medical news

U.S. reaches dubious milestone

The United States of America has just logged the most sickening milestone in the current COVID-19 pandemic: the most cases of infection during a single day.

Here we are. Months into the pandemic and with Donald Trump continuing to bellow what a “fantastic” job he has done we are setting dubious records in medical futility. Vice President Mike Pence said that every day brings us closer to whipping the coronavirus pandemic. Really, Mr. VP? The numbers say something quite different.

Oh, and then the Veep said, “That’s leadership!” Sure it is, dude. Donald Trump is leading us into some form of medical oblivion.

Texas is now leading the way into the nation’s hideous and tragic response to the COVID-19 crisis. I heard something today that suggests that Houston — the state’s largest city — might become the most COVID-infected city in the world!

That is success? That is how Donald Trump defines the “fantastic” job he and his COVID response team — chaired by Mike Pence — are doing while fighting this disease?

Oh, my. God help us.

medical news

Texas, U.S. facing ‘massive’ COVID-19 outbreak

When you toss the word “massive” around, then you had better be sure that the condition or the event you are describing fits the bill.

So, then we have Texas Gov. Greg Abbott telling us that that Texas is facing a “massive” outbreak of COVID-19 infection. Yep, that comes from the governor who has yet to issue an order requiring us to wear masks in public, hasn’t declared cities and counties have the authority to do what they must to curb the infection rate.

The outbreak projection does give me the heebie-jeebies.

Indeed, Gov. Abbott is sounding more like Dr. Anthony Fauci — tha nation’s top infectious disease expert — than Donald Trump, the nation’s leading buffoon/carnival barker/con man/presidential imposter.

Are we going to shut down the economy again? If it means we can protect human lives, then I am all in. Do I want that to occur? Of course not! I am among those Americans who wants the economy to recover and who mourns the economic hardship that is befalling too many Americans. However, I also mourn the sickness and death that continues to strike Americans down.

Thus, when I hear our governor say that a massive outbreak of the killer virus is upon us, I get terribly concerned about my family.

Furthermore, I dismiss out of hand any phony pronouncement from Donald Trump or from his sycophants that we are whipping this “invisible enemy.” Trump is lying and he is instructing his minions to lie on his behalf.

The greater tragedy — apart from the deaths that are mounting up — is that they lie without any shame and expect us to believe them.

Let us prepare for that massive outbreak.

International news, medical news, national news

EU bans travel from U.S.? Wow!

Donald Trump can yap and yammer all he wants about all the “success” he is scoring against the COVID-19 virus.

His “allies” in the European Union have a different and damning view.

The EU is going to open its borders next week, but will ban travel from three key countries that it says haven’t done enough to stem the killer tide sweeping around the world. Those countries? Russia, Brazil … and the United States of America.

Axios.com reports: It’s an international rebuke of the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic. Millions of American tourists travel to the EU every summer, but that’s unlikely to happen until the U.S. gets the virus under control.

So, if you want to pack up and head for Paris, or to Rome, or the Greek Isles … forget about it! You ain’t going if you’re planning to depart from the U.S. of A.

It’s a preliminary recommendation to date. My hunch, though, is that the United States isn’t going to wrestle the pandemic to the ground between now and July 1, when the EU lifts its travel ban.

Infection and hospitalization rates are spiking in nearly half of our states, Texas included. Donald Trump’s response? He said we need to “slow down testing” because too many COVID tests produce too many positive infection results. We can’t have that in the middle of a presidential campaign, in Trump’s view of the world.

The EU’s decision isn’t going to sit well within the West Wing of the White House. Too damn bad! The EU wants to protect itself against further infection, just as Donald Trump wanted to protect this country when he banned travel from China when it dawned on him that the pandemic was a serious threat, except that he acted too late.

EU nations by and large have turned the tide against the medical nightmare. They want to ensure that COVID-19 remains suppressed, which the United States so far is failing to do.

business news, local news

Racism takes many forms

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I am seeing this drama unfold from some distance, but given my history with Amarillo, Texas, it isn’t as far as many other communities on which commented regarding similar issues.

A local lawyer, Jesse Quackenbush, wants to open a Mexican food restaurant called Big Beaners. It has, um, drawn considerable opposition within the community. Why? The term “beaners” is perceived by many Latinos to be an ethnic slur. Some of us Anglos see it that way, too.

Quackenbush, known for his feisty and occasionally combative nature, isn’t backing down. He wants to open the joint in early July; I understand he pushed the opening date back a few days.

He said he isn’t going to change the name because he already has ordered restaurant supplies — napkins, cups, plates and such — with the name Big Beaners inscribed on them.

