Kung-Flu

A SOFTER, GENTLER DONALD
PRESSES ON AMID CRITICISM

At President Trump’s recent press update on government action to counter coronavirus, PBS White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor claimed that some unidentified White House functionary referred to the pandemic flippantly as “kung-flu.”

Bringing this up was, of course, the latest in ongoing media efforts to keep painting the Trump Administration as fundamentally racist.

Actually, this clever expression is a perfect example of that great American ability to disarm fear with humor which has served us so well during many periods of crisis. So let’s get something straight…

Nobody … nobody … NOBODY believes that being ethnically Chinese makes you responsible for coronavirus.

If, by chance, someone somewhere has made such a charge, you can be sure it was only to mask other elements of bigotry that have nothing to do with infectious diseases. Or else it’s merely setting up a straw man in order to knock it down (a tactic that’s evident in the tweet from MSNBC above).

As Trump has said, pointing out that coronavirus originated in China is simply a statement of fact — no more and no less. Neither Chinese government propaganda nor media harping can change that.

So let’s drop the racism crap.

Now, having said all that, I must acknowledge that some media folks have lately been remarkably supportive of The Donald. They’ve given him credit for his handling of the current crisis to an extent that contrasts sharply with the drumbeat of criticism that’s accompanied the past three years of his presidency.

After Tuesday’s press briefing, CNN Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash made the positive observation…

“This was remarkable from the president of the United States. This is a nonpartisan — this is an important thing to note, and to applaud from an American standpoint — from a human standpoint.”

Such modest praise instantly lit up the web with comments, such as…

“Fire Dana Bash. Send her home w/o pay.”

“‪DanaBashCNN’s apologies for trump are intolerable. This is airbrushing history, not journalism. Fire Dana Bash!”

“Dana Bash should have been gone a long time ago.”

And a lot more. Even Bash’s CNN colleague Soledad O’Brien took a shot…

“For the media the bar is so sooo low. It’s described as ‘remarkable’ and there are calls to ‘applaud’ the President being ‘the kind of leader we need’ — ‘at least in tone.’ This kind of take is embarrassing and pathetic. Finally the President appears to be doing his job.”

Which prompted conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt to observe…

“This will cost ‪@DanaBashCNN an enormous amount of blowback and it required great media courage to say it….”

No doubt stung by the sharp criticism coming from her left, Bash tried to “clarify” in a follow-up tweet, insisting that…

“I said what he did at his presser today and yesterday is the kind of leadership in tone people need. It is important to say that, just as it was important to call him out on the way he largely and dangerously downplayed it until yesterday.”

I doubt that will satisfy Bash’s complainers, and her praise of Trump remains on the record.

Interestingly, Bash wasn’t alone among media folk in crediting the President. MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough offered that Trump’s performance represents “a remarkable change.” Commenting on his “Morning Joe” program, Scarborough said…

“The president was sober. He actually did what a president is supposed to do. He delivered the bad news . . . . I’m hopeful that yesterday was a new beginning, especially as it pertains to this battle that we’re all facing.”

Such a charitable outlook on the part of our talking heads probably won’t last long. Let’s enjoy it while we can.

In any case, it does appear that this crisis is having an effect on The Donald. As I observed recently, the President has struck me as…

“more subdued, businesslike and reasonable-sounding than I can recall ever hearing him.”

Clearly, he’s decided to restrain his impulse to strike back in response to every barbed press comment. He’s also taken a remarkably bi-partisan stance, cajoling Democrats to join him in fighting our common microbial enemy by emphasizing that “we’re all in this together.”

Meanwhile, he’s demonstrating the management strengths that made him successful in business, and which have often been obscured by the bombast and aggressiveness that are his salient characteristics.

Of course, I must admit that bombast and aggressiveness have been crucial in accomplishing as much as he has. So I hope he doesn’t get too mellow.

To adapt a line which used to be said of Ronald Reagan: Trump has to be Trump.

But if we’re seeing a “softer, gentler” Donald, a lot of people around the country persist in being partisan jerks. A perfect example is Candi Cdebaca, a Denver city