PLAYPEN: Covid-19 Everything Political

[Robert Roaldi]

Trump had China figured out long before all the Democrats and Republicans who kowtowed to them for decades.  China's been stealing our intellectual property and other secrets for years, manipulating industry and finance and their currency, stealing islands in the South China Sea, and gave us the virus which may destroy our primacy in international affairs and finance.  The average American has more sense then our stupid politicians.  Americans understand they've been walking all over us and others.  Trump has tried to fight back with little help from our biased press.  The press and most politicians were focused on Russia, who's no threat to us or the world, meanwhile looking the other way as China walks all over everyone.  Even the Europeans were stupid allowing China to get out of the Paris CO2 environmental requirements until 2030.  They steal Europe's secrets too.  The Chinese are laughing all the way to the bank.

You need to switch to decaf.

But you never answered my question. If Trump is leaving the whole Covid thing in the hands of the individual states, why has he come out in favour of punishing schools that won't re-open? Isn't that state business?

[Alan Klein]

You need to switch to decaf.

But you never answered my question. If Trump is leaving the whole Covid thing in the hands of the individual states, why has he come out in favour of punishing schools that won't re-open? Isn't that state business?

Yes, it's state's business.  They should do away with the Education Department of the Federal government,  There's no need for it.  It just wastes a lot of money.  Education is a local issue.

[William Walker]

Alan Klein (aka "The Trump Whisperer") - please decipher this transcript of your man's Rose Garden show yesterday for me. Take as long as you like... much appreciated (in advance).

[Robert Roaldi]

Trump seeks to manage access to data, bypassing the CDC, https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/coronavirus-reporting-white-house_n_5f0e1ed8c5b648c301f0b5b3.

Even putting the best possible light on this, and I don't know what that would be, how can anyone not look at this with extreme cynicism? The CDC exists to track matters of public health, one of the best agencies on earth for that, and this charlatan Trump is trying to make it into a political scapegoat. As if his minions are better guardians of the data. People around the world used to have a lot of respect for the USA.

[Robert Roaldi]

And just in case the summer weather is filling you with a bit too much euphoria and you feel the need to come down a peg or two, have a listen to this, https://www.npr.org/2020/07/08/888944480/why-white-evangelicals-worship-at-the-altar-of-trump.

It is a discussion with the journalist Sarah Posner about Trump's appeal with white evangelists. The blurb from the Fresh Air page: "Journalist Sarah Posner says while President Trump may not speak the language of faith and Christian values, he speaks the language of grievance — giving voice to legal, social and cultural concerns shared by the Christian right and the alt-right. Posner's book is Unholy."

There is some interesting historical info on how the white Christian right was first politically mobilized after de-segregation and how some aspects of the separation of church and state is being dismantled.

[Robert Roaldi]

I read that Trump criticized Biden for being anti-Windows? I didn't realize that Biden was an Apple shill.  Oh wait....

[Robert Roaldi]

It just keeps coming, https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/ivanka-trump-goya_n_5f0e8cacc5b6df6cc0b314c7.

The President's daughter and adviser is shilling for a food company? Does she think her father is a talk-show host?

Is any of this real?

[Chris Kern]

Alan Klein (aka "The Trump Whisperer") - please decipher this transcript of your man's Rose Garden show yesterday for me.

We have great agreements, where, when Biden and Obama used to bring killers out, they would say, “Don’t bring them back to our country.  We don’t want them.”  “Well, we have to.”  We don’t want them; they wouldn’t take them.  Now, with us, they take them.  Someday I’ll tell you why.  Someday I’ll tell you why.  But they take them, and they take them very gladly.  They used to bring them out and they wouldn’t even let the airplanes land if they brought them back by airplanes.  They wouldn’t let the buses into their country.  They said, “We don’t want them.”  I said, “No, but they entered our country illegally.”  And they’re murderers; they’re killers, in some cases.

I ran this through Garble/Translate™ and this is what I got:

All those people dying from the virus must be Democrats who came here gladly on airplanes to kill my chances of re-election.  Obama sent them and he let the airplanes land because he wants me to lose.  The polls all say I'm losing now, but since I'm a winner not a loser that's just typical Democrat poller fraud.  A lot of people questioned in those polls have already died from the virus because they didn't drink disinfectant.  Must have been Obama who put them up to it because Biden isn't smart enough.  Speaking of smart, I aced that cognitive ability test for dementia.  The doctors were really impressed.  They told me Biden never could have done it.  I'm thinking I should start a rumor that Biden can't be president because he was actually born in another country—maybe Pretty Rico, or whatever they call it.  Where exactly am I, anyway?  And why are all those people staring at me?

[MattBurt]

Sounds pretty senile to me.

[William Walker]

I ran this through Garble/Translate™ and this is what I got:

  .   I thought he was explaining the Theory of Relativity.....

[faberryman]

The President's daughter and adviser is shilling for a food company? Does she think her father is a talk-show host?

Is any of this real?

