Tag Archives: coronavirus

national news

RNC looks for a new cheering station

Donald John Trump is looking across the nation for a place to stage a political convention that will nominate him for a second term as president of the United States.

He faces a monumental task.

Trump has all but pulled the Republican National Convention out of Charlotte, N.C., because North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper cannot guarantee that the RNC can conduct a convention packed with screaming Trumpsters. Why? Too much danger from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trump isn’t having it. He wants to take it to a more politically friendly place, given that Gov. Cooper is a Democrat.

I chuckled out loud this morning when I read the Dallas Morning News story that said Dallas County won’t be available to the RNC, even if the GOP wanted to move its convention to Texas. It ain’t likely to make the move here, either. Dallas County is undergoing a surge in infection from the viral plague; so is Texas. We’re out of the game.

These events take many months to plan. For the RNC to seek to change its convention venue at virtually the last minute provides the party with a task that even Donald Trump — the self-proclaimed master of everything and everyone on Earth — cannot complete.

Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee, which is scheduled to convene its convention in Milwaukee, might turn instead to a “virtual” event that nominates Joe Biden as its nominee. He won’t get the cheering crowd, but merely might rely on telecommunications technology to get the word out to millions of voters as to why he is better suited to lead the nation.

I suspect the bungling, bumbling and blathering from Donald Trump over relocating the RNC might provide Biden with plenty of grist.

national news

The shock is now aimed at his supporters

Donald Trump’s lack of empathy, compassion or sorrow at the suffering of others never has surprised me.

What continues to blow my mind is the acceptance of this individual’s profound character deficiency by those who think he remains the greatest thing to happen to America since they started putting pockets on shirts.

My … goodness. Trump has revealed for all the world how he lacks empathy toward those who have been stricken by COVID-19 or toward their loved ones who are kept away from COVID patients out of fear they, too, would be contaminated by the viral infection.

He has stressed the economic shutdown and his desire to speed up the reopening of the nation’s business community.

Now comes the George Floyd tragedy that has pushed the pandemic off the front pages if only for a brief period. Has the Numbskull in Chief sought answers to the brutal acts that resulted in Floyd’s death after being suffocated by Minneapolis cops? No. He has focused his anger at the rioters who rushed into the streets in an angry response to Floyd’s death … an African-American man who died while being detained by a white police officer.

Trump has vowed to unleash “thousands and thousands of heavily armed” military personnel to put down even peaceful protests.

None of this should surprise anyone who believes — as I do — that Donald Trump is fundamentally unfit for the office of president.

What I cannot fathom nor will I accept is the belief among Americans that Donald Trump is the man we need in this time of grief and angst. Good ever-lovin’ God in heaven, he is the exact opposite of what we need.

Still, the Donald Trump core of supporters still stands with this guy. How in the name of human decency does that happen?

It will remain a mystery to me for as long as I draw breath.

Donald Trump

Worst week of hideous saga coming to an end

I believe it’s fair to suggest that Donald John Trump is coming off the worst week of the presidency he inherited.

It has revealed to the world just how low this individual can go to debase the principles he took an oath to protect.

Let’s ponder a few things that occurred.

George Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis; the cops who killed him were fired immediately; one of them was charged with murder and manslaughter, while three others have been charged as well. Trump’s response was to lash out at the protesters; to be fair, many “protests” turned to riots … which drew Trump’s public attention. He has been silent on the issue of how African-Americans are mistreated too often by police agencies.

Trump then vowed to unleash “thousands and thousands of heavily armed” active-duty military personnel to “dominate” the streets of American cities. He said he would use the most potent and lethal military machine in world history on American citizens exercising their rights to protest government policy.

He also used cops and some sort of “secret security force” to clear the streets between the White House and an Episcopal church of peaceful protesters. The cops used tear gas on the protesters. Trum then traipsed to the church, carrying a Bible. He stood before the holy place, held up the Bible … for a photo opportunity! Yes, this individual demonstrated for all the world to see how he is able to use a Holy Bible as a political prop.

The blowback from these repeated demonstrations has been scathing condemnation general-grade officers, including a former defense secretary, two former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a former White House chief of staff, the former special operations commander and an assortment of three- and four-star officers, all of whom have served their country with honor and heroism. 

Oh, and thousands more Americans died from COVID-19, the disease Trump dismissed as no worse than the flu.

I have said it many times and I will say it again and again. Donald Trump is morally, temperamentally and psychologically unfit for the office he holds.

