Comments And Discussion

As often happens, my response to a couple comments under the previous post expanded into a post in itself. It's only proper to question claims as serious as "failed state" and "police state". Further discussion was indeed warranted, and is still welcomed. 

Let’s present the content here instead of in a long thread.

~~~~

Tyrell (TP):

From failed state to police state, huh? I don't think so, my friend.

While leftists have done what they could to either ignore or undermine our constitution (yes, some militant right-wingers are also guilty), America is still not a failed state. Even for Americans of color, there is more prosperity, opportunities, and freedom in America than nearly anywhere else in the world.

Further, if the Democrats were to recapture the White House and both chambers of congress, this would not become a police state either, since the Democrats are seemingly bound and determined to eliminate the police in most major metropolitan areas. That, of course, is another knee-jerk reaction, the ramifications of which has not evidently occurred to these brilliant leaders of ours.

==

TB3:

Oh, I'm waiting with bated breath on a further elaboration on how "leftists" ignore or undermine the Constitution AS WELL as reconciling the ongoing demonstrations with the phrase "Even for Americans of color, there is more prosperity, opportunities, and freedom in America', TP.

==

I thank the gentlemen for their remarks. 

It’s always revealing that our conservative friends are so reluctant to cite any of my points or opinions offered, and provide facts or information that contradicts them.

I suppose they think just stating their beliefs accomplishes that.

I, too, would love to see further elaboration, and of course evidence, to support TP’s assertions. Historically the pattern would indicate none will be forthcoming.

I don’t know how any “leftists” ignore or undermine the Constitution, since they wield very little power to do so. Maybe this is a red herring to deflect from the blatant abuses of our Constitution by the Republican Party and Donald Trump?

Remember when Moscow Mitch refused to follow the Constitution and hold a vote for a Supreme Court Justice nominated by the Black President? Remember how we used to have Constitutional checks and balances, and administrations would comply with oversight and obey lawful Congressional subpoenas? Remember how Constitutional impeachment trials would allow for actual evidence and testimony?

Rightists love to deflect form these horrible abuses of our Constitution.

The Republican Party has become a gutless cult, serving their criminal and corrupt racist leader. Rep. Justin Amash alone had the moral decency to leave the Republican Party. Mitt Romney was the only Republican In DC with a conscience to vote Trump guilty of his criminal attempts to bribe and blackmail a foreign leader to help win his upcoming election. (Article 2, Sec. 4) That doesn’t bother them any more than Trump’s criminal payoff to a porn star.

It seems "Constitutional conservative" has become an oxymoron.

Remember the First Amendment provisions for a free press? Totally demonized by the Tangerine Tyrant for not kissing his ring. Remember the First Amendment “right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances”?

We have numerous videos of cops gassing and clubbing peaceful protesters, for protesting police violence. Like a police state.

We have a president who said, “I will fight to protect you. I am your President of law and order, and an ally of all peaceful protesters." Minutes earlier it was as if he ordered: "OK, Barr. Smash and gas those peaceful protesters so I can have my Bible photo-op." This is exactly the behavior of a dictator's failed state, verging on a police state.

Even high ranking former Trump officials and other military leaders have called out his lawlessness. Retired Air Force Generals Mark Volcheff and Richard Myers, Admirals Mullen and McRaven, Army and Marine Generals Powell, Kelly and Mattis were just a few of those senior military men outraged by this flagrant and criminal violation of our Constitution.

But, I am open to hearing evidence on how “leftists” are the guilty ones.

I would concede the terms “failed state” and “police state” do not generally apply to wealthy white Americans. They are doing swell. After all, they comprise almost all the economic elites served by a bought and paid for Congress and White House sympathetic to the rich over everyone else.

We are a failed state when it comes to our founders’ ideal of consent of the governed as stated in the Declaration of Independence. We are certainly a failed state if the standard is equal justice under law. Only privileged and rural whites still believe this myth. Voter rights and registration depend on Republican leniency and what color your neighbors are. Republicans, in their open war on democracy, shut down the League of Women Voters from helping with registration. Qualified voters have been purged from rolls. Poll access is another unequal proposition.

Note that I am not including voter ID to counter wildly inflated claims and blatant lies of voter impersonation. Major election fraud has recently been the domain of Republicans. Trump’s taxpayer funded witch hunt for “millions of illegals voting” came up empty.

