge that the Obamacare exchanges provide insurance to those who don’t qualify for either of the “M” programs either because they aren’t old enough, aren’t poor enough or have the misfortune of living in a state that never enrolled in Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion.  When Pence finished his dance, a smiling Trump, threw the obsequious Pence under the bus by saying that though he had done a masterful job ducking and diving and uttering nonsensical garbage, he hadn’t answered the question or provided an insurance solution.  Trump, who made the final decision to keep the Obamacare exchanges closed, then added that he, unlike any of those incompetent, do nothing Democrats was working up a plan to provide insurance for all those poor schnooks who’ve been left in the cold but that he’ll need Congressional approval to do so. The Trump/Pence duo clearly didn’t intend to but they just made a great argument in support of Bernie’s universal health care coverage plan.  By the way if you’ve been wondering what Bernie’s been up to, he’s been hanging, at least virtually, with the ladies from The View.  Yesterday, one of those ladies, Whoopi Goldberg, asked him to explain why he was still in the race, hammering him for his lukewarm support for Hillary during 2016.  He defended his right to stay in, saying people had a right to vote but also admitted that he is assessing his campaign and where “we want to be going forward.”  Interesting.   

Et Cetera:  Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and Nevada are finally going into shelter in place mode.  Georgia’s Governor Kemp  “justified” his decision by saying that he’d only recently learned that people can spread the disease even when they are asymptomatic and Florida’s Governor DeSantis, who for some inexplicable reason will still be allowing large religious services to take place, said that he made his decision because of Trump’s “change in tone.”  As to that tone, Trump insists that virus guru Dr Fauci is totally safe because everybody loves him.  Well apparently that’s not true, some people in Trump’s fanbase believe that Fauci is responsible for spreading lies and exaggerations about COVID 19, part of a plot to destroy Trump’s presidency.  They are particularly concerned that he is a member of the deep state because he complimented Hillary Clinton for her stamina back when she testified endlessly about Benghazi.  Since Fauci is now facing death threats, as well as “some unwelcome communication from fervent admirers,” the Health and Humans Services and Justice Departments have stepped up his security.  On the international front Bibi Netanyahu has gone back into quarantine because he spent some time with Israel’s health minister who has tested COVID 19 positive.  The Chief of the Mossad is also now in quarantine for the same reason.  And no one has seen Vladimir Putin in person, though he’s managed to score a PR point by sending a planeload of “protective stuff” to the US, he appears to be hiding out somewhere safe from germs.