The owner of Goya foods came to the White House and, on national TV, said that we were "truly blessed" to have Trump as President. Goya customers then organized a boycott. Because Goya guy was loyal to the President, Ivanka felt he deserved something special, so she did the product endorsement, which, by the way, violates governmental ethics standards, not that that mattered. No, none of this is real. It can't be. It's just a four year nightmare that will leave many Americans scarred for life.

Ivanka has also launched a new campaign cheerfully telling the unemployed who can't pay the rent or feed their families "to find something new" since they can't get their old jobs back. Sort of a "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade" bit of encouragement that is especially galling when your life is circling down the drain. I think the predominate response is to want to smack her upside of the head. The runner-up response is to make her eat that can of beans.  It seems appropriate since she had so much fun pretending to be a cowgirl last week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgC-vZp07YM

[faberryman]

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt tests positive for coronavirus

"Stitt’s diagnosis came several weeks after President Donald Trump held a controversial campaign rally in Tulsa, where Stitt was photographed without a mask alongside thousands of the president’s supporters all in close proximity, despite warnings from local health officials that the event could lead to a surge in Covid-19 transmission."

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/15/oklahoma-gov-kevin-stitt-tests-positive-for-coronavirus.html

What a surprise.

[John Camp]

The owner of Goya foods came to the White House and, on national TV, said that we were "truly blessed" to have Trump as President. Goya customers then organized a boycott. Because Goya guy was loyal to the President, Ivanka felt he deserved something special, so she did the product endorsement, which, by the way, violates governmental ethics standards, not that that mattered. No, none of this is real. It can't be. It's just a four year nightmare that will leave many Americans scarred for life.

Ivanka has also launched a new campaign cheerfully telling the unemployed who can't pay the rent or feed their families "to find something new" since they can't get their old jobs back. Sort of a "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade" bit of encouragement that is especially galling when your life is circling down the drain. I think the predominate response is to want to smack her upside of the head. The runner-up response is to make her eat that can of beans.  It seems appropriate since she had so much fun pretending to be a cowgirl last week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgC-vZp07YM

What makes this so galling (and reflects the completely tone-deaf quality of the Trumps) is that she's never in her life really had to find a job, or work hard to get qualifications that would let her earn more than $15 an hour. Does make you want to slap her.

[faberryman]

Even putting the best possible light on this, and I don't know what that would be, how can anyone not look at this with extreme cynicism? The CDC exists to track matters of public health, one of the best agencies on earth for that, and this charlatan Trump is trying to make it into a political scapegoat. As if his minions are better guardians of the data. People around the world used to have a lot of respect for the USA.

Brilliant move. Now, nobody will believe the numbers. They'll just become more of Trump's lies.

"You have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero." - Trump on February 26, 2020.

The latest figures from the CDC are 3,416,428 cases and 135,991 deaths. Those are the last numbers you can have any confidence in.

[Robert Roaldi]

What I enjoy most about Trump is how he can convey the dignity of the office, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-goya-instagram-endorsement_n_5f0f7726c5b6d14c3362878d.

[faberryman]

I wonder if they wiped down those groceries?

[Craig Lamson]

Brilliant move. Now, nobody will believe the numbers. They'll just become more of Trump's lies.

"You have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero." - Trump on February 26, 2020.

The latest figures from the CDC are 3,416,428 cases and 135,991 deaths. Those are the last numbers you can have any confidence in.

Anyone with any sense never did believe the numbers.  Whats changed?

[Alan Klein]

I just received notice from my township here in New Jersey, that the next four quarters of property taxes will be going up.  OF course, with the economy down, sales down,  and jobs lost, the state and localities tax bases are shrinking.  Gas taxes, sales taxes, income taxes, plus all the people who aren't paying their property taxes will force these taxes to be raised.  Our governor already stated he wants a $10 billion bond floated.  Of course that has to be paid back with higher taxes.  More people will move out of my state to cheaper less taxed states like Florida. 

The tax problem is also why governors are pushing to re-open their economies as they scramble for the funds they need to keep local governments (edit) going.  Unlike the Federal government, states can't print money.

[Craig Lamson]

Alan Klein (aka "The Trump Whisperer") - please decipher this transcript of your man's Rose Garden show yesterday for me. Take as long as you like... much appreciated (in advance).

Really not that hard when you know the context.

Criminals from Mexico who came in under Obama/Biden did not get shipped back to Mexico because Mexico would not take them, would not let the buses in or the planes land.

Now under the Trump adminstration Mexico takes them back. 

And maybe someday Trump will tell you why.

[Alan Klein]

Really not that hard when you know the context.

Criminals from Mexico who came in under Obama/Biden did not get shipped back to Mexico because Mexico would not take them, would not let the buses in or the planes land.

Now under the Trump adminstration Mexico takes them back. 

And maybe someday Trump will tell you why.

Yes, they left out the context.  If they watched the actual speech instead of just reading CNN's or MSNBC's cherry picked bias, they would have understood the context.