Best Testers Ever?

Lying in the Rosebed:  Yesterday, Trump had another mission accomplished moment.  Standing in the Rose Garden surrounded by bigly signs emblazoned with the words “AMERICA LEADS THE WORLD IN TESTING” Trump declared victory.  When pressed he admitted that he meant victory over testing rather than the coronavirus which he very intentionally lied about too, claiming that the US infection rate was on the decline even though it’s not.  For the record, the US does leads the world in the total number of tests, largely because of our size and the fact that we have the most confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths, however, controlling for population, the US testing rate of 26 per 1000 people falls behind such countries as Denmark (53), Italy (42), New Zealand (39), Germany (33) and Canada (28), among others.  With the theme of the day being testing, Trump also repeated one of his favorite lies, that anyone who wants a test can get one only to be contradicted by one of his experts who, standing a socially distanced six feet away, corrected him saying instead that anyone who needs a test can get one, he said that without actually defining need. Trump then went on to dismiss the inflamation complication impacting some children, saying that while it is of concern, no child had perished as a result of it.  Sadly, though the inflamation syndrome remains rare, his expert again stepped forward to correct him, pointing out that a few children have died from it.  VP Pence as well as the regular contingent of virus and health experts were absent, largely because having been exposed to Covid Katie they were all hunkered down in their respective basements, well that is all of them except for Dr Debbie who was just missing and Pence, who was seen going into his office but who, at least for now, is banned from hanging anywhere near Trump or anyone else for that matter but don’t call that quarentining because Trump doesn’t like that word.  Following the White House’s newly imposed facemask rule, with the exception of the speakers, everyone, including the Secret Service, the press, and even son in law Kushner were all wearing masks.  That new rule pertains to everyone except Trump because he’s tested everyday and anyway appears to  believe or hope that in addition to chlorox cocktails, orange make-up and tanning spray have virus killing qualities. 

Racial Profiling: Like all Trump press conferences, it didn’t take long for this one to go off the rails. Trump again bragged about ventilators, saying that we have so many that he’s sending some abroad to needy countries like Russia, something he told Putin when he called him to celebrate the dropping of those “bogus” charges against their mutual friend former national security advisor Michael Flynn. In an appeal to his base, Trump took some time to brag about his great wall building exercise because everyone talks about wall building at a time when 80,000 have died.  As to that number, it’s on the rise, so Trump used a 90,000 to 100,000 estimate, his way of preparing the country for the frightful day when we cross into six figures, while reminding everyone if it wasn’t for him there would be millions of deaths.  When asked about the tragic death/modern day lynching of Ahmaud Arbery the young black jogger chased down and shot to death in Georgia, Trump uncomfortably responded that it was tragic, that he’d seen a picture of him in a tuxedo and he looked nice and then threw in a classic Trump clincher, saying that he’d spoken with South Carolina Senator Tim Scott who, as the only black Republican Senator, is his token go to guy for all things related to race when HUD Secretary Carson isn’t available. It really did seem that Trump was holding back from saying what he probably believes, that there had to be good people on both sides. The conference ended abruptly after Trump responded to a question from CBS correspondant Weijia Jiang who asked how he can view testing as a competition among countries when 80,000 Americans have died by saying “Don’t ask me, ask China.” The Asian American Jiang pushed back, respectfully but forcefully saying “Sir, why are you saying that to me specifically.”  Trump then called her nasty, refused to answer a question from CNN’s Kaitlin Collins, a punishment because Collins had paused to let Jiang finish her remarks and then stormed out of the press conference because dealing with assertive women is just too much for him?  Getting back to the White House’s new facemask policy, though wearing masks maybe new to Trump’s crowd, apparently Melania gets it,  Her team has been wearing them, social distancing and working from home when possible for some time.  By the way, Trump insists that Covid Katie’s infection was a one off event, that no one else in the White House is or will be infected.  Apparently he’s already forgotten about his COVID positive valet. Anyway, time will tell.

Et Cetera:  During his press conference, Trump also threatened that “criminal” Obama, again referring to the whole “fake” Russian investigation as Obamagate.  When pressed by the Washington Post’s Phil Rucker to name Obama’s so-called crimes, Trump responded “You know what the crime is. The crime is very obvious to everybody. All you have to do is read the newspapers, except yours.” While that exchange may sound like more Trump branded conspiracy lunacy, a number of former Justice Department officials are concerned that Trump and Attorney General Barr have plans to pursue charges against former Obama officials including people like former CIA Director John Brennan, former FBI Director James Comey and even former Acting AG Sally Yates.  Nearly 2000 of them have signed onto a letter calling for Barr to resign over what they describe as his improper intervention in Michael Flynn’s criminal case, as if Barr cares.  On the virus front, later today, from his quarantine hideaway, Dr Fauci is expected to tell the Senate Health Committee that there will be “needless suffering and death” if the country opens too soon, a message that is sure to enrage Trump who wants the states open and running ASAP.  And as if that’s not enough aggravation for one seriously on the edge of throwing democracy by the wayside Trump, the Supreme Court  will be hearing oral arguments over those subpoenas seeking his financial records today, a subject that for some reason causes Trump to freak out bigly.