I would suggest that we have witnessed the worst possible week of a presidency in mortal peril of disintegration … except that we have many more weeks ahead of us before we can usher this individual out of the Oval Office for the final time.

national news

The ‘carnage,’ Mr. POTUS?

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Presidential inaugurals often produce  signature lines.

Franklin Roosevelt told us the “only thing we have to fear is fear itself”; John F. Kennedy implored the nation to “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”;  Gerald R. Ford — the nation’s only unelected president — told us “our long national nightmare is over.”

Donald John Trump’s signature line? “The American carnage stops right now.”

Well, dude, it hasn’t stopped. Yeah, he was referring to crime … but that hasn’t abated, either. The new “American carnage” came to us via the coronavirus pandemic. OK, he didn’t cause it. His dawdling, dithering and delay in acting initially to it has resulted in tens of thousands of more deaths than it otherwise might have produced had the president acted decisively at the front end of the pandemic.

But he didn’t.

Thus, the American carnage he vowed to stop only has worsened on his watch.

The pandemic continues to rampage across the land. It is producing greater rates of infection and death in many communities, all while the president continues to push state and local governments to speed up the reopening of the economy that has stalled because of the pandemic.

It ain’t working, Mr. President. I will just chalk this “American carnage will end” pledge to be another broken promise.

national news

Pandemic response gives way to police brutality response

Donald Trump’s response to the global pandemic has been chronicled thoroughly as a disaster, pure and simple.

Trump fluffed the initial response by dawdling and dismissing the COVID-19 threat. Now look at the toll just in the U.S. of A. More than 100,000 dead; more than 1 million sickened. Trump keeps yapping that he’s done better than anyone else on Earth.

It’s crap, man!

Now comes the response to George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, Minn. A police officer choked Floyd to death by pushing his knee into the back of Floyd’s neck. Three other officers stood by. They said nothing. They watched as Floyd cried out, calling for his mother, begging for his life. All four were fired immediately by the police department. The now-former cop who killed Floyd is charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.

What has been Donald Trump’s response to the latest crisis to dominate media coverage? Has he called for a national conversation on the way police treat African-Americans? Has he said anything more than a perfunctory expression of sadness at the death of a man at the hands of rogue cops? No.

He has called for police to get tough. He said he is considering bringing the full weight of the military to bear in quelling the riots that have erupted in cities throughout the land. Think of that for just a moment … good grief!

Trump has castigated governors for being “weak” in their response to this crisis.

The nation needs someone who can speak with calm. With firm kindness. With an understanding of the cause of the crisis along with how to respond to it.

Donald Trump’s one-dimensional reaction to the national turmoil that has erupted provides just another example of how unsuited he is for the job he inherited.

medical news

WHO gets cut off

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This decision makes about as little sense as Donald Trump declaring that the coronavirus pandemic is “under control.”

Trump has terminated this nation’s relationship with the World Health Organization. Think of this for a moment.

The planet is locked in a struggle against a killer viral infection. WHO stands as a worldwide clearinghouse for valuable medical information and assistance to nations seeking help in fighting diseases just like COVID-19.

What does Trump do? He cuts off WHO. He said this week he intends to spend the estimated $450 million annually we spend on WHO on other health-related organizations. Which ones? Which of them will get the money? What will they do with it?

Trump is angry with WHO because the United Nations-sponsored agency covered up — he says — for China when the pandemic first broke. He’s angry with China … after giving China credit for its alleged “transparency” in fighting the disease. He’s always been angry with the U.N., preferring to rely on that idiotic “America first” pledge he made while running for president in 2016.

I need to point out how Trump has farmed out so much of his private business employment to non-Americans, but I digress.

Now the WHO is seeking to fight the pandemic without the financial support of the nation that (a) provides more money by far than any other nation to the agency and (b) has recorded more infections and death — also by far — than any other nation on Earth.

Does that make sense? I didn’t think so.

local news, Sports news

No hardball for a lot of communities

Oh, I do hate exposing myself to being called a Negative Ned, but I believe I am hearing the death knell for the 2020 minor league baseball season all across the nation.

Reuters is reporting that “hundreds” of minor league baseball players have been released by their teams. They’ve been let go. No baseball for these fellows, at least not this year. The coronavirus pandemic has all but shut down minor league ball this season.

Meanwhile, the Major League Baseball gurus/moguls/tycoons are struggling to find a way to launch a dramatically shortened season by the Fourth of July. To do that, they are having to slash costs associated with running a big league franchise. Who pays for that? The folks in the minor leagues.

