PLAYPEN: Covid-19 Everything Political

[hogloff]

Quite a few news outlets have gotten copies of the book, a tactic I suspect is an effort by the publisher to make moot a court challenge that would attempt to bar publication. (Most authorities believe the challenge would ultimately fail, but if taken before a friendly Trump-appointed judge, who knows what would happen at the district court (lowest) level?)

In any case, I wasn't surprised by most of Bolton's revelations, because I've gotten used to that kind of thing with Trump. The most appalling thing was his approval of the Chinese concentration camps. And his solicitation of help from Xi in his reelection was fairly humiliating. Maybe Americans have been cruising too long on hubris not to see this kind of thing coming, in the political wars we're going through. Again, the depths of Trump's ignorance is astounding -- the insistence on going through with the Tulsa rally amidst spike of covid-19 in...Tulsa.

I am almost (but not quite) willing to give him a tiny bit of slack on the Finland question -- Finland was part of Russia (the Grand Duchy of Finland) for more than a hundred years, until about 1917, and after WWII, was really part of the Russian zone of influence until the collapse of the Soviet Union. So, in his pea-sized brain, Trump might have heard something about that and become confused, or perhaps Bolton was confused about what Trump thought. So, there's that, although Trump's knowledge of geography is widely acknowledged to be dim, to say the least.

I was an American Studies major in college, and a history buff all my life, and I have to say that I think Trump has established himself as the worst American president in history. He might have some challengers from the years before the Civil War, but that challenge was so intractable those guys (Pierce, Buchanan and Fillmore) had some slight excuse for their badness.

Well with that reasoning Trump probably still thinks Alaska is part of Russia.

[faberryman]

I am almost (but not quite) willing to give him a tiny bit of slack on the Finland question -- Finland was part of Russia (the Grand Duchy of Finland) for more than a hundred years, until about 1917, and after WWII, was really part of the Russian zone of influence until the collapse of the Soviet Union. So, in his pea-sized brain, Trump might have heard something about that and become confused, or perhaps Bolton was confused about what Trump thought. So, there's that, although Trump's knowledge of geography is widely acknowledged to be dim, to say the least.

I tend to go with Occam's Razor: Trump doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground.

[John Camp]

I tend to go with Occam's Razor: Trump doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground.

A powerful argument, I have to say.

[Robert Roaldi]

If someone doesn't have a clue, it is you.

Which part of "If given the opportunity" don't you understand?

Yeah, I think my point was that he might not appreciate the 3 branches of American government as much as he should. It's an important constitutional thing, we're often told. Wishing he could have one of the other arms do his bidding might not be in keeping with the spirit of the whole thing.

[Peter McLennan]

If someone doesn't have a clue, it is you.

An unverified and inappropriate comment.  Meaningless bullshit, in other words.

[Manoli]

https://www.economist.com/leaders/2020/06/18/britain-has-the-wrong-government-for-the-covid-crisis

(Note to moderator: posted with a link, without explanation, as most should be able to deduce the subject matter from The Economist cover, or simply by reading the link itself.)

[Manoli]

... highlighting The Economist’s best writing on the pandemic. We have three covers this week. In our UK edition we analyse why Britain has come to have the highest overall death rate of any country in the rich world. Britain was always going to struggle with covid-19. London is an international hub, Britons are fatter than their fellow Europeans and the United Kingdom has a high share of ethnic-minority people, who are especially vulnerable to the disease. Yet the government has been slow to increase testing, identify a contact-tracing app, stop visits to care homes, ban big public events, provide health workers with personal protective equipment, and require people to wear face coverings on public transport. The painful conclusion is that Britain has the wrong government for a pandemic.

[kers]

The painful conclusion is that Britain has the wrong government for a pandemic.

This combined with a (overhasted) Brexit, the UK will have a double problem getting the economy going.
I would not be surprised if the government will claim it all too Corona.

[Robert Roaldi]

For those of you who are fans of John Le Carré, his latest novel, Agent Running in the Field, has some asides wrt to Brexit and other current events, and it's a good read too.

[kers]

For those of you who are fans of John Le Carré, his latest novel, Agent Running in the Field, has some asides wrt to Brexit and other current events, and it's a good read too.

I know he is against the Brexit, so i am interested to read how he touches on Brexit in his book.

On covid-19;  I wonder how the infections will go in Oklahoma, after todays Trump campaign.
Numbers of infected people were already rising the days before...

