Monthly Archives: March 2020

media news

Still ‘no!’ on last-word duels

Four years ago I posted an item that talked briefly about my reluctance to engage readers of this blog or other social media acquaintances in a battle of wits.

I wrote: I’m leaning against a possible Last Word Contest with those along my social media network who suffer from the last-word addiction. My sense is that they have more staying power than I do when they engage others — such as me — in these idea exchanges, which is why they’re addicted … and I’m not.

Then again, I could change my mind. I’ll keep y’all posted.

Well, I haven’t changed my mind. My reluctance to engage in such repartee remains as staunch as ever.

I’ll have to admit to something in that regard: I am not smart enough or witty enough or my mind isn’t as facile as others who can’t get enough of this kind of back/forth.

High Plains Blogger allows me to vent. It provides me a forum to express my views on a whole array of issues. It also allows me to talk about matters some might consider trivial; the Puppy Tales series about our beloved pooch Toby, to cite one example. Hey, it’s my blog and I can write whatever I feel like writing. Got it? Good!

As for the last-worditis that afflicts some folks, I know who they are. They know who they are. One of them who sadly recently passed away used to acknowledge my reluctance to engage him in a discussion. I wouldn’t answer his acknowledgement, which I suppose is my way of staying faithful to the personal pledge I made to avoid that kind of (what I consider to be) nonsense.

Part of my increased reluctance has been the intensely personal nature of the volleys that participants fire at each other. One of the goals I have managed to meet with this blog is that I do not launch ad hominem attacks at individuals simply because they disagree with whatever flies off my keyboard and into cyberspace. Consequently, with only very few exceptions, critics of this blog have been relatively high-minded in their responses, although some of their critics have accused them of taking cheap shots.

That’s when it gets nasty. And personal. I watch these rhetorical fire fights from a distance and experience what I only can describe as a sort of out-of-body episode.

But this blog will trudge on. I am proud of it. I enjoy it beyond measure. It gives me relief … even if some folks want to goad me into a battle of wits.

Sorry. You’re outta luck.

national news

Local governments are taking lead on crisis management

The good news about the president’s national emergency declaration this afternoon is that states, counties and cities already are way ahead of the federal government in managing the coronavirus pandemic.

Donald Trump stood in the White House Rose Garden, bragged a bit about how well he’s done, heard slobbering praise from Mike Pence and then declared he bears “no responsibility at all” for many of the federal missteps that have occurred along the way.

Meanwhile, governors and other state and local officials are making their own declarations and announcing plans on how they intend to deal with the crisis.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was one of the governors who today announced a disaster declaration in Texas. He has mobilized local authorities and has made some key executive decisions. Gov. Abbott sounded like someone in charge. The president? Well, not so much.

Counties, too, have taken action. Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins has ordered a ban on all activities that attract crowds of 250 people or more.

The crisis has been real since it broke some weeks ago. The president has sought to downplay what the World Health Organization has labeled a pandemic, which means it’s bad and likely to get worse.

So, with that I’ll listen more intently to messages coming from City Hall, from the county courthouse and from the State Capitol before I heed the words spewing from the White House.

Hey, I mean no disrespect. I just need guidance and steady counsel … neither of which is coming from the office of the president of the United States.

national news

Pence grovels at Trump’s feet, but believe this: Trump doesn’t give a rip

I could not help but marvel at Vice President Mike Pence’s shameless groveling today as Donald Trump announced the national emergency in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

There was the VP heaping praise all over Trump, damn near slobbering as he saluted the president for his “astounding leadership” and all the things he has done to save Americans’ lives and protect the nation from the health crisis that is enveloping the world.

Please …

What is most astonishing is how little Trump thinks of those — in addition to Pence — who piled on the bouquets.

Does any serious-minded individual who watched that spectacle this afternoon think that the president ever is going to return any of the love they hurled at him? Of course not. He thinks of no one but himself and demands that kind of blind fealty of those who work at his pleasure.

It was a disgusting and obscene display.

national news

This crisis seems vastly different from previous crises

I’ve been around awhile, a bit more than 70 years.

In my lifetime I have endured a presidential assassination, global warfare. I have witnessed a volcano erupt in real time. And yes, I have lived through health crises of all sorts.

