FANTASYLAND — The Weekly Opine

Trapped by stay-at-home, Trump’s fantasies give way as the walls of reality close in. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Delusion reigns at the Big House

Trump administration chicanery rolls like Nazi/Russian/North Korean tanks during a military parade. Even reliable Dr. Anthony Fauci slipped-up at last week’s unveil of Trump’s three-phased, reopen the economy guidelines. (It is telling that, when a robust plan is needed, Trump provided a few pages of guidelines.) Doc Fauci uncharacteristically bent toward Trump, saying large gatherings could happen before adequate testing or a vaccine are in place. Gulp.

Let us concede that after months cooped up with sycophants like VP Mike Pence and Trump advisor Peter Navarro, it is human nature for Fauci to temporarily slide into fealty mode. Thankfully, Fauci’s presence on the coronavirus task force has saved tens of thousands of lives.

The biggest loser

Trump, a classic bully, backed down from claiming total authority to end state mandated stay-at-home. This way he can blame governors, if reopening the economy causes a resurgence of virus outbreaks.

His reliance on lightweights like his son-in-law is an example of his cluelessness. Most people would not ask Jared Kushner to plan a birthday party. But Trump trotted Kushner out as responsible for overseeing the federal response; coordinating communication between the coronavirus task force and government agencies. After Kushner made embarrassing public missteps, Trump doubled down and placed Kushner on an economic committee studying how to reopen America.

In real time we witness how Trump, on six occasions, drove his businesses into bankruptcy. Daily fantastical riffs, disregard of facts, ignoring expert advice, focus on the wrong things, e.g. the stock market and reopening society while critical issues, e.g. ventilators and testing are not addressed, causing irreparable damage to American society.

If nothing else, Trump is consistent. He backed down from Chinese President Xi in the tariff stare-down. He comes off like an eager, slobbering shelter dog whenever Kim Jong Un comes around to pat him on the head, oblivious as North Korea proceeds with its nuke program.

Trump’s legendary prostrate submission to Vladimir Putin will be part of his embarrassing legacy, accompanying impeachment and bungling the coronavirus pandemic.

Everyone except Trump can see these protesters are not social distancing. (Photo credit WGN screenshot)

Straightjackets needed

MAGAs still buy Trump’s utopian fantasy. Will they stay loyal if/when COVID-19 ravages rural areas? Trump’s tweets, asking citizens to liberate Democratic states by protesting stay-at-home orders were, as Washington State Gov. (D) Jay Inslee said, “unhinged rantings.”

In a reaction typical of 2nd Amendment right-wingers, protesters instinctively reached for their guns. Do these people think they can shoot the virus droplets? Imagine them in their home basement watching a football game on TV. The opposing team lines up for a game-winning field goal and these people grab their shotgun.

Devoid of common sense, MAGA protesters spew spittle on each other. Some surely infecting each other. Nevertheless, one woman said she would “rather die than live like this.” Lordy.

A Yahoo News/YouGov poll shows 60-percent of Americans oppose protesters. Only 22-percent agree with protesters. Even Republicans do not agree with protests; 47-percent oppose while 36-percent support. A HuffPost/YouGov poll shows 87% of Democrats and 77% of Republicans say stay-at-home orders are appropriate.

Still, red states Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee plan to reopen in the coming days. They have not met Trump’s Phase One requirements to reopen. Mayors in those states vigorously push back, knowing it is too early.

When asked if it is too soon to reopen, Dr. Deborah Birx waffled when she should have emphatically said it is dangerous and makes no sense. With her weak-kneed answer, Birx landed on the side of disingenuous bullshit rather than straightforward honesty.

Therein sits the fundamental problem that has hamstrung the task force. Little accountability and mucho parsing of words.

It is sad some adults are easily duped into acting against self-interest. Pitifully, MAGAs are still unable to connect the dots. Trump’s policies and decisions, to gut critically important agencies and departments, are the reason the coronavirus escalated into a crisis in the U.S.

Maybe the Defense Production Act should be used to manufacture straightjackets, to restrain MAGAs seemingly hellbent on prolonging the coronavirus crisis. Meanwhile, people lose their jobs and lives because Trump is incompetent, surrounded not by “the best people” but by foolish, unqualified suck-ups.

Yes, the coronavirus originated in China. Admittedly, the World Health Organization made a few mistakes. Sure, Trump banned travel from China (only AFTER major airlines stopped flights from China). But at some point, the self-proclaimed stud must act like a stud.

In the late 1990s, I attended a Chicago Bulls versus L.A. Lakers game. The Shaq-led Lakers were pounding the Bulls, ahead by 30 points early in the 3rd quarter. At that point it did not matter who was to blame for the Bulls huge deficit. The Bulls were in a deep hole and needed their stud to perform. Michael Jordan took over the game, leading one of the greatest comeback victories I have ever witnessed.

Wishy washy Trump is not a stud. He is a punch-drunk, befuddled hoodlum. He lacks basic understanding how government operates. He knows nothing about how agencies and departments interconnect so he can “win” this crisis, saving lives and the economy.

America faces its biggest test since World War II. And there is a big difference between Franklin D. Roosevelt and Donald J. Trump. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Show us the money

The Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program loan was fraudulent and ran out of $350 billion after awarding millions of dollars to publicly traded businesses such as Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, while shutting out many single-location businesses that make communities thrive.

Any business that obtained a loan is required to immediately rehire 100% of their employees, upon receiving a PPP loan. If a business is closed, they must pay their rehired employees even while not generating revenue. They are required to keep the employees on payroll for at least two months.

One restaurant owner said she is not able to re-open in two months. She will run out of loan money and be forced to re-lay off workers. Per the PPP, the loan is forgiven if businesses are fully staffed after two-months. If not, the business must pay back the loan. Who dreamt this up? Trump? McConnell? Kushner?!!

More than bars, music venues or malls, restaurants are the lifeblood of cities, suburbs, and small towns. A recent survey says 80% of restaurants may not reopen. If a bunch of restaurants never re-open, returning to ‘normal’ is improbable.

Testing, 1, 2, 3

All along, public health experts said testing is the undisputed key to beating the coronavirus. Yet, Trump and Pence fail to make it happen, instead offering lies and garbled excuses. The result is the U.S. has not made progress the past month.

Even Republican governors agree testing is not up to snuff. Wyoming (R) Gov. Mark Gordon says testing is a “slog” and the Trump administration has to play a role by “stepping in and helping.” Maryland (R) Gov. Larry Hogan says the low rate of testing is “probably the number one problem and has been since the beginning of this crisis.” Hogan says it is “absolutely false” that America’s governors dropped the ball re: ramping up testing.

Fact: At the onset of the crisis, the WHO offered a test to countries around the globe. Trump lied saying the WHO test was flawed. Trump’s inaction overall, and specific to testing, has cost tens of thousands of American lives. This explains why Trump is trying to make the WHO and American governors the scapegoats.

The charts below clearly show that Trump wasted the crucial month of February and most of March, when U.S. deaths from COVID-19 were less than 250.

Pence is Mr. Glib, speaking in reassuring tones that belie his uselessness. A pandemic calling for precise, demonstrable action is met with squandered opportunities. Truthfully, the best thing Pence can do for the country is invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Trump. (See, I can fantasize, too.)

Pence says we are testing 125,000/day and can scale up to 250,000/day. Mike, what happened to “ramping up to one million tests per day” that you claimed weeks ago? Dr. Ashish Jha of Harvard says we need at least 3x as many tests than are currently available. Mike?

Back on point, Dr. Fauci says we are “not there yet” regarding efficient testing and tracing capability that would permit the economy to reopen. “Unless we get the virus under control the real recovery, economically, is not going to happen,” said Fauci.

Dr. Birx appears conflicted between Trump and truth, giving us painful explanations about the state of testing. There is an air of superficiality. And a feeling she said the same thing weeks ago. Birx does have the unenviable job of working with a mostly wretched collection of unethical misfits.

Sen. Angus King (I) Maine slams Trump’s “dereliction of duty” as Trump refuses to focus on woeful shortages of reagent chemicals necessary to ramp up testing. Regarding testing, Dr. Jeffrey Sterling gets the final word saying without testing and tracing “we are just hoping and wishing.”

Fantasizing, Trump says this fall coronavirus “may not come back at all. Fauci says realistically “there will be coronavirus in the fall.”

To those who had the temerity to vote for Trump, prepare yourself for more months of stay-at-home. And hope your boy can maintain a steady flow of our food supply.