This story, it seems to me, is a direct result of the rising public awareness of racial and ethnic sensitivity that has been pushed to the front of our consciousness. I haven’t spoken to Jesse Quackenbush about this, although I do understand he is digging against the racism allegation.

I just would suggest that the term “beaners” is a term that has racist connotations to many of us who hear it. I wish he would rename the restaurant he intends to open.

We return to Amarillo on occasion to see family and friends. I guess I should just acknowledge that I won’t darken his door as long as the establish carries a name that I find offensive.

Sports news

No ‘hate crime,’ but the love should remain

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Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports 

Bubba Wallace quite suddenly has become NASCAR’s most visible driver. He is the only top-tier African-American driver in the racing circuit.

It was thought for a few days that someone had hung a noose in his garage at the track in Talledaga, Ala., spurring outrage among drivers, their owners, many fans and politicians. Then we hear from the FBI that the noose had been in the garage since October 2019, well before Wallace and his crew took up space in the garage stall.

He had made his mark by calling for the removal of Confederate flags at NASCAR events. NASCAR heard him and took down the flags, which themselves in the eyes of many of us are symbols of hate, oppression and treason.

No hate crime has been committed, said the FBI.

What now?

NASCAR showed its love and respect for Wallace prior to the race the other day in Talledaga. Drivers and their crews escorted Wallace’s No. 43 car to the front of the line. The race started and Wallace led several laps before finishing in 14th place.

Wallace said he won’t be silenced by any threats. This particular threat apparently has been deemed a non-starter. The outcome of the FBI probe into what they found in that garage stall doesn’t diminish the message that a single driver sought to deliver about his sport. Yes, it was born in the South. Yes, too, the Confederate flag has been a key symbol at NASCAR events. Bubba Wallace simply has told us what many of us have known all along, that the symbol represents a dark and evil chapter in our nation’s history.

The young man deserves the love that has poured forth from his colleagues and from fans around the country.

national news

Trump campaign strategy has taken form

Donald Trump’s campaign theme has taken form. It is clear now what Trump intends to do while seeking re-election as president of the United States.

He is going to denigrate, degrade, disparage his Democratic Party foe, Joseph Biden. Donald Trump will not offer a clear vision for the future. He won’t tell us what he intends to do during a second term. Trump likely won’t even boast about what he allegedly accomplished during the term he is serving.

I have seen the TV ads that Donald Trump has approved. They speak to Biden’s mental acuity. They say the former vice president “is slipping.”

Well, I am not going to defend Joe Biden’s mental snap, other than to say that I believe he has plenty left in the tank to compete head to head against the Liar in Chief.

I have no intention of offering this critique of Trump to prompt him to develop a winning strategy. I do not believe he is capable of crafting a theme on which to run for re-election. He instead is wired to pummel straw men. He continually lambasted Hillary Clinton in 2016 over the email matter, suggesting nefarious motives for her use of a personal server while she was secretary of state.

Trump likely will copy that page from his winning playbook strategy in 2020. Joe Biden’s team must be aware of it — and I have no doubt it is — must be prepared to answer every single innuendo that Trump intends to hurl against the proverbial wall.

Donald Trump’s political career by all rights should come to a screeching halt once they count all the voters’ ballots cast on or before Nov. 3.

How might Biden respond? I hope he intends to tell us how he would react to crises and pledge to improve on the feckless, reckless and pointless response to the COVID-19 crisis we’ve seen from the Trump administration. I also hope he intends to speak passionately to the issue of civil rights, which is a topic that is foreign to Donald Trump.

Donald Trump is likely to bring the nastiness to a full boil quickly and will sustain it during the length of what looks to me to be the most vile presidential campaign in memory.

media news

Blog streak goes on and on

I feel like bragging for just a moment about this blog I write.

High Plains Blogger has posted musings for the past 357 days. That’s at least one per day for nearly a year.

Why is that worthy of a bit of braggadocio? I guess it’s just because I feel like bragging about it.

The blog once surpassed a year in the number of consecutive days in which a blog item had been posted. Then technical difficulties got in the way. I had to go a full day without posting a blog item while the hosting outfit I hired worked through the problem. They fixed it in short order and so I started a new streak.

I hear occasionally from friends of mine who say they “marvel” at the volume of items I post. Well, that comes from friends. My adversaries don’t offer that kind of comment. That’s OK. I get it.

I am blessed — or cursed, depending on how you might consider it — with an abundance of time. Retirement allows me to vent, to rant, to pontificate, to offer a perspective on this or that. And so … I do.