The Electoral College is a vestige of slave state demands. It is antithetical to representative democracy. The same is truth for the imbalance of representation and power in the Senate. These are direct and intentional impediments to the consent of the governed. The fact is our country was founded by wealthy white men, many being slave owners. Women and African Americans waited over a hundred years for the right to vote. Now we have an authoritarian political party working to reduce the number of voters and their access to their right to vote.

Republicans would prefer Americans standing in line, risking death and disease in a pandemic, rather than allow mail-in ballots.

So yes, the state has failed, and is actively failing, its citizens regarding voter rights and fair elections. The state has failed, and is actively failing, policing the police and providing equal justice under law.

Racial profiling and a long history of police brutality against minorities indicates another characteristic of a failed state. “Qualified immunity” is a concept that protects abusers in law enforcement and is antithetical to justice. Unaccountable police violence is a characteristic of a police state. Tyrell might even agree with this point.

And I agree that Americans of color have “more prosperity, opportunities, and freedom in America than nearly anywhere else in the world.”

The qualifier I would add is “generally” people of color having more prosperity, opportunities, and freedom than “nearly anywhere else”. The last qualifier is important. People of color have opportunities, better health care and better education in other countries.

We certainly have nothing approaching equal opportunity in this country.

Also “driving while black” is one of the freedoms that still eludes many, if not most, African Americans. Anyone who dismisses their real fear of racist cops is uninformed or willfully ignorant.

Trump and Sessions gutted federal measures for police accountability.They drastically limited abilities of federal officials to use court-enforced deals to require reforms at police departments.

I would also love to see evidence that “Democrats are seemingly bound and determined to eliminate the police in most major metropolitan areas.”

Reform is not removal, and the Right stands firmly opposed to reform.

It’s interesting that the Right sees a protester’s “defund the police” sign and assumes it is the Democratic Party platform to eliminate police. Nowhere have I seen a sign demanding “Eliminate the police”. Could that be the real “knee jerk reaction” projected upon Democrats?

This isn’t unusual, since the Right sees things that are not there. They see commies under progressive beds and the Devil between their sheets.

From Failed State To Police State

I'd like to share some random thoughts, impressions, and tweets regarding the ongoing Great American Tragedy. This tragic arc of our history was birthed by slavery, and prolonged by the continued racism, and indifference to racism, by white American conservatives. It has been continued in systemic racism throughout law enforcement.  

Equal justice under law has been an ideal, but still exists only as myth in America.

Since American con-servatism now has Trump for its leader, inequality and racism have only been fueled. Exacerbation will continue until he is removed from office.

We can count on a despot like the Big MAGAt to deny the result of an election he loses. If he can't win, or steal, the election, it WILL get ugly . He will likely incite his armed brown shirts to violence. Win or lose, he will go full Nazi. Count on it.

RepublicaNazis want voters to stay home or expose themselves to the coronavirus. They hate voter rights and fair elections. They are enemies of democracy and a threat to our lives. Wisconsin showed standing in line to vote spreads the virus. Republican judges refuse to allow the election to be postponed. The Trump Cult is pure evil.

I was for Bernie, but this is an emergency. Trump is a direct threat to our health. He threatens to withhold Michigan’s federal funding over vote-by-mail. He threatens the Post Office to stop mail-in votes. We choose to stop this fascist or allow four more years of destruction.

Many Nazis evaded justice. The Bush/Cheney cartel evaded justice for war crimes and torture. Trump will go free in an America gone rogue. This is a failed state. American democracy, justice and rule of law have been corrupted.

How is the Trump cult different from Nazis? They hate the same people. Minorities, liberals, educators, scientists, journalists, and yes, socialists are the targets of their hate. Time to call RepublicaNazis what they really are.

The Birther Liar tweeted: "It’s ANTIFA and the Radical Left. Don’t lay the blame on others!"

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey: "We are now confronting white supremacists, members of organized crime, out of state instigators, and possibly even foreign actors to destroy and destabilize our city and our region."

White nationalists threatened a family of campers and accused them of being "Antifa". This is the ignorance and hate being spread by Trump, hate radio, fascists on social media, and FOX(R).

