arch_8ngel

By the time Trump was making ANY of those statements, it was well known that this wasn't SARS and that it was much more easily spread than SARS. In fact, by the time he made MOST of those statements, it was well known that asymptomatic carriers could spread the disease. The guy spouts verifiably false information on a near daily basis. He is not doing a good job of presenting a trustworthy image of leadership, and we'd frankly all be better off if the only things he said were introductions of the experts that actually had something useful to contribute.

What thread are you reading?

But herp derp orange man bad...

I very clearly said "some" subsets of objectors, not "anyone who opposes". But read what you want to read from my statement, I guess, if you don't want to read what was actually said.

Are you joking? His core supporters think he is an actual genius that is wheeling and dealing in some super-awesome way behind the scenes all the time. The reality is, the guys spends an absurd amount of time watching Fox News and simply cares too much about how people talk about him, rather than the actual effectiveness of what he's doing.

Yeah, but saying "brown man bad" as the retort to their gripes hits a little too close to home regarding why certain sub-groups objected to him... I'm not aware of any core of Trump-haters that hate him solely because he looks like an Oompa-Loompa.

There is a difference between avoiding panic (by demonstrating clear leadership and having a plan that involves medical experts) and saying the kind of dumb stuff he was saying back then. And with a guy like Trump, saying the kind of stupid stuff he has said in public the last couple of days (along with his track record of firing competent people that disagree with him and correct his BS)... I don't have a great deal of confidence that he is magically a whole lot smarter and more articulate behind-the-scenes.

But the president DOES have a SIGNIFICANT negative effect on what "ordinary" Americans do and what sources of information they trust. If even half of his base pay attention to what he says, versus what legitimate sources say, for guidance, it is enough of a problem to negatively impact the rest of us. The fact of the matter is, no matter what WHO officially said, or what China officially said... it was pretty damn obvious that there was an issue when they locked down 20+ million people in draconian fashion and were actively silencing people that spoke out about what was going on. Whether you "trust" the WHO guidance or not, intelligence agencies were ringing alarm bells that it was potentially going to be bad. And AFTER the USA had an active outbreak in Washington state, and confirmed cases from travelers in multiple states Trump was ACTIVELY DOWNPLAYING concerns rather than pro-actively pushing to deal with the issue. And now, while we are in the midst of it all, he chooses to promote a bunch of nonsense.

So you think Trump was doing a "good job" when he posted tweets about "liberating" Virginia and other states? And then had to backpedal recently and say he thought GA was opening back up too early? That seems like a well-though-out thing for him to have done? Really?

No, I wasn't at all. And if you think my views are anywhere close to "radical left" you need to recalibrate your radar. (and frankly, characterizing any and all criticism of Trump as "Trump Derangement Syndrome" is a really sad way to downplay loads of very legitimate criticism)

Let me try and ask this in a way that you and Estil aren't going to take as "orange man bad", since my criticism of him is considerably better informed than that... Do you think Trump is actually doing a good job right now? Do you think that the public statements Trump is making are actually well-informed and show an understanding of the problem and legitimate potential solutions?

From the get-go Trump openly stated he "accepts no responsibility" for how the situation was unfolding, despite that comment coming on the heels of him having spent critical early days of prep failing to prepare and instead actively downplaying concerns. A more pathetic level of "leadership" doesn't exist, when we are that far gone from "the buck stops here".

It is ridiculous to think that any former president would be saying the kind of stupid stuff that Trump is saying right now. I would have expected any former president to defer to the top medical experts and then only say carefully crafted, pre-determined, statements rather than speak their mind off-the-cuff and countermand those same medical experts. (and avoid the even worse optics of firing medical experts that correct the president's wrong statements) There was good information about the risks of how this disease spread LONG BEFORE Trump was ever making official statements about it being a serious issue. And in fact, while that information was out, he was actively downplaying the severity. China is primarily to blame to the entire situation being set in motion, absolutely. But they don't have a hand in how Trump actively undermines our nation's medical experts. Or put words in his mouth that make him look like a total buffoon when he attempts to say anything about public health or medical treatment with any kind of authority.

While China definitely gets a huge share of the blame, Trump spent a lot of wasted time and effort downplaying early guidance from health experts, and now we are dealing with the consequences of a lack of meaningful early leadership. And he is trying to make up for it now with assinine suggestions like his "brainstorming session" during a press conference. That kind of brainstorming is literally "worse than useless", and in fact is materially detrimental to public trust. No amount of him blaming China makes up for him being unsuited to his current level of responsibility.

When you are the president you don't brainstorm dumb ideas during a daily press conference that is being watched around the world... And as a businessman he should know better, since a CEO would be a total idiot to brainstorm ideas during any public event, as well.

There is a difference between covid deaths simply "spiking' and covid-19 deaths being the LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH during the spike...

The issue with that idea (that we've had it around a lot longer than we realized) is that RIGHT NOW the daily deaths from Covid-19 are spiking in a way that they are the current leading cause of death in some places. (though SOME of that is attributable to how statistics consider specific cause of death) I think it is equally plausible that there is, or was, a much less dangerous coronavirus going around that either had now symptoms, or common cold symptoms, and that the current antibody tests for Covid-19 may show antibodies for other types of coronavirus than covid-19.

There is already significant finger pointing, with countries and states attempting to sue China for damages to recoup costs/losses.

Dads in their mid-30's to early-40's are probably cooler than ever...what are you talking about?

Have a voice like Huey Lewis or Phil Collins.

Absentee voting is handled state-by-state, with a wide array of different rules, with varying levels of intentional inconvenience applied to the process. You don't just tell them "hey, I want to mail in my vote", at least not in most states. I took a skim of how it works in VA, and they have a list of reasons you have to choose from (and defend) for why you want an absentee instead of in-person. And you have to get this registered far enough in advance of election day that many hourly employees don't even firmly know their schedule. (and on top of that the "work related" justification requires that your commute + work be at least 11 hours on election day) There is no legitimate reason to make the process inconvenient or difficult.

Because they have had fairly prolific radio play for 35+ years.

? Seems a little hard to believe...

That is what pushed me to a 9. It is hard to not break out into a Night-at-the-Roxbury-like-dance when their music comes on.

What? In what paradigm of reality do you think there is "no excuse" for not being able to vote in person during limited hours on a single weekday?