All things political. Coronavirus Edition. (4 Viewers)

[Maxp]

I fear we are really going to be in a bad place due to the obvious cuts to the federal agencies that deal with infectious disease, but also the negative effect the Affordable Care act has had on non urban hospitals. Our front line defenses are ineffectual and our ability to treat the populous is probably at an all time low. Factor in the cost of healthcare and I can see our system crashing. What do you think about the politics of this virus?

 

[dtc]

For 4 years, that segment of the population has been receiving the propaganda news of Fox News and the conservative media. Ever since they made the decision to align behind Trump after the 2016 primary, they've done everything possible to elevate the clarion call or Trump's "Fake News" label of the traditional media. They suspended any idea of independent journalism and have done everything possible to elevate every voice in support of the President, no matter how ridiculous or nonsensical that person was. All in an effort to prop up this president and the right in this country.

It's lead to this dystopian reality where nothing can really penetrate that bubble. No matter how damming it is to Trump. The story of Trump's presidency is as much about Fox News and conservative medias ability to hijack 40% of this country and untether them from reality in support of this demagogue as it is about Trump's outrageous malfeasance and corruption.

It's something I would have never thought possible in America precisely because we have a free press and not state owned news services like in China or North Korea. But when a portion of the free press becomes fully complicit in functioning of as a state propaganda news service to advance the cause and expand the power of a political party and a demagogue president, it becomes not only possible but a reality.

I used to occasionally use the little POD icon. I used to occasionally thank people for making insightful and thoughtful posts, but it's been awhile. I'm older and more cynical an the past few years haven't helped, but this post really did get my attention.

Maybe I'm just in a moment of optimism, but this has got to be one of the best posts on this board.

Post of the day!

 

[Lapaz]

Trump does many dumb things, but this one is up there among the dumbest. How dumb is it to tell a journalist like Woodward that you are choosing to lie? It was always hard to believe that he didn’t know how serious the virus is, but you could attribute it to his density. You could attribute it to his distrust of science. You could attribute it to his disdain for reading. Trump eliminated all those weak justifications for his actions by telling a journalist that he knowingly would to mislead the public about the dangers they faced and worse yet, would encourage them to behave in a way that would put them in more danger. Knowingly leading people to more risky behavior usually leads to liability. Maybe the American public can start a class action suit against Trump.

 

[Maxp]

What the hell do we need a military for? Our own president can be clearly and directly held responsible for more American deaths than Vietnam. In less than a year!

 

[lurk]

A brief addendum/correction to my earlier vaccine post. I failed to mention that all of Pfizer's candidates worldwide that I'm aware of are also mRNA vaccines similar to the Moderna effort. There are several different approaches going on here within the scope of what constitutes an mRNA vaccine, but it's not particularly worth dissecting which approach might be safest if one has to go with an mRNA vaccine until they finish their trials, publish their data, and emerge as the only options, as you're talking about extremely nuanced science with many multilayered considerations. Apologies for the omission.

 

[wardorican]

Come onnnnnnn

There was a day where Lou Dobbs at least was a solid financial news guy. He might as well work for the Administration. He's just a shill.

 

[wardorican]

I think it wasn't just myself. We had several posters that all were seeing the reports and the actions taken, while understanding that this part of the world produces some pretty gnarly novel viruses.

Funny thing is his claim about not panicking. A true leader knows that if you are upfront and forthright from square 1, everything after that is easy.
He had no intent on uniting the nation thinking he could bluff his way to November.
We know reap what he sowed.

And I don't know how anyone defends this. At all. (I'm saying this yet again after his remarks on military).

The POTUS.

Just so very sad.

His arrogance blinded him.

He thought the little they were doing behind the scenes would be enough. Just downplay it, prevent anyone rushing for supplies that we didn't stock up on (not sure how much we could have anyway), and keep the market oblivious (even though a number of us in Feb sold off a lot). Or add in American exceptionalism to the mix of the idea that we'd just magically overcome it.

He should have instituted stronger temporary international travel bans, health screening (we at least knew fever was a deal), mandatory 14 day quarantine, even of US citizens returning, encourage the maker of Lysol and microban to ramp up production, contact all international air carriers to discuss early mitigation strategies, and get the US governors online to flow down information and allow state health departments to get a leg up.

Once the cat was out of the bag about bad testing, then a stronger, stay home / mitigation efforts should have been pushed.

You sell it as temporary pain to reduce long term pain. Our economy can take it for a bit.

He's not a fixer though. He's a seller.

 

[wardorican]

Trump does many dumb things, but this one is up there among the dumbest. How dumb is it to tell a journalist like Woodward that you are choosing to lie? It was always hard to believe that he didn’t know how serious the virus is, but you could attribute it to his density. You could attribute it to his distrust of science. You could attribute it to his disdain for reading. Trump eliminated all those weak justifications for his actions by telling a journalist that he knowingly would to mislead the public about the dangers they faced and worse yet, would encourage them to behave in a way that would put them in more danger. Knowingly leading people to more risky behavior usually leads to liability. Maybe the American public can start a class action suit against Trump.

Trump would argue he's not lying. He's marketing.

 

[Optimus Prime]

about Woodward backlash
=========================
Two waves of outrage greeted the news on Wednesday of Bob Woodward’s latest White House chronicle, a book titled “Rage.”
The first was Trump’s disclosure to Woodward that he knew as early as February — even as he was dismissing the novel coronavirus publicly — that the looming pandemic was far deadlier than the flu.

The second was that Woodward, long associated with The Washington Post, didn’t reveal this to the public sooner.
The fact that this second outrage mostly circulated among journalists talking to one another made it no less furious: If the famous Watergate reporter knew that Trump was lying to the public about a matter of life and death, why didn’t he reveal it immediately?