None of those events has delivered quite the impact on our lives as the one that’s evolving at this moment. The coronavirus pandemic has brought a temporary (I hope) collapse of our national culture.

Think of this: Professional basketball, hockey and baseball have suspended their seasons; college basketball has canceled its men’s and women’s tournaments; Disneyland and Walt Disney World have closed; public schools are closing or are delaying their reopening after spring break; pro golf tournaments have been canceled or postponed; late-night comedians have suspended production of their shows, given that they cannot welcome audiences into their studios.

The president has declared a national emergency. Governors around the country are declaring disasters are at hand. Cities are banning events that bring crowds of assorted sizes.

Our popular culture is being affected in a major way by this coronavirus.

I am trying to remember a single event bringing this kind of disruption to our lives. I can’t remember it.

When the Japanese navy and air force attacked us at Pearl Harbor, the nation mobilized immediately but went about its life as we prepared to go to war. Our nation’s commercial air traffic was suspended for a time after 9/11, but yet we went to work the next day and our children went to school.

Yes, this one feels different. Our media are covering the ramifications of this crisis 24/7. They are far from exhausting every possible angle on this still-developing story.

As a former colleague of mine wondered on social media, he now will get to experience what he’s pondered over the years: How do people cope without being able to watch any sporting activity? I guess I can expand that to include going to any sort of event that brings crowds that get to laugh and cheer.

I long have called for patience and perseverance when government undertakes a project. My reference usually is of road projects or any sort of infrastructure capital construction.

We’ll need patience and perseverance in spades as we work our way through this health crisis. I also must add prudence.

medical news, national news

Passing the buck, eh, Mr. POTUS?

Donald John “Buck Passer in Chief” Trump took a question this afternoon from a reporter who asked if the president took “responsibility” for the lack of testing kits available to help detect the coronavirus among Americans.

Trump called the reporter’s inquiry a “nasty question,” but then added that he takes “no responsibility at all,” even though the Trump administration dismantled the safeguards it inherited to deal with crises such as what we’re experiencing at the moment.

Trump said he didn’t know about the dismantling of the team that had been formed. He looked around at the folks standing with him in the White House Rose Garden for someone who could answer the question directly.

Wherever he is, President Harry Truman is seething. It was President Truman who famously displayed the sign on his White House desk that declared that “The Buck Stops Here.”

That is no longer the case. Donald Trump doesn’t accept any responsibility for any decision that reflects badly on him, the administration or the presidency itself.

Interesting, yes?

Consider, finally, something that I have noted already on High Plains Blogger: Donald Trump stood before the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in the summer of 2016 and pronounced to the entire world that “I, alone” can repair what he said ails the nation.

That was a lie, too.

local news

This virus crisis is getting to at least one local official

I placed a phone call today to the office of Collin County Judge Chris Hill. I left a message with his secretary, asking if he could call me back; I didn’t specify the issue about which I wanted to talk to him.

A couple of hours later, my phone rang and it was a spokesman for the county who was calling me back. He said the judge was concerned that my call dealt with the coronavirus. I told the spokesman my call was on another issue relating to a story I am covering for the Farmersville Times, for which I am working on a freelance basis.

The spokesman laughed. He said Judge Hill has been “bombarded” with calls about the coronavirus outbreak, so he passed the call off to the county staffer. Indeed, Collin County has reported a handful of positive coronavirus test results … so there’s that.

My point is that this crisis seems to be stressing local officials out, if Chris Hill’s reaction to my phone call is any indication.

I cannot realistically insert myself into their roles, or walk in their shoes … to borrow a phrase. However, this is why folks such as Judge Hill sign on to serve the public. They simply take an oath to deal with crises as they emerge.

State news

Gov. Abbott to the public: No need to hoard household supplies

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott this morning went on the air to make a statewide disaster declaration in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

He issued a number of directives and said that state medical providers are going to ensure that testing equipment is available to those who need to be checked for the virus. It’s all worthwhile and needed under the current circumstance that has created a sense of international near-panic.

But …

The governor also urged us to avoid hoarding household items. My wife and I went to our neighborhood supermarket this morning. We glanced down the aisle where they peddle toilet tissue and paper towels. We saw empty shelf space. It was all gone! All of it!

So, I hope that the governor’s words do not fall on deaf ears all across Texas.

national news

Trump sets the table for a new low of campaign viciousness

We all had better get ready for an onslaught of innuendo that is likely to come from Donald Trump’s re-election campaign.

Now that Joe Biden appears to be the Democratic Party presidential nominee in waiting, the Trump team appears to be getting set to launch a frontal assault on Biden’s mental health.

Never mind, of course, that Donald Trump himself is the king of gaffes, of lies, misstatements, prevarication. He seems set on focusing on some of the verbal blunders that the former vice president commits on occasion.

As Politico reports, Trump stood before some donors this past week in Florida and talked aloud about some of the mistakes Biden made. So, the battle may be joined.

Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, has said Biden suffers from “dementia.” Fox News blowhards Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson have raised similar issues on their TV shows. As for the Biden team, it needs to prepare carefully for how it intends to respond to the idiocy that flies out of Trump’s mouth as well as what comes from his surrogates.

Given that they have so little that is defensible with which they can work to persuade Americans to re-elect Trump, they’ll rely on ways to tear down their opponents. If that reminds you of what they did to Hillary Clinton in 2016, well, it should.

After offering up some examples of Biden’s alleged intellectual slippage, Biden told donors, “I would hope you not repeat that.”

Sure thing, Mr. President. They already have in defense of the most dangerous and ignorant president in our nation’s history.

medical news

Get tested, Mr. President!

Readers of this blog, Mr. President — and I wish you were one of them — are likely to be surprised to learn that I do not wish ill health on you while you are in office.

Therefore, I believe it is incumbent on you to take the test to determine whether your body is infected with the coronavirus that is infecting so many others around the world.

You have shaken hands with attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference who have tested positive for the virus; you have rubbed shoulders with foreign dignitaries. You are about to declare a national emergency as we all seek to cope with this pandemic. Have you failed to hear the warning issued by Dr. Anthony Fauci? He said you need to take the test. Listen to the man. He’s the world’s pre-eminent expert on this stuff!

So, there you have it. You need to test yourself and you need to determine whether you and your family should isolate yourself from others with whom you are doing the work on our behalf.

May I remind you, Mr. President, that you are part of an “at-risk” group of Americans. You are a good bit north of 70 years of age (and, hey, I am not that far behind you). Those around you tell us that you don’t get enough sleep and that you’re too busy working on the nation’s problems. It makes me say, “Hello? Sleep is essential to good presidential health … especially now that this deadly virus is striking us all across the land.”

Get the damn test, Mr. President! I am sure your position would allow your doctor to expedite delivery of the test kit, unlike what many millions of other Americans are facing if they want to be tested. But, what the heck. That’s another story for another time.

I want to know if the president of the United States is in danger of getting quite sick.

medical news

Waiting for the current president to lead

I am having difficulty watching and listening to the president discuss the medical pandemic that is sweeping around the world.

He portrays an image of toughness when it’s easy to do so. When the time presents itself for Donald Trump to actually perform as a leader, he chokes. As The New York Times reported today:

While he presents himself as the nation’s commanding figure, Mr. Trump has essentially become a bystander as school superintendents, sports commissioners, college presidents, governors and business owners across the country take it upon themselves to shut down much of American life without clear guidance from the president.

He has contradicted medical experts’ analysis of the coronavirus crisis. The president spoke to the nation from the Oval Office on Wednesday about a travel ban he was imposing on Europe, only to have the White House “clarify” Trump’s remarks two or three minutes after he signed off. Trump acts more like a man desperate to ignite a Wall Street rally if only to help his re-election chances.

Donald Trump cannot get it right. He cannot lend an air of competence at a time when the nation desperately needs it from the center of executive power.

I have to arc back to a point I have sought to make on this blog since Donald Trump began seeking the presidency in the summer of 2015. It is simply that this man’s background has taught him nothing about the complexities of the federal government and the nuance of public service leadership.

It is absent as this individual flails and flutters while wishing for a medical “miracle” that will not occur.