Trump and his white nationalist cult deserve to be called neo-Nazis. No question. They hate the same people Hitler's Nazis hated. Minorities, liberals, educators, journalists, etc. The Fourth Reich is taking America down.

What has been true for minorities is now true for the majority of Americans. Racism, lies and hate stoked by Trump and the Right have taken us from divided state, to failed state, and now, to a police state. American neo-nazis are taking America down fast.

Yes. The truth is ugly. Nazis always hated democrats. FDR was their enemy. They still hate democrats, like they still hate democracy and minorities.

Racism is not racism to racists. A cult is not a cult to a cult.

Don't let Captain Tom "No Quarter" Cotton pretend otherwise. Historically “no quarter” was a death sentence. Hauptsturmführer would be Captain Tom 's rank in the SS. The Trump Cult hates the same people Hitler's Nazis hated. Hmm?

William Barr and his thugs are guilty of assault on peacefully assembled Americans exercising their First Amendment rights. He proclaimed, “The violence instigated and carried out by Antifa and other similar groups in connection with the rioting is domestic terrorism and will be treated accordingly.” 

So Barr ordered violence upon non-violent Americans.

He is literally an enemy of the people, as are his boss and every brutal cop. Lock them all up.

Amidst this authoritarian crackdown, the president tweeted:

5-28-02 “The only good Democrat is a dead Democrat”. 5-29-02 “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.”

5-30-20 "It’s ANTIFA and the Radical Left. Don’t lay the blame on others!"

5-31-20 "The Lamestream Media is doing everything within their power to foment hatred and anarchy. As long as everybody understands what they are doing, that they are FAKE NEWS and truly bad people with a sick agenda, we can easily work through them to GREATNESS!"

"LAW & ORDER!"

“The United States of America will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization.”

6-1-20 To Governors: "Most of you are weak."

"You have to dominate, if you don’t dominate you’re wasting your time. They’re going to run over you, you’re going to look like a bunch of jerks. You have to dominate."

Hundreds of thugs with badges have been beating people for protesting police violence. Journalists have been viciously attacked as well. 

Here is just a small sample of police brutality inflicted on people protesting police brutality:

Buffalo Police shove older man, who then bleeds from his head.

Black store owners looked for help from LA police, were handcuffed instead.

Black CNN reporter arrested live by Minneapolis on air. 

Protester with his hands up taken down by Buffalo police while giving a TV interview.

US Park Police gassed and bashed peaceful protesters to clear the way for a Trump photo-op.

Atlanta Police pull college students from a car and stun them with a Taser.

Salt Lake City Police knock down older man with a cane when he doesn’t move fast enough.

NYPD rams SUV into a crowd of people.

LAPD batters protesters with batons.

NYC Police shove, shout expletives at Associated Press journalists.

Richmond Police fired tear gas at protesters in Virginia before curfew.

What are the odds these real enemies of the people are Trump supporters, taking cues from their RepublicaNazi leader?

Hitler Was Defeated, Nazis Remain

75 years ago the war in Europe was ended. On May 8, 1945 Hitler’s Nazi      regime was finally annihilated. Hitler was dead, but not before inflicting immeasurable destruction, loss of lives, and human suffering. 

His racism, fascism, police state, war of aggression and murderous holocaust should have taught humanity a lesson. And it did for many people through the following few decades.

That was then.

Now the hated swastika flag and emblem of racist white supremacy has found a  new home. It flies along with Confederate flags and Trump banners all over the United States of America. One Trump supporter even displayed the flag at a Bernie rally in Phoenix before having it torn from his hands. 

We have a president who built his base on claims the Black president was not born an American, suggesting he was illegitimate. This president accuses law enforcement officers of treason for investigating his crimes and those of his cronies. His political adversaries are similarly accused of treason and hating America. He calls journalists enemies of the people for reporting facts that reveal his dishonesty and never-ending diatribes that fuel far Right resentment, anger and hate.

The president said there were “very fine people” marching in the Confederate and Nazi flagged “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville.

The praise was welcomed by Klan leader David Duke: “Thank you President Trump for honesty and courage to tell the truth about Charlottesville & condemn the leftist terrorists in BLM/Antifa.”

