The Trump Presidency: Part 21

[carlosy]

Sorry if this has been already posted:

The Trump administration paid a bankrupt company with zero employees $55 million for N95 masks, which it's never manufactured

...

The Post reported that the Federal Emergency Management Agency was paying Panthera about $5.50 per mask, decidedly more than what the government pays companies with an established background in producing medical supplies such as 3M, which charges about $0.63 per mask.

Chuck Hagel, a former defense secretary, told The Post something was "amiss" about this order. "This is not how the government procures training or any type of supplies," he said. "You just wouldn't do business with somebody like that."

https://www.businessinsider.com/fem...ployees-55-million-n95-masks-2020-4?r=DE&IR=T

 

[Stacyhs]

The people behind the protests like the one in Michigan are not just ordinary citizens concerned with rights being infringed upon. They are radical, extreme right wing agitators that include Ammon Bundy, "the leader of the militia occupation of the Malheur national wildlife refuge in 2016 that become a rallying point for the anti-government right in the US and "Phil Robinson, the prime mover in a group called the Michigan Liberty Militia, whose Facebook page features pictures of firearms, warnings of civil war, celebrations of Norse paganism and memes ultimately sourced from white nationalist groups like Patriot Front." Protesting a lock down order does not require carrying weapons, including assault type rifles or blocking the entrance to a hospital.

While protesters in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and other states claim to speak for ordinary citizens, many are also supported by street-fighting rightwing groups like the Proud Boys, conservative armed militia groups, religious fundamentalists, anti-vaccination groups and other elements of the radical right.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/17/far-right-coronavirus-protests-restrictions

I find it both sad and frightening that some are trying to 'normalize' these people just as they try to 'normalize' Trump. There is nothing normal about Trump's extreme narcissism and pathological lying. Personality disorders are not normal. Pathological lying is not normal. Attacking any media that dares not fawn over him and calling it the 'enemy of the people' is not normal. A president surrounding himself with nothing but 'yes' men-sycophants is not normal. Childish and nasty name- calling fellow politicians and leaders like a playground bully is not normal. Declaring a president has 'total authority' over state governors and that he can do 'whatever (he) wants' under Art. 2 of the Constitution is not normal. Trump is not normal.

 

[johnny karate]

How much thought and purpose was served by allowing drive through liquor stores and banning drive through Easter services in Louisville?

Because liquors store don’t tend to have hundreds or even thousands of people congregating together. The mayor made this pretty clear that this was the reason.

Who? Please be specific.

The people you claimed were protesting because “rights”.

It's never hard to find examples confirming our views of the other side. I'm aware of both of these incidents, but I'd have to do some research to do more than parrot a partisan position.

I look forward to your thoughtful analysis.

Maybe they were well intentioned, but didn't think it through? I don't know... I'd have to read up on it, but I'm quite prepared to believe that they made some bad choices.

“Bad choices” that are literally putting lives at risk and possibly make this pandemic and the economic fallout worse.

Maybe you should look into what the opposing side are actually complaining about before assuming their is no basis to their grievances?

Since you seem to be their self-designated spokesperson, please explain what grievances they have that make it okay for them to risk the lives of others.

If you aren't aware of this stuff, the news media you consume is clearly not serving you well. I've given you one. This kind of overreach is going on across western europe right now.

Dodge noted.

 

[TragicMonkey]

It's a matter of substitutes. Religious services can be carried out digitally ("Prayer: the world's greatest wireless connection); liquor stores deal in material goods.

Yet they both fall under the heading of spiritual matters.

 

[Stacyhs]

I haven’t been looking at the news.
What did the Dems do that caused people to start losing their jobs today?

I think it has to do with more funding for the PPP which has run out of funds. The Dems want more funding for hospitals, local/state governments, and for minority and/or female run businesses to be prioritized to receive funds because they are more likely not to have established bank connections.

 

[Andy_Ross]

You don't need a church to practice your religion.

 

[Stacyhs]

Yet they both fall under the heading of spiritual matters.

Well done.

 

[Lurch]

Quite, but in what way are they generally not normal? It's a competition to see who is the smartest. Who ever becomes President is the one who managed to climb over all the other desperate, overpowered monsters and their teams to wring enough money out of of people, stab the right people in the back and climb to the top. If you get to the top and don't at least have a personality disorder, or something... then I can't imagine you lasting long when you get there.


Let's suppose for a minute that Obama was the sort of good man you are looking for. Other than that he was President, I don't have any great reason for believing he wasn't. To my mind, he failed to manage the Middle East, or Russia leading to the refugee crisis and the conditions that have destabilized the EU. Did his being a moral person lead to that outcome? If one took a Burkean conservative view, maybe all that and even Bush's initiation of the conflict come from an excess of confidence in terms of what was possible? One might prefer somebody with a more limited international vision, even if they weren't such a good person?


Perhaps, I question whether either of us can know this for sure. For an impulsive idiot surrounded by yes men, he has done remarkably well for himself. Maybe he does it deliberately to differentiate himself from traditional politicians?


Perhaps, again... most successful politicians speak in a misleading way - lies of structure, omission etc... His lies tend to be more straightforward. Pick your poison.


Maybe some people like "what you see is what you get" even if it is ugly? Again, this is cosmetic stuff... He hasn't started an unwinnable war or destabilized the EU. He's doing OK.

Doing OK????

Haven't you seen how the US has surged way ahead of the pack in infections and death? And still is lagging monumentally in getting up to some reasonable standard of testing citizens in preparation of getting back to 'normal.' Is this a sign of an effective leader of supposedly the greatest and most advanced nation?

I posit that Trump's reckless attempt to sweep the onrushing pandemic under the rug just because he wanted to have no 'bad numbers' for his re-election has resulted in needless suffering and death. Weeks were squandered which could have been used to take a more aggressive approach to mitigation and preparation. He has blood on his hands.

 

[Lurch]

You have your partisan reading of the world, they have theirs.

And all partisanship is equally distant from the 'center', or more properly, the best course.

 

[Elvis666]

Then I remembered, there's a blackface scene in it. It wouldn't be acceptable today.

I have "Holiday Inn" on VHS. The blackface scene, IMO, isn't the most racist in the movie. I think it's the several scenes about the two children of the black housekeeper, Vanderbilt and Daphne.

 

[The Don]

And all partisanship is equally distant from the 'center', or more properly, the best course.

The Overton Window may come into play here. Today's"far left" is the 1980s GOP mainstream and the late 60s far right....

 

[lomiller]

It certainly seems much more acceptable to express openly racist opinions than it was back in 1980.

That's not to say that such opinions didn't exist and were merely unexpressed and of course it may be that the issue is that the internet and social media gives a tiny number of racists far better reach than they had back then.

40 years ago it was just a handful of misfits in a pub. Now it's groups of misfits banding together and broadcasting their opinions, which are then picked up by the mainstream press.

What I see is a LOT people think it’s ok to hold racist views, just as long as you don’t call anyone a ****** in public. This makes it easier to promote racist policies today than it was 40 years ago.


Just opinion, but I think another difference is that 40 years ago is that there were a lot of people that simply didn’t know any better. They were just doings/saying the things people around them would do/say, but they were ignorant, not malicious. In many cases these people were not out to harm anyone and if you could educate them on the harm that was being done they could change. Today is seems that more often than not being malicious is the entire point.

 

[shuttlt]

The Overton Window may come into play here. Today's"far left" is the 1980s GOP mainstream and the late 60s far right....

Really? In what respect? Aren't todays far left Marxists, or are we meaning something different here? I'm thinking of the Bernie supporters in the Veritas videos.

 

[Regnad Kcin]

Trump Tweets

THANK GOD FOR TRUCKERS!

THANK GOD AND GREYHOUND!

 

[shuttlt]

And all partisanship is equally distant from the 'center', or more properly, the best course.

The partisanship is generally dishonest, it may be right about some things and wrong about others, but that is more by luck than design. I find it a little hard to believe that one side is completely right and one side is completely wrong, but it is possible, I suppose.

My politics has changed a lot over the past decade. I used to be of the unthinking default left, but I find myself agreeing with Burke and small government folks more and more.

 

[The Don]

Really? In what respect? Aren't todays far left Marxists, or are we meaning something different here? I'm thinking of the Bernie supporters in the Veritas videos.

By US standards they might be "Marxists", by European standards they're maybe centre left and bear no resemblance to actual Marxists.

 

[Stacyhs]

Trump Tweets

THANK GOD FOR TRUCKERS!

I didn't know God ran a trucking school. I learn something new every day.

 

[Armitage72]

I think it has to do with more funding for the PPP which has run out of funds. The Dems want more funding for hospitals, local/state governments, and for minority and/or female run businesses to be prioritized to receive funds because they are more likely not to have established bank connections.

I also think the Senate is currently in recess and holding pro forma sessions. Trump is trying to make it sound like the Republicans are all there, ready to work, while the Democrats are all out of town on vacation.

 

[shuttlt]

Doing OK????

Haven't you seen how the US has surged way ahead of the pack in infections and death?

If you compare absolute numbers of deaths between the USA and Italy, sure the USA has surged ahead. But only a partisan hack would do that. The numbers are all kind of unreliable and measured in different ways, but the USA deaths are currently behind France, Belgium, Italy, UK, Spain and a bunch of other countries if you account for population. It's way too early anyway to say who did best. This is wave 1. Doing well in wave 1 may make wave 2 harder.

And still is lagging monumentally in getting up to some reasonable standard of testing citizens in preparation of getting back to 'normal.' Is this a sign of an effective leader of supposedly the greatest and most advanced nation?

I don't know...if tests per million is what you care about then you are doing better than France, Sweden, UK, and appear to be in the same ballpark of Canada. It's kind of hard to say how accurate any of the numbers are or what the strategic decision are behind them.

I posit that Trump's reckless attempt to sweep the onrushing pandemic under the rug just because he wanted to have no 'bad numbers' for his re-election has resulted in needless suffering and death. Weeks were squandered which could have been used to take a more aggressive approach to mitigation and preparation. He has blood on his hands.

Your views on his motives or capability really don't matter. Of course you think this.

 

[Stacyhs]

I also think the Senate is currently in recess and holding pro forma sessions. Trump is trying to make it sound like the Republicans are all there, ready to work, while the Democrats are all out of town on vacation.

Are you seriously trying to tell me that Trump is misrepresenting the truth? Well, you could knock me over with a feather!