Now, this is where it cuts a bit close to the quick for yours truly. A team I have been following from some distance now appears to be in some peril. I refer to the Amarillo Sod Poodles, the AA franchise affiliated with the San Diego Padres.

I lived in Amarillo for 23 years. I have a lot of friends there. Many of them have become devoted fans of the Sod Poodles, who in their first season ever won the Texas League championship. They play in a brand new venue in downtown Amarillo. They draw full-house crowds on game day/night.

It appears that Season No. 2 is slipping away. This breaks my heart. It saddens me that the defending champs will have to wait a year to, um, defend their title.

I don’t want this to happen. I want my friends to be able to cheer on the Sod Poodles. Alas, it is looking — at least to me — as if it ain’t gonna happen.

Dang!

medical news

Tragic milestone: 100K dead from virus

Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

Now that we have passed yet another grievous milestone in the fight against COVID-19, it’s time to look briefly — no need to rehash what we know — at how we got to this terrible event.

Donald Trump declared the virus “under control” in the beginning. We had 15 cases nationally. Trump said the disease would disappear like magic.

It hasn’t. The death toll stands at 100,000 — and counting!

He told us that as president, he calls the shots. Governors should yield to his authority as head of state and commander in chief. Then he punted. He tossed it all back to the governors.

Trump has fought with Democratic governors who have insisted that health concerns should be paramount in their executive decision-making. Trump has heaped praise on Republican governors who have insisted with equal fervor that the economic collapse has brought even more misery to Americans; Trump is in their corner.

Trump has enacted no national plan. He has produced no national strategy. Trump has contradicted medical experts he assembled to participate in the coronavirus pandemic response team.

Oh, and the virus that Trump said would disappear miraculously?

It hasn’t done any such thing. It has gotten worse. It is continuing to worsen. It is killing more Americans every hour.

And still … Donald Trump boasts about what a “fantastic job” he is doing. No. He is not!

national news

It isn’t ‘political correctness,’ Mr. POTUS

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A reporter stood before Donald Trump today to pose a question; he said he had to speak loudly because he was wearing a surgical mask.

“You’re being politically correct,” Trump told the reporter, speaking in that dismissive tone he uses to discuss measures people are taking to avoid being sickened by the coronavirus.

The reporter answered that he was merely being cautious, that he doesn’t want to catch the killer virus.

And so it goes on and on with the Dipsh** in Chief, who continues to dismiss the wearing of masks as a preventative measure by Americans.

Trump won’t wear one in public. He says a mask makes him “look ridiculous.” He poked fun today at his likely election opponent, Democrat Joseph R. Biden, for wearing a mask during Memorial Day services in Delaware. Biden was asked by a CNN reporter whether wearing  mask is a sign of “strength” or “weakness.”

Joe Biden’s answer? It’s a sign of “leadership.” Bingo!

Donald Trump has failed every leadership test he has ever taken since becoming a politician.

Oh! There’s this: The disease that would in Donald Trump’s words disappear “miraculously” when we had recorded 15 cases is about to claim its 100,000th fatality.

national news

Oh, the dilemma is maddening

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I am faced at this moment with the most vexing political dilemma I have encountered since I first became eligible to vote.

That was in 1972. I had just returned from active duty in the Army. The 26th amendment to the Constitution was enacted in 1971. I got to vote! Cool!

Now it’s 48 years later and I am trying to stare down this dilemma. It goes like this:

I am torn between wanting the economy and the nation’s health to recover from the global pandemic that is going to kill thousands more Americans while also wanting to remove Donald John Trump from the office of president of the United States.

The dilemma forms because Donald Trump would find a way to take credit for the nation recovering from the pandemic when, in my view, he has done damn near nothing to bring about a welcome conclusion to the crisis.

The economy might start to rebound later this year. Or it might continue to crater. Americans might no longer be stricken with the viral infection called COVID-19, or we might continue to get sick and die at a shocking and tragic rate.

Do I want the worst to occur? Of course not! I want there to be a full return to economic vitality and I certainly want an end to the misery, the grief and the tragic loss of life we are enduring at this moment.

However, a return to economic and physical vitality is likely going to produce a blizzard of self-aggrandizing and misleading (at the very least) pronouncements from the Nimrod in Chief about how “none of this could have occurred without me as your president.”

Perhaps the strangest aspect of it all is that millions of Americans are going to guzzle the swill that this con man would deliver.

Would a happy ending produce a Donald Trump re-election? I shudder at the thought. In my humble view, this individual — through his initial dawdling and dismissiveness about the pandemic — is responsible for more of the misery than he ever will acknowledge.

He deserves to be booted out of office.