Monthly Archives: April 2020

national news

Pence’s pettiness is so unbecoming

You have pettiness … and then you have Vice President Mike Pence.

The VP, who heads the Trump administration coronavirus pandemic response task force, has issued the strangest decree I can imagine.

He has ordered Drs. Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx — the task force’s preeminent medical experts on infectious disease — to stop appearing on CNN. Why? Because the network has chosen not to cover the entire task force briefings, which almost daily devolve into a campaign riff Donald J. Trump.

The president says nothing of importance at these briefings. Fauci and Birx, though, do offer expertise and knowledge of the fight in which we are engaged. CNN has chosen to report later what the principals say rather than covering them live.

That’s not good enough, says Pence.

If the briefings concentrated exclusively on the medical issues and if they focused more on the doctors than on the president, I could understand covering these events fully in real time. They don’t. They  become a forum for Trump to lie, to misdirect, to criticize others for the failings of his administration’s response to the pandemic.

CNN is not the only major media outlet to cease airing the briefings in their entirety. As Yahoo.com reported:

The New York Times, another outlet that has been a target of the Trump administration’s ire, stopped airing the briefings on its website entirely.

“We stopped doing that because they were like campaign rallies,” Elisabeth Bumiller, the paper’s Washington bureau chief, told the Washington Post. “The health experts often have interesting information, so we’re very interested in that, but the president himself often does not.”

Mike Pence petulance rips a page straight from the Donald Trump playbook. It’s disgraceful.

medical news

‘Quickly forgotten,’ Mr. President? Yeah, good luck with that

Donald John Trump is just rarin’ to get the U.S. reopened for business.

He said this via Twitter to drive home the point:

“Once we OPEN UP OUR GREAT COUNTRY, and it will be sooner rather than later, the horror of the Invisible Enemy, except for those that sadly lost a family member or friend, must be quickly forgotten. Our Economy will BOOM, perhaps like never before!!!”

Quickly forgotten, he said. To be fair, at least the president did acknowledge with a single phrase contained in a single sentence that many Americans will be hurting.

Do you get the feeling the expression aimed at “those that sadly lost a family member or a friend” is a throwaway line, something that he felt he needed to say just to assuage critics of the absence of empathy in the president? That is my takeaway.

The president’s continuing message to a nation reeling with anxiety and tragedy from this pandemic continues to concentrate on the economic impact and the “fantastic job” he believes he and his team are doing to stem the infection.

I keep waiting — and I know it’s futile — for the president to speak exclusively about Americans’ pain. I keep waiting for him to offer words of comfort, an expression that he truly gets it, that he hurts right along with them.

I know it’s not coming. I know that this president is incapable of leading us in this time of deep pain and peril.

national news

How dare this POTUS say anything about POWs

Donald John “Private Bone Spurs” Trump sent out a message via Twitter that, well, is ridiculous in the absolute extreme.

It reads: On National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day, we honor the more than 50,000 American warriors captured while protecting our way of life. We pay tribute to these Patriots for their unwavering and unrelenting spirit!

Oh … my.

As you can imagine, Trump’s salute to POWs drew the expected blowback from millions of Americans who remember vividly what the then-Republican presidential candidate said about a particularly famous former POW.

He said of the late U.S. Sen. John McCain — who was shot down in 1967 while flying a Navy jet over Hanoi during the Vietnam War — that “I like people who aren’t captured, OK?” He said McCain was a war hero “only because he was captured.”

With that comment, Trump set the standard for boorishness and crassness.

So now the president chooses to honor former POWs for their “unwavering and unrelenting spirit.”

Too many of us recall what Trump said of one valiant warrior. Rest assured, Sen. McCain’s outspoken daughter, “The View” co-host Meghan McCain, has let known her own disgust at the president’s faux pride in the service performed by our POWs.

For this individual — with his hideous history of draft avoidance and then his disrespecting of a war hero — to issue any statement on this matter would be laughable on its face … except that no one is laughing.

national news

DNC did not conspire to torpedo Bernie’s bid for POTUS

I do not believe in conspiracy theories.

Therefore, I do not believe the Democratic National Committee conspired to deny U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders the party’s presidential nomination for this year’s election.

What undercut Sanders’ bid to run against Donald John Trump was the quality of the ideas he was espousing. Sanders is an admirable man in many ways, but his far-left political platform was too far out of the mainstream for most Democratic primary voters to swallow.

That’s it, man! Medicare for all didn’t fly because it’s too expensive; nor did free college education; nor did his notion of vast wealth redistribution. Yes, he appealed to younger voters who became attracted to his tuition-free college education plan. They constitute a fraction of the total voting population.