Al Jazeera headline:

Trump addresses campaign rally at half-empty Tulsa arena

Hours before the rally, Trump's campaign announced six members of its advance team had tested positive for COVID-19.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/06/crowds-gather-trump-campaign-rally-tulsa-oklahoma-200620185241903.html

[faberryman]

Let us see how he spins a half empty arena.

[Manoli]

Lord Sumption, a now retired UK Supreme Court judge, has written an op-ed article in todays DM.

These people have no idea what they're doing: Ex-Supreme Court judge LORD JONATHAN SUMPTION gives a devastating verdict on our political leaders' handling of the crisis

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-8443747/LORD-JONATHAN-SUMPTION-people-no-idea-theyre-doing.html

[hogloff]

Let us see how he spins a half empty arena.

He's already blaming the media and protesters for the low turnout. Maybe no one is left that wants to listen to his lies.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Let us see how he spins a half empty arena.

Easy, no need for spinning... a sabotage by the left. Like when they had to cancel a Chicago rally in 2016 due to the left mob violence.

Apparently, many on the left made ticket reservations, with no intention of showing up. It worked. Hopefully, Trump campaign will figure it out better for the next rally.

In both cases, it demonstrates the left’s inherent violence and anti-free speech and anti-peaceable assembly of the people, a 1st amendment right, and its ultimately totalitarian nature, like all commies.

[Paulo Bizarro]

Easy, no need for spinning... a sabotage by the left. Like when they had to cancel a Chicago rally in 2016 due to the left mob violence.

Apparently, many on the left made ticket reservations, with no intention of showing up. It worked. Hopefully, Trump campaign will figure it out better for the next rally.

In both cases, it demonstrates the left’s inherent violence and anti-free speech and anti-peaceable assembly of the people, a 1st amendment right, and its ultimately totalitarian nature, like all commies.

Do you have more robust data rather than "apparently"? Otherwise, it is another ridiculous claim from the trumpeteer side.

Are you nervous with the 12 point lead from Biden?

Shifting blame and insulting is becoming old and stale. If anything good comes out of this health crisis is that the stupid, ignorant, and incompetent guy is thrown out of the white house.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Do you have more robust data rather than "apparently"? Otherwise, it is another ridiculous claim from the trumpeteer side...

Can you find examples of my posts in the past where I was pulling things out of thin air?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8443751/American-teens-sabotaged-Trumps-Tulsa-rally-reserving-tickets-hundreds.html

[hogloff]

Easy, no need for spinning... a sabotage by the left. Like when they had to cancel a Chicago rally in 2016 due to the left mob violence.

Apparently, many on the left made ticket reservations, with no intention of showing up. It worked. Hopefully, Trump campaign will figure it out better for the next rally.

In both cases, it demonstrates the left’s inherent violence and anti-free speech and anti-peaceable assembly of the people, a 1st amendment right, and its ultimately totalitarian nature, like all commies.

How do you account for the zero overflow crowd that didn't need tickets? Seems like it was just a bit under the 40,000 that was predicted by the Trumpateers.

[Alan Klein]

How do you account for the zero overflow crowd that didn't need tickets? Seems like it was just a bit under the 40,000 that was predicted by the Trumpateers.

Is the glass half empty or half full? The fact he brought out so many people in the middle of a virus seems amazing.  Did you consider most people would have stayed home out of fear?  I wouldn't have gone.  In any case, how many people would attend a Biden "rally"? 

[hogloff]

Is the glass half empty or half full? The fact he brought out so many people in the middle of a virus seems amazing.  Did you consider most people would have stayed home out of fear?  I wouldn't have gone.  In any case, how many people would attend a Biden "rally"?

Well the Trumpster sure expected more...look at the big stage that was setup outside for the overflow crowd of about a dozen. Look at the half full stadium that obviously the Trumpateers thought would be packed as they expected 40,000 in the overflow.

And if it was such a success...why all the blaming and excuses for the low attendance. Nope...this was a major disappointment for the Trumpster. People are just tired of listening to a chronic liar.

[Alan Klein]

N.Y.C. Hired 3,000 Workers for Contact Tracing. It’s Not Going Well.
The program is crucial to the next phase of reopening, which begins on Monday. But workers have not had much success in getting information from people who test positive.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/21/nyregion/nyc-contact-tracing.html