Duke echoed every racist white nationalist and neo-Nazi when he made these statements:

“Voting against Donald Trump at this point, is really treason to your heritage.”

“We are determined to take our country back, we're going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump, and that's what we believed in, that's why we voted for Donald Trump, because he said he's going to take our country back and that's what we gotta do." 

Ivana Trump told her lawyer Michael Kennedy that from time to time her husband read a book of Hitler’s collected speeches, My New Order, which he kept in a cabinet by his bed. 

This is the man who lavishes praise on every dictator. 

"Don't yet rejoice in his defeat, you men!
Although the world stood up and stopped the bastard,
The bitch that bore him is in heat again.”

From Bertolt Brecht’s 1941 parable play on the rise of Hitler, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui.

Hitler died. Nazis survived. The war against Nazis and fascism has never ended. 

There were Nazi rallies in the US before WWII. Fascists are still here in the United States. Along with every bigot, racist, and white nationalist they have their president in power. They have their vast propaganda network in talk radio, FOX, OANN, Sinclair Broadcasting, and far Right internet hate sites.

The far Right believes only their leaders and propaganda network. Like a cult they are told to distrust anyone outside their influence. They share heavily indoctrinated resentment, anger and hate for those not in their cult. 

American fascists hate the same people Hitler did. Minorities, liberals, educators, journalists, labor unions, and scientists that didn't support him were demonized, scapegoated and terrorized. 

It's no secret. American fascists and Hitler's Nazis hate the same people. 

Trump's "Fake news" was Hitler's “Lügenpresse”, or lying press, Both targeted the press as enemies of the people for questioning their lies and claims of "total authority". 

Revealing his true Nazi inclinations, Trump incited his armed Brownshirts to “liberate” Michigan.

American fascism is here.

When authoritarians, tyrants and dictators hold power they will do anything to keep it. Anything. 

The Fourth Reich has risen on the Potomac, and a fair election to remove it this November is in doubt.

America's greatest anti-fascist was FDR. We'd better start listening to him again.

Spring Tweets

The Winter of our discontent has bloomed into a Spring of our discontent. A Corona Spring that has wrought suffering and death to the afflicted, and harsh austerity to the millions of unemployed and laid off Americans. 

That wasn't a tweet, but an introduction to my Spring Tweets as of April 20.

3-16

It has finally arrived. We are in a crisis at a time when the country is not in capable hands. We have a president who has openly refused to accept any responsibility and a Republican Party that loathes government intervention and public healthcare.

3-19

Remember the Democrats’ stimulus spending?

The Right howled. Now they want stimulus spending.

Remember when Socialists said, “We’re all in this together”?

The Right howled. Now they say, “We’re all in this together”.

3-22

Republican Party lies & corruption have not only assured more Americans will die sooner and in greater numbers, but have assured that our representative democracy dies as well.

The US is NOT a republic. That requires fair elections and representation with ultimate power in the people. We have an oligarchy, by "Divine Right of Wealth". Name ONE civil and prosperous nation under libertarian ideology.... Give up? Now go away.

The general public still benefits from taxing corporations. Taxes, regulation of commerce, and the general welfare are in the Constitution for good reasons. Hate the Constitution? Go find your "libertarian paradise".

3-23

Every damn Republican Senator,

Get off your knees and remove your heads from Trump's ass. Most Americans are represented by Senate Democrats. They speak for MOST Americans. Take your corporate coddling, mammon serving, minority rule and shove it.

3-24

Yes, it's time for all Wall Street elites, The Republican Party, and Trump's supporters to offer their lives to save the economy. Their Free Market God Mammon demands their sacrifice. Jesus will welcome them, and shower them all with heavenly cash, stocks, bonds, gold and jewels.

3-25

Siding with Putin:

“President Putin. He just said it’s not Russia. I will say this. I don’t see any reason why it would be”

Siding with COVID-19

“We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself.”

THE most anti-American president EVER!

I've been reminded by our con-servative friends that Trump's approval rating has gone up, (now that socialist remedies are required to combat COVID-19). Hmm. The Trump Change cash will soon be gone and his approval will return to cult levels or lower, as the cult sickens.

Republican style socialism has priorities. Some of us may be getting a bit of "Trump Change", but much more will go chosen winners, "corporate persons", and to those who need it less. The more money you have, the more you get. How could they be more fair than that?

