May 15, 2020

There is a time-tested strategy for dealing with problems that involves throwing shit against a wall. We now have the biggest shit thrower of all time throwing shit against a wall paid for by Americans, not Mexico. In rapid succession, Trump has thrown shit at China, Democrats, the media, the W.H.O., governors, Dr.’s Fauci and Bright, Vice President Biden, and now President Obama. According to the shit thrower in chief, we are supposed to be outraged about Obamagate,without any proof or explanation.

Dan Brown’s book, “Inferno,” is a thriller with Dante Alighieri’s writings as central theme. Brown cites Dante, writing “a hero in denial is the ultimate manifestation of hubris and pride. No man is more prideful than he who believes himself immune to the dangers of the world.” The pandemic is the inferno. Trump doesn’t wear a mask, and tempts the fates. If there is any justice, Trump will spend eternity throwing shit against a wall, and, like Sisyphus’ futile attempts to push a boulder up a hill, none of it will ever stick.

May 15, 2020

We all know about the top 1% from Bernie Sanders, and we know who those people are. Recent polls show that 36% of the public trust Donald Trump’s advice about the coronavirus, but who are these people? Does that mean that at least one member of my foursome believes Donald Trump when he talks about mission accomplished and drinking bleach? Does every third person standing in line at the grocery store wearing a mask believe it’s okay for the President not to wear a mask. Fortunately, I don’t hear anyone defending Trump so I wonder who the 36% are.

Apparently, these people are just as apt to drink Kool-Aid as they are Clorox. Trump has no expertise, no shame, and, worse, no plan. I guessed he skipped Business Policy at Wharton. What are the 36% hearing that I am not? I hear a string of lies and misstatements of facts. I see a President flouting the advice of his medical experts, and attacking journalists asking reasonable questions. I see a President stoking anger, and accelerating divisiveness. I watch the criminally misinformed pundits on Fox attack Dr. Anthony Fauci.

We now know who these people are. The are AK-47 wielding, faux patriots willing to kill and die for the God-given right of the people to get a tattoo. They bring their guns to threaten legislators. They are calling the rest of us Commies. They are eating in restaurants shoulder-to-shoulder, not wearing masks as an act of defiance. As an act of true heroism, I suggest you volunteer to work in your local ICU unit…without a mask.

May 11, 2018

The self-described war time President, who considers the rest of us to be warriors, is missing in action. He is playing a tough guy on TV, but he is just acting, like John Wayne. He talks tough, but it is just talk from a guy suffering from bone spurs. The only wall he will be remembered for after his handling of this pandemic is AWOL. Trump is spewing out Tweets with the rapidity of an AK-47. Fortunately, the only thing he has been able to shot so far is his own foot. His generals at the front are going down as Trump hides in plain sight, not wearing a mask. The heads of the CDC, FDA, Fauci, and the Vice President are off the battle field. We are waging a war without our generals. We are waging a war with first lieutenants without battle experience. Mr. Trump, take that hill. We will be right behind you.

May 8, 2020

It was only a matter of time, but Donald Trump has finally gone postal. He is nominating a top donor with no relevant experience to run the massive U.S. Postal Service. He will now be able to exact revenge on Jeff Bezos and The Washington Post. More significantly, he will be able to throw a monkey wrench into mail-in ballots for the 2020 presidential election. We already saw what happened in Wisconsin as voters were required to go to the polls in person, putting their personal health at risk. He is already on record saying that mail-in ballots would put Republicans at a serious disadvantage in the upcoming election.

The post office is the butt of many jokes, but it is at the mercy of its mandate. It must physically deliver the mail to every man, woman, child, and company in the country, urban and rural areas alike. It does not get to pick and choose its routes and customers like other companies. It’s funding is based on the whims of Congress. What it charges for service is often a political calculation more than a financial one. I think we can all agree that post office workers are essential. We all rely on the post office. Unfortunately, Trump is treating the U.S. Postal Service as non-essential.

