Committee to elect debbie homes issued the following announcement on March 13.
For the last three years Trump’s credibility has been shredded as he continuously lied to the American people or substantially misrepresented facts. It was inevitable that some crisis would emerge during his term. While there have been minor blips before, none have had the impact of coronavirus. The public repeatedly was warned that loss of confidence and credibility could have disastrous consequences in the event of a real crisis. Trump’s base shrugged that off, and many of them still do; literally a fatal mistake.
It has been pointed out by many astute observers, that Donald J. Trump is first, last, and always a con artist. That has been his business model. In private life it was his investors, employees, and consumers that got burned. This time his ineptitude has cost trillions of dollars; not to mention the lives of a number of innocent people (the exact number is yet to be determined). He remains in denial while the carnage continues. Today the stock market plunged a record percent since the crash of Black Monday in October, 1987. Trump’s response was that it was still well above where it was when he took office. That is not true. On 20 January 2017, the day he was inaugurated, the DOW closed a 19,732. Under Obama the market had been steadily increasing since the great recession in 2009. Constantly, Trump sang the praises of the good economy he inherited as the market continued to rise. As usual, he was taking credit for something he had little to do with.
Today (12 March 2020) it closed at 21,200 representing only a modest gain for three years. What is not mentioned is that it has dropped 8,266 points since just a high on 13 February 2020 and largely because of the lack of confidence in Trump’s ability to handle the crisis. Yes, there are economic factors in play as the American public withdraw from their emboldened spending habits, but confidence starts at the top with facing reality. For some time, there has been speculation about entering a recession. Some financial experts suggest that has happened.
Throughout this critical period Trump continuously has lied to the public. In late February repeatedly he stated there were only 15 cases in the country and that would be going to zero soon. That was a lie. Instead the virus is increasing dramatically. He stated there soon would be a vaccine. That was a lie. He stated “Anyone who wants a test can get one.” That was a lie as contrary to his statement, the kits did not exist. Even Mike Pence had to backtrack on that claim.
While medical experts have been attempting to provide accurate information, almost none of them will state facts if he is present. Least of all would be Alex Azar, the former pharmaceutical industry lobbyist, cum Secretary of Health and Human Services, who never fails to obsequiously suck up to Trump at every opportunity. But others share responsibility as well. As Trump was televised at the CDC Headquarters, senior leadership there stood silently as he overtly lied to us and went on to praise himself regarding his “perfect” call when extorting the president of Ukraine. Rare indeed, is the medical expert who makes a correction to the bumbling buffoon in his presence.
It is no wonder that both financial and medical experts have little confidence in the Trump Administration’s response to the threat from coronavirus. When reluctantly he finally acknowledged that something needed to be done, he placed Vice President Mike Pence in charge (albeit without warning). There probably could not have been a worse choice. His main qualification for any Trump position is that Pence is the quintessential sycophant. Not only does he not have medical expertise, his prior experience dealing with a medical problem as a governor demonstrated gross incompetence. In addressing the HIV outbreak, his “pray on it” did not work. That did not inspire confidence then, nor is it helpful now.
Previously, Trump proposed cutting the CDC budget and in 2018, to save money, he did away with the office designed for pandemic response. His classic response to criticism prevailed as he blamed others. It really doesn’t matter who, just so he does not have to accept responsibility. Foreigners are at the top of his list. Here, China is in first place as that is where the coronavirus initially evolved. True, their beginning response was not the best; blaming the doctor and others who attempted to alert colleagues to the developing threat. But once mobilized, they were able to mobilize massive resources.
Remaining in denial, Trump instituted a limited travel ban. That was not sufficient and shortly we learned of cases inside the U.S. that did not had any contact with people from China. The disease was here. So, what did Trump do now? He instituted a travel ban from Europe. Well, that was true if you don’t consider the United Kingdom to be part of Europe. In true Trump fashion, unilaterally he ordered the ban without consultation with any of the countries affected. Soon we learned that American citizens, and a few others, would be exempt and could return to the country. Cursory screening would determine if they should go into quarantine. This belies several facts. First and foremost, the coronavirus is already here. Therefore, stopping foreigners will have marginal benefit. Returning Americans may well have been exposed and yet be asymptomatic on arrival. Thus, a quick screening will not catch them.
Trump’s exclusion approach is commensurate with his anti-immigration philosophy that permeates all of his policies. Foreigners bad! America first (i.e. America only) Blame others. That is a mantra of his supporters. In reality, though we had warning, we did not prepare in time. Unlike South Korea, that mobilized testing and was able to take control of the virus relatively rapidly. The US did very little while Trump downplayed the significance. The shortage of testing kits Trump falsely blamed on Obama.
Trump’s calming the nation speech did not go well, except maybe on Fox News where his old Doctor Feelgood, Ronny Jackson, called it a demonstration of real leadership. Even Teleprompter Trump made several egregious errors. In one he announced that the embargo included goods as well as people. That sent immediate shudders around the world. He also stated that all coronavirus patients would be tested and treated for free. Since the address there have been several statements that both support and contradict the notion that treatment would be free (shades of Medicare for all). Trump has never learned that with any POTUS, words have consequences.
Today was no exception to the confusion precipitated by Trump. This morning (Thursday) he again stated that the “testing was going very well.” Despite that, and happening concurrently, respected immunologist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, was testifying under oath in Congressional hearing. Highly credentialed, Dr. Fauci headed the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and was lauded for his work in the AIDS/HIV epidemic. In his testimony, Dr. Fauci completely contradicted what Trump contemporaneously stated and went so far as to call the U.S. testing effort for coronavirus as “failing.”
Characteristically Trump, he lied to all about what was really happening. He openly stated he want to keep people on a ship so that the numbers would not look so bad. That’s right. He would rather have people be infected and possibly die as long as that did count against U.S. statistics. Trump said repeatedly that as the weather warmed the virus would go away. That, despite evidence to the contrary in Australia (where it is now summer) with Tom Hanks and his wife testing positive. His religious base was pleased when he said a “miracle” would happen. Like hope, relying on a miracle is not a plan. Myopic points of view are a norm with Trump. Clearly he does not understand that by definition a pandemic is global in nature. It requires a united response
Yes, Trump fiddled while America burned. There should be no doubt that Trump has lost the trust and confidence of what remains of the thinking American citizenry. Constant prevarication has a price – and we are all beginning to pay it.
Original source here.
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