Woodward is hardly the first journalist to save juicy information for a book. But “is this traditional practice still ethical?” tweeted David Boardman, dean of the Temple University journalism school and the longtime editor of the Seattle Times.

Other critics were less circumspect: “This is really troubling. As journalists we’re supposed to work in the public interest. I think there’s been a failure here,” wrote Scott Nover, a reporter for the industry journal Adweek.

In fairness, it wasn’t just journalists raising concerns. A reader wrote to me arguing that Woodward’s revelation “could have been helpful in the spring, both explaining the seriousness of the disease to the public, showing the Trump administration’s bungled and inept response, and pushing the Trump administration to do more.” He added, with a touch of cynicism, that he hoped the author’s advance fee made the delay worthwhile.

The questions are valid — and as Boardman notes, far from new. They surface almost every time a journalist writes a book that contains newsy information, especially about matters of national security or public well-being: Why are we only reading about this now?......................

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/should-bob-woodward-have-reported-trumps-virus-revelations-sooner-heres-how-he-defends-his-decision/2020/09/09/6bd7fc32-f2d1-11ea-b796-2dd09962649c_story.html

 

[EmBeeFiveOhFour]

 

[brandon]

Because there's always a tweet.

 

[B4YOU]

The responsibility of Woodward to reveal this info is a valid discussion. The problem is that it’s being used to justify the President’s action of lying. These can’t be viewed as equal actions. The President has a higher responsibility due to the power of the office and the level of knowledge about the virus.

Woodward, like many people who have recently written books, prioritized book sales over protecting the nation. It’s irresponsible and greedy, but not at the same level as Trump’s actions.

 

[coldseat]

The responsibility of Woodward to reveal this info is a valid discussion. The problem is that it’s being used to justify the President’s action of lying. These can’t be viewed as equal actions. The President has a higher responsibility due to the power of the office and the level of knowledge about the virus.

Woodward, like many people who have recently written books, prioritized book sales over protecting the nation. It’s irresponsible and greedy, but not at the same level as Trump’s actions.

I don't think it would have made a difference had Woodward revealed his recordings back in February/March. There would have been the same obfuscation and deflection there is now by the administration and the conservative press. Back then, when the death toll was so low, it would have fallen on deaf ears on the right as it is now with 190,000+ dead. I doubt it would have changed anything in terms of how this administration reacted to the virus.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

John Kennedy is such an embarrassment. I serious hope JBE challenges him when he's up for re-election.

 

[insidejob]

John Kennedy is such an embarrassment. I serious hope JBE challenges him when he's up for re-election.

He's a legitimate embarrassment. This guy needs to be beaten with a shovel. He already acts like he has been. What the hell has he accomplished for Louisiana since getting to Washington? I don't care who runs against him as long as they're not Trump Cultists and can beat this fish faced turncoat who sold out his political beliefs just to get elected to the Senate. Lifelong Democrat who became a Republican when a black man had the audacity to run for President. He just couldn't be a part of that and I'm glad he's out of the party. Who would want to claim him? This folksy, "Aww, shucks, I just didn't hear or read anything and don't have any opinions..." act has grown beyond stale. He'll only come on local radio on Newell Normand's show because the one time he did a spot on Scoot's show, he got his feet held to the fire and Scoot wouldn't let him control the narrative while Normand's 30 minute interviews are like cheerleading sessions.

 

[superchuck500]

 

[Dragon]

Interesting study. The researchers use anonymized cellphone data to calculate the impact of the The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and COVID-19

Then, using a dose response difference-in-differences model, we find that counties that contributed the highest inflows of Sturgis attendees saw COVID-19 cases rise by 10.7 percent following the Sturgis event relative to counties without any detected attendees.

Basically what they did was that they used cellphone information to both place a given cellphone at the rally and to determine the home town of the cellphone owner.

http://ftp.iza.org/dp13670.pdf

 

[Lapaz]

Trump would argue he's not lying. He's marketing.

If Trump argues that he was marketing, then that would also be a lie. Marketing is spinning and only talking about the good aspects of a product. He wasn't just spinning and telling us about anything good, which he could've done. He was telling us that it was just like the flu, etc. He was simply lying, and he was stupid enough to tell the journalist famous for busting Nixon. Trump's presidency has tracked Nixon's in many ways, and maybe he wants his own tapes, but I hope it doesn't track to Trump being re-elected like Nixon, even if it were to track to Trump being impeached during a 2nd term. One key difference is that the Nixon tapes were uncovered during his 2nd term. Nixon was a fairly popular president when he sought re-election, hovering around 60% approval, which is very different, since Trump has never broken 50%, and is hovering close to 40% currently. Another difference is that these recordings have been uncovered before the election.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Pence's response
=============================

Vice President Pence on Thursday denied that the country's response to the coronavirus was in any way hampered by President Trump repeatedly downplaying the threat from the deadly disease.

"Absolutely not," Pence said on Fox News when asked if Trump's public dismissiveness of the virus limited the ability of the U.S. to contain the pandemic.

"His tone was one of projecting calm and confidence," Pence said. "But I heard him at that podium, I heard him at every setting. We gave the American people the facts."

The remarks come as the White House grapples with the fallout of audio recordings of the president privately acknowledging the threat of COVID-19 as he publicly downplayed it. The recordings were part of numerous interviews Trump gave to veteran journalist Bob Woodward for an upcoming book.

Pence on Thursday framed Trump as a decisive leader during the pandemic and echoed the president's own rationale that he did not want to incite panic by portraying the virus as a serious and imminent threat to American lives..................

MSN

www.msn.com