May 5, 2020

Ditches

What is it with Republicans and ditches? Every time the Democratic Party turns over the keys to the car and the credit card that goes with it, they max out the card, and drive the car into a ditch. The previous Republican administration, having inherited a a budget surplus from Bill Clinton, immediately squandered it with tax cuts and unpaid for military incursions. Barack Obama took over an economy in 2008 on the verge of depression. Jobs were annhiliated, mortgages were foreclosed on, and pension accounts were wiped out. Now, under another Republican administration, we have an economy in even more dire straits. Trump inherited the Obama recovery, and immediately squandered the gains with unnecessary, massive tax cuts for the rich and corporations. Rather than invest in the future, we added fuel to the consumer economy and aggravated the inequality in our society.

Republicans and Trump didn’t invent the pandemic in a U.S. laboratory, but they left us uniquely vulnerable to its effects. We were headed for a ditch, and the coronavirus pushed us in.

April 30, 2020

I think it is a fair generalization to say that many of the red states were the last to impose social distancing and other harsh remedies on their populations to fight coronavirus. Now, they seem to be the first to be lifting these same sanctions. I also think that it is these same states that are on the front lines in the battle against restricting and eliminating abortion. I am not sure if this qualifies as irony, hypocrisy, or both. The pandemic is exposing them for what they actually believe. Their belief system implies that they are the ones, who get to decide who is worth keeping. If you are an unborn fetus, you survive. If you are a coronavirus patient, you are expendable in the service of the economy. As former Governor Christie said in an interview, “The American people have gone through significant death before. We have gone through it in World War I, we have gone through it in World War II and we survived it. We sacrificed those lives. … We decided to make that sacrifice because what we were standing up for was the American way of life.” The “war time” President is willing to sacrifice tens of thousands of us. And I thought every life was sacred.

May 4, 2020

Some of us are lucky enough to be non-essential, and have the wherewithal to shelter in place, socially distance, and ride the pandemic out. Ironically, the vast majority of the American people have deemed Donald Trump to be the ultimate non-essential worker, and are trying to keep their distance. Republicans are finally learning what women have known all along. Social distancing from Donald Trump makes sense. Trump is a non-essential politician on the campaign trail. Republicans running for office have been told not to invoke Trump’s name. They fear that Trump might visit their district, and bring out white supremicists brandishing automatic weapons, nooses, and Nazi symbols. Trump is non-essential in fighting the pandemic. People are listening to their governors rather than President Lysol by a factor of two to one. Trump is non-essential in leading the ship of state. The United States is the official laughing stock of the world. Worse, he has made us irrelevant. Mr. Trump, put on your mask, social distance, and let the essential workers do their jobs.

May 1, 2020

May Day! May Day! Donald Trump has a high level of confidence that a laboratory in Wuhan, China developed and weaponized COVID-19, killing more than 63,000 Americans alone. Trump is “not allowed” to share with us the evidence for this assertion, but I take him at his word. After all, he saw the pandemic coming before anyone else, and he closed travel from China early on. What do we do now? This is an act of war. We need to respond forcefully and proportionately. Trump needs to show the Chinese that he is not weak. Fortunately, he has an array of military weapons at his disposal. He has long range bombers, nuclear submarines armed with nuclear missiles, and ICBM’s. Biological weapons should not be off the table. The Chinese need to feel the destructive power of the United States that no one has ever imagined. Trump should call on our NATO allies to support the attack. Putin will certainly support the attack. Roosevelt responded to Pearl Harbor, and Bush responded to 9/11. Trump needs to respond to the China virus.

April 30, 2020

Red states predominantly have lagged in instituting safe guards to combat the coronavirus pandemic, and they are taking the lead in opening up their economies ahead of guidelines and adequate testing. To further compound the risks they are running, Donald Trump is planning on starting his presidential campaign in June with huge rallies in Arizona and Ohio. This begs the question, why is he trying to kill his base? The only people he will be putting at risk are the very same people, who voted for him.

You know his followers will show up without masks, and will not socially distance. They will shake hands, give high fives, and maybe even kiss and hug. They will chant inanities, and spew sputum everywhere. Live free and die. Rock on. What they don’t understand is that Trump could care less about their personal safety. If that is the price the country has to pay to get him re-elected, so be it. If he loses, he will be in Mar-a-Lago, and they will be dead. This is unpresidented.