3-28

We've had cold-blooded Reptilian presidents. This one is the worst sociopath of all. Like a gangster thug, he wants to punish "disrespectful" governors. His inaction, neglect, narcissism, and pure evil have condemned thousands of Americans to an agonizing death.  

The corporate media give his "press room rallies" hours of airtime. Enough inattentive people see that, without really paying attention, and assume he's doing a good job. Image is everything, and corpo-media is guilty of spreading the Orange Plague's misinformation and lies.

Human survival requires a revolution, of consciousness and conscience. The benefits and progress will follow.

3-30

MAGA hatred is a virus more widespread than the corona. Progressives don't want human sacrifice to Wall Street. We want public healthcare, even for those fanatics who hate US for wanting it for THEM. What does that say? It says compassion and conscience are not their values.

Many of the tragedies that will become all too obvious later will be directly attributed to the idiots who didn't, and still don’t, practice social distancing. They will kill a lot of people. And I blame You-know-who. 

4-5

There can no longer be any doubt that the Party of the Orange Virus will boost the death toll of the coronavirus. They have enabled this Orange Plague, and Americans are dying.

4-8

I was with Bernie in 2016 and 2020, and I will still be with Bernie when he votes to defeat Trump. If we're not with him, those systematic problems will metastasize into a Trumpist/Orwellian state that would be impervious to revolution. An ugly split will only help assure it.

4-10

2016: When fascism comes to America, it will be welcomed to make American great again.

2020: Americans choose fascism again and embrace it to keep America great.

The End.

While a protest vote feels quite self-righteous, it's Trump's second favorite vote. It is essentially a vote that prioritizes resentment for Democrats' neoliberalism over defeating Trump's fascism. He will win because of voters who refuse to stand against him. Elections matter.

4-13

Yes, this old house needs repairs, but there's smoke pouring out of it. What is your priority?

Voting Green with Trump in power is like calling a carpenter when your house is on fire.

For fun, picture their reaction to Obama if he had said this. “When somebody's president of the United States, the authority is total."

How authoritarian can an aspiring dictator be? A total authoritarian. The Tangerine Tyrant fits the definition of totalitarian.

Let Trump win and see how voter rights, the GND, M4A, and Supreme Court disappear forever. The Right keeps winning because too many won't vote against the greater evil. Evil prevails when not opposed.I stand against Trump with Bernie and Biden. You're with us or against us.

4-14

Reaganism was the name of the lethal virus that infected us. It mutated into Bush/Cheneyism and Trumpism. Neoliberalism fused with neoconservatism into neofascsim. Any power designed to serve the elites at the expense of citizens is inherently immoral and designed to fail.

4-15

The Green Pledge:

"I hereby swear to do nothing, absolutely nothing, to end Trump's war on justice, truth, decency, voter rights, elections, our air, our water, our healthcare, and our planet. My resentment for the DNC is the real priority. Four more years! THAT'll teach 'em."

4-16

"The protest — dubbed "Operation Gridlock" — was organized by the Michigan Conservative Coalition and the Michigan Freedom Fund, a DeVos family-linked conservative group." This is a Trump rally without Trump. In other words an armed mob of angry white nationalist illiterates, as opposed to an unarmed mob of angry white nationalist illiterates.

4-19

If you can protest about "losing your rights" while brandishing a weapon, as you defy medical opinion, ignore Trump's own guidelines, and do his dirty work against Democratic governors, you are an ignorant puppet and stooge. And nobody but inmates are under lockdown.

 4-20

He called social distancing “bullshit” on March 15. He died from covid-19 on April 15. He will not be the only person to die for Trump. Let's honor this duped fool with an award to remind other dupes of the radical, science-denying, far Right. The "John W. McDaniel Darwin Award" will have countless thousands of co-winners soon enough.

A 2020 Parable

Three Choices

The ship is sinking.

There are only two lifeboats.

One has a person with a cold.

The other has a person with covid-19

Which lifeboat do you get in?

Or do you refuse both, and choose to go down with the ship?

Only to be pushed into the covid-19 boat.

OK, Maybe my clumsy parable isn't clear enough. It's about the election, not the pandemic.

While a third party protest vote feels quite self-righteous, it's Trump's second favorite vote. 

It is essentially a vote that prioritizes resentment for Democrats' neoliberalism, over defeating Trump's fascism. 

If he wins again, it will be because these voters refused to stand against him. 

Again.

Elections matter.

Fellow Bernie supporters may suggest I am betraying my progressive ideals by voting for Biden.

No. I am defending them from Trumpism. Many Bernie people will not, or might even defect to Trump.

I always stand opposed to the greater evil.

Voting for Biden is no more a betrayal of democracy than being allied with Stalin in WWII. It was the best way to defeat Hitler. That didn’t mean we supported him afterwards.

Trump will further poison our planet, government, courts, truth and democracy.

He has to go.

Now.

I stand with Bernie in this cause.

The Orange Plague

“Attacking governors and mayors and journalists for asking questions that might please your fans, it doesn’t save one life,” - Jake Tapper

Other nations are winning their wars against coronavirus—we aren't. It's time to accept that the difference between us and them is that our "leader" has consistently lied about and downplayed the virus, leading his fans to do the same—and endanger America.- Seth Abramson

Imagine these views being not only politically incorrect, but the speakers being attacked by an authoritarian leader as "enemies of the people". That would be a dictatorship. And it is not imaginary.

Now imagine a deadly pandemic raging across the land. Of course every rational person knows the pandemic is very real. But there are still countless Americans who see no deadly pandemic. This is absolutely a cult-level of delusion, and it is also frighteningly real.

There is zero threat or danger from these journalists’ remarks about the actions or inactions by our government, or more accurately, Republicans. The actual dangerous threat to the people is from the dishonest and corrupt authoritarian leader and his party that denies science and ignores advice from medical professionals.

We've heard the Orange Virus crow about "saving thousands of lives" by his so-called "travel ban" from China. It wasn't a travel ban. It only banned Chinese from coming to the US. Americans and others have been coming here from China all along. 

There were 1,300 direct flights to 17 cities before President Trump’s travel restrictions. Since then, nearly 40,000 Americans and other authorized travelers have made the trip, some this past week and many with spotty screening.

How about that? Whodathunk you didn't have to be Chinese to carry the virus?

Not every Republican is as criminally negligent and corrupt as the Trump Cartel, but they certainly enabled and empowered them. Mitt Romney is the only one who took a stand for conscience.

If a handful of Senate Republicans had found a conscience, maybe we wouldn’t have useless greedheads like Kushner gumming up the works to profit from the pandemic.

But here we are.

Americans are suffering this present terror to an increasingly horrible degree, exacerbated by real enemies of the people.

They are the opponents of public health care. These are the “covidiots” who refuse to promote social distancing, and even encourage people to flock to churches, increasing the danger of covid-19 to tens, or hundreds, of thousands of Americans.

And thousands will die because of these Republican enemies of the people.

Now imagine an emergency room doctor being fired for speaking the truth about the ongoing crisis he witnesses.

That happened to Doctor Ling Min in Bellingham Washington.

This doc wasn’t fired by the hospital, but by an outsourced Wall Street investment firm. Trump allies, needless to say.

Wall Street’s predatory capitalism has a powerful grip on our nation’s emergency rooms.  

About a third of hospital emergency rooms are staffed by doctors on the payrolls of two physician staffing companies—TeamHealth and Envision Health—owned by Wall Street investment firms. Envision Healthcare employs 69,000 healthcare workers nationwide while TeamHealth employs 20,000. Private equity firm Blackstone Group owns TeamHealth, Kravis Kohlberg Roberts (KKR) owns Envision.

Care of the sick is not the mission of these companies; their mission is to make outsized profits for the private equity firms and its investors.

Trumpism, anti-government conservatism, Republicans, “Trump Christians”, and predatory capitalism have been in alliance with the coronavirus. These partners of the coronavirus have been like a virus itself, infecting and spreading across the nation. This is ‘Republican America” folks. And there’s nothing “great” about these leaders betraying the American people in service to their greed and lust for power.

And there can no longer be any doubt that the Party of the Orange Virus will boost the death toll of the coronavirus.

They have enabled this Orange Plague, and Americans are dying.

On March 14th Karen Kolb Sehlke, a Trump-loving woman from Texas claimed the virus was “media driven”, like the “impeachment hoax”, by Democrats. It’s all a socialist conspiracy to “overthrow Trump”.

“Wake up!!! This is what the beginning of socialism looks like!”

On April 2nd she died from covid-19.

Yes, there are real enemies of the people, and they are not journalists. How many thousands more will die from this Orange Plague? 

Soon, more than just Bernie and progressives will be demanding better public healthcare.

If we can’t learn the hard way, we’ll never learn.

17.8 Tons Of Medical Supplies...To China!

I'm not blaming Trump or anybody for the coronavirus. In fact, Trump and his administration weren't the only ones to fail to grasp the severity of the coming pandemic. Many in the corporate media downplayed the danger. Denial is a universal human defense mechanism.

An important difference is Trump was warned by intelligence officials in January. Afterwards he downplayed the threat.   

Whatever his reasons for denial, it was still perhaps just a fallibility of human nature. But that doesn't mean he isn't guilty of unconscionable lies and negligence.

How can any sane and compassionate American not be horrified at how this corrupt, impeached Republican president is botching the federal response to the coronavirus? 

We've heard his long string of dismissive lies, minimizing the danger of COVID-19, AFTER he was informed the pandemic would be here soon. In fact, it was already here at the time he was pushing his disinformation.

By January 29th cases were reported in 17 countries. In China, the outbreak surpassed that of SARS. Five cases were confirmed in the U.S. 

By February 2nd the death toll topped 300, including the first fatality outside China. The World Health Organization and U.S declared a public health emergency.

By this time everybody should have known the threat is real. 

Yet...

On February 23rd he declared, “We have it very much under control in this country.” 

On February 26th he said, “And again, when you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that’s a pretty good job we’ve done.” 

And his behavior only got worse, even as he signs the stimulus.

Now he and his party are not just picking corporate "winners and losers", as the Right has projected so thoroughly on Democrats. His demented ego is playing personal grievances and favorites into matters of life and death in a national crisis with deadly consequences. 

We've witnessed his childish, vicious, and personal attacks on the governors of Washington and Michigan, and his reluctance to facilitate aid even to his native state.

He wasn't so reluctant at sending offers of help to Iran, North Korea and China, though. He never met a dictator he didn't like.

It's as if he is at war with Americans who dare question his imperious and vengeful rule. His vendetta towards governors who won't praise him is blackmail, bordering on genocide.

Apart from his vindictive self-centered nature, here's one other explanation why our "War President" has been punishing states with governors who fail to praise him. 

Note the date. It is weeks after he had been told we were going to be hit by the lethal coronavirus, and his cronies did this anyway.

~~~~

The United States Announces Assistance To Combat the Novel Coronavirus

PRESSSTATEMENT

MICHAEL R. POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE

FEBRUARY 7, 2020

This week the State Department has facilitated the transportation of nearly 17.8 tons of donated medical supplies to the Chinese people, including masks, gowns, gauze, respirators, and other vital materials.  These donations are a testament to the generosity of the American people.

Today, the United States government is announcing it is prepared to spend up to $100 million in existing funds to assist China and other impacted countries, both directly and through multilateral organizations, to contain and combat the novel coronavirus.  This commitment – along with the hundreds of millions generously donated by the American private sector – demonstrates strong U.S. leadership in response to the outbreak.

This assistance only adds to what the United States has done to strengthen health security programs around the world.  For the last 20 years, the United States through USAID has invested over one billion dollars to strengthen the capacity of more than 25 countries to prevent, detect, and respond to existing and emerging infectious disease threats.  Since 2015, under our commitment to the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA), this support has helped improve surveillance and laboratory systems, risk communication, outbreak response, and address the rising threat of anti-microbial resistance.

The United States is and will remain the world’s most generous donor. We encourage the rest of the world to match our commitment.  Working together, we can have a profound impact to contain this growing threat.
~~~~~~
Even if this aid had been planned before the pandemic directly threatened us, maybe our leaders could have cared for the health and welfare of Americans enough to reconsider sending to China the supplies that we would so desperately need.

Tragically the president has decided "Let them die" is his policy towards millions of "disloyal" Americans.