I am not into writing daily just to keep streaks alive. I have quite a bit to say on a number of topics. The president of the United States, quite clearly, occupies much of my time these days. I’ll stay on his a** for as long as it takes.

Meanwhile the streak goes on.

legal news

William Barr: a profound disappointment

It is time for some disclosure on my part.

Jeff Sessions’ departure as U.S. attorney general was maddening in one respect: Even though I didn’t approve of his selection in the beginning, he did follow the law by recusing himself from the Russia investigation into Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign; when Trump fired him, he did so only because Sessions did the right thing and it spoke volumes about the corrupt intent within Trump.

Then came the appointment of William Barr. I was glad to see Barr get nominated. Why? He served as AG during President George H.W. Bush’s term in office and acquitted himself well in the early 1990s. I had hoped that Trump had found another grownup to join the Cabinet.

It didn’t take long for Barr to prove to me that he swilled the Trump Kool-Aid and would become a shill for the Carnival Barker in Chief rather than representing the best interests of the nation he took an oath to protect. How about that sham summary he provided after Robert Mueller issued his findings on collusion with the Russians during the 2016 campaign. You get my drift, right?

The firing this past week of the Southern District of New York U.S. attorney, Geoffrey Berman, sealed the deal for me. Berman was canned because he was investigating Trump’s business affairs. You can’t have that going on, Barr seemed to suggest. He fired Berman, who had refused to resign. Or maybe Trump told Barr to do it. Whatever, it doesn’t matter. The clumsy and ridiculous display of obvious political a**-covering exposed Barr once again as a toadie for Donald Trump.

My understanding of U.S. attorney appointments is that they are recommended by U.S. senators or House members to the Justice Department, which then passes the nomination on to the Senate, which confirms the appointment. The firing of Berman was done far outside the lines of propriety.

So, the drama continues and it will continue to unfold for as long as Donald Trump pretends to be president of the United States.

We need to get him out of the Oval Office … and be sure he takes William Barr with him.

national news

Smooth transition? Will it occur?

I am resisting the temptation to get too far ahead of myself as I ponder the upcoming presidential election.

It is hard, given my intense desire to see Joe Biden beat Donald Trump like a drum and boot the POTUS’s sorry behind out of the White House.

Still, I am prone these day to wonder what the next presidential transition will look like. Will it be the “smooth, peaceful transition” that presidents and former presidents talk about when they sing the praises of our form of government?

The good news is that Donald Trump won’t be president forever, despite the reported claims that he wishes it could happen. The best news is that he’ll exit the Oval Office for the final time on Jan. 20, 2021.

I have watched a number of videos in the YouTube archive of such events. I have seen the manner in which President Clinton handed over the reins of power to George W. Bush; how President Bush did the same to Barack Obama; and how President Obama did as well to Donald Trump.

All those outgoing presidents spoke well of their successors. They wished them good luck and Godspeed. They all embodied the uniqueness of our form of government, how presidents of opposing political parties can set aside their differences and work toward something that resembles a smooth transition.

How in the world is the current president going to react when his challenger defeats him? Yes, I shudder to think of this, but how might he react to the ascent of the next president in 2025?

I believe it is fair to speculate that if Biden beats Trump this November that the incumbent ain’t going to go quietly, with dignity, with grace and with good wishes for his successor. Has there been any example of that kind of comportment from this president? I haven’t seen it. Have you? 

Either scenario — whether the transition occurs next January or four years from now — is enough to send chills up my spine.

I’ve spent a good deal of blog space trashing former national security adviser John Bolton for refusing to tell us what he saw “In the Room Where It Happened” when it really mattered. However, he was asked how Donald Trump should be remembered.

Bolton said he hopes he will be remembered as a “one-term president” who didn’t damage the office beyond repair. I want to add that I also hope that Donald Trump would accept voters’ decision quietly … and just disappear.

national news

Next stop: Arizona … another embarrassment on tap?

Donald John Trump went to Tulsa, Okla., to restart his re-election campaign. He bragged about all the folks who would jam the BOK Arena. They didn’t. He stood in a venue that was two-thirds empty.

Now he heads for Arizona to look at the construction of The Wall along our border with Mexico. He’s going to speak at a church, or so I have heard.

The Tulsa gathering was stunted reportedly over fear of the pandemic, the lack of social distancing. Maybe, too, Trump’s shtick is wearing thin.

What’s going to happen in Arizona, an actual swing state that Trump might lose to Joe Biden this fall? I guess I should mention that COVID-19 infections are spiking through the Arizona roof at this moment.

I want yet another humiliation for Donald Trump, who invites this kind of scorn simply because of the ridiculous boasting that precedes these events.

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