Sanders had to surrender his bid for the party nomination because he lagged too far behind the guy who so far has gathered far more convention delegates, Joseph R. Biden Jr.

I happen to be a firm believer in the value of the “marketplace of ideas.” Biden’s ideas, which tilt more toward the middle, are more to the liking of Democratic primary voters. He wants to enhance and expand the Affordable Care Act rather than providing Medicare for all Americans; Biden believes granting free college education to every student in the country is too expensive; and he won’t buy into the wealth redistribution notion that Sanders has sought for as long as he has served in the U.S. Senate.

Conspiracy? I don’t think so. The former vice president’s ideas play better to a broader audience that those of the “democratic socialist.”

Let’s cool it with the conspiracy nonsense. That means you, too, Donald Trump.

medical news

VA takes ‘social distancing’ to a new level

In about three weeks I am going to have a first-ever experience, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.

I had been scheduled to see my doctor at the Department of Veterans Affairs clinic in Bonham, Texas. Then I got a phone call from my doc’s nurse, who told me that the doctor doesn’t need to see me in person.

My physician is going to call me around 11 a.m. on the day of my appointment and will visit with me over the phone.

We don’t want to push our luck with this “social distancing” matter in place, the nurse said. I get it, I said. No worries.

I am unclear as to how this “examination” will enable the doctor to determine the state of my health. I suppose she could make me take an oath to tell her “the truth, whole truth and nothing but the truth” when she asks me my weight, whether I am continuing to exercise, whether I take my meds regularly.

What about the labs I was supposed to take when I visited the clinic, you know, the bloodwork and peeing into the cup? The nurse said I could go to the clinic “if you want to,” but said I could hold off until the next in-person visit with my doctor.

I’ll wait on that one.

And so … the pandemic has upset one facet of my life. I’ll report back to you how the “examination” goes. I will be anxious to see how my perfectly competent doctor determines whether I continue to enjoy good health.

national news

No compassion, no empathy, no caring for the victims

I admit that today I fell off my Boycott Trump Briefing wagon. I ended up watching a bit of Donald Trump’s alleged “briefing” over what his coronavirus task force is supposedly accomplishing in its fight against the pandemic.

Here’s my takeaway, which mirrors what I have failed to hear from damn near anything that Trump says about this crisis.

What I fail to hear is an emphasis from Trump on the impact this crisis is having on its victims. I hear not a semblance of empathy or sincere concern from this clown. He offers a sentence or two, speaking in platitudes about victims, but I hear no expression of sincere worry or concern about those who are felled by the disease.

He goes on and on about the “numbers.” He seeks to suggest that the “fantastic job” he is doing might drive the death count to far below what the health task force is predicting. The pandemic, according to experts, might kill as many as 240,000 Americans. Now we’re hearing that that the projection might be an inflated number.

Don’t misunderstand me. I would be delighted if the fatality count doesn’t reach the number that some have projected. I also wouldn’t object if we learn that the projection was inflated deliberately, with an expectation that the actual casualty count would come in with far fewer numbers.

What I do not want to hear is Donald Trump claiming false credit for anything he has done. The federal response has been disjointed, disorganized and disgraceful. Donald Trump is the nation’s chief executive and he must assume responsibility for the failures as well as the triumphs.

I want to hear something, anything, from this president that suggests he actually cares about those who are living in agony, whether they are battling the disease themselves or are watching a loved one wage that fight.

I know what you’re thinking. It will be a long wait for that moment to arrive. If it ever does arrive.

In the meantime, I am going to return to boycotting these so-called Trump “briefings.” They sicken me.

political news

Donald Trump: phony-baloney expert

It’s hard to make a determinative conclusion on this matter, but I have long been certain that Donald J. Trump is the prime No. 1 expert on dishing out phony-baloney nonsense.

He said this week that he opposes mail-in voting because it is fraught with corruption. The nation’s current president said mail-in voting invites illegal balloting, that those who aren’t registered to vote are able to do so.

Oh, and as he told his pals at Fox News, mail-in voting would deny the election of Republicans. Oh! That’s it! He said that the greater access to voting for Americans the lesser the chance of electing Republicans.

What an absolute crock of manure!

We face an election this November. We also are in the middle of a huge fight against coronavirus, which has killed more than 14,000 Americans. It is highly infectious and it well might compel this nation to fundamentally change the way we vote for president.

To be absolutely clear, I prefer the old-fashioned method of going to the polling place and casting my ballot while standing in a booth. I dislike early voting. I like the pageantry of Election Day.

But … I am not willing to risk my health or the health of others in the midst of this life-and-death struggle against COVID-19. So, I am willing to take part in a mail-in election.

Several states vote by mail already. Their elections are secure. The votes are calculated accurately. Registered voters get their ballots mailed to them at their homes. They are able to mark their ballots and send them back to the appropriate election agency.

It also increases voter turnout. Isn’t that what we want? Don’t we prefer that more citizens take part in this process than fewer of them? Isn’t that the essence of a democratic society? Not in Donald Trump’s view of the world.

The president wants to restrict voter turnout, sounding to my way of thinking that he endorses what they call “voter suppression.” What’s more, he is dipping into his treasure trove of “big lies” to persuade his base that mail-in voting is corrupt.

It isn’t any more suspect than what we have witnessed in our lifetimes already. Hmm. The 2000 presidential election and the Florida recount fiasco comes to mind.

Donald Trump’s shameless dishing out of baloney is on full display.

Despicable.

national news

End-of-tunnel light beginning to come into view?

That light we keep hearing might be “at the end of the tunnel” could be developing an identity.

Thank you, Dr. Anthony Fauci, for possibly giving us some hope.

Dr. Fauci, the nation’s premier infectious disease expert who is part of Donald Trump’s coronavirus pandemic response team, says that schools might be able to open for the next academic year. I need to emphasize the word “might.” Dr. Fauci doesn’t want to predict such an event, but he has indicated that the pandemic might be sufficiently under control by the end of summer to allow schools to reopen.

Texas has closed its public schools. The current academic year ends on May 22. The unofficial reopening date is May 4. I doubt seriously the school system will reopen in time to conclude the current year.

So I am going to hope that Dr. Fauci is correct that we can turn this corner in time for schools to reopen for the next year.

The learned doctor is the expert whose views deserve to be heeded.

national news, political news

Bernie calls it a campaign

The long and winding road to the 2020 Democratic Party presidential nomination has begun finally to show signs of straightening out … even as it is paused for a time while the nation wages war against the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ decision to drop out of the race leaves the nomination wide open for former Vice President Joe Biden, who now becomes the party’s presumptive nominee. I had hoped Sanders would have made this call sooner, but then again no one is talking overly seriously just yet about politics while the nation is essentially shut down during this health crisis.

Sanders did put up a valiant fight. I’ll give him credit for that. The 78-year-old independent senator from Vermont has written a significant chapter in the nation’s 21st-century political history. He helped push forward some important progressive ideas and possibly dragged much of the Democratic Party along with him.

Many of those ideas, though, were non-starters with mainstream Democrats: Medicare for all comes to mind, as does free public college and across-the-board college debt forgiveness.

Indeed, the self-described “democratic socialist” cannot claim too many legislative victories during his lengthy time in Congress.

He fought hard and now it’s time for him to rally his legions of supporters behind the remaining candidate who can rid this nation of the Liar in Chief who masquerades as president.

Sanders and Biden share the same overarching goal: defeating Donald Trump. Any sort of third-party effort from the left is certain to produce a second term for the man many of us consider to be the most fundamentally unfit human being ever elected to the U.S. presidency.

I’m glad to hear the news that Sen. Sanders has called it quits in his bid to become president. It soon will be time to get to work to usher Trump out of the Oval Office for the final time.

But … first things first. We all have to wage this difficult fight against a killer disease.

local news

Extending our greetings during this time of ‘isolation’

Maybe it’s just me, but I am wondering if others are doing the same thing.

My wife and I venture out of the house sparingly these days, now that we’re told we should stay at home while we wage war against the coronavirus. When we stroll through our neighborhood with Toby the Puppy I find myself waving at those walking across the street. I even will engage them in some small talk.

I didn’t used to do that. Oh, I often have waved at motorists who drive by while we walk with our puppy. This newly discovered habit of talking across the street with folks who live somewhere near us, but who are individuals we don’t know, clearly seems to be a function of this togetherness we keep hearing about.

We’re “in this together” has become a sort of mantra. I see it on billboards along U.S. Highway 380, the main drag that cuts through Princeton, Texas. TV networks and companies that advertise on TV tell us the same thing. Hey, I get it. I cannot hear enough of the messages that seek to buck up our spirits as we seek to power through the worldwide pandemic.

It’s just kind of pleasantly strange to find a way to engage strangers in a little harmless chatter as we go about doing whatever it is we do to pass the time away.

I have this hunch they feel the same way as I do. There’s nothing wrong at all with sharing a little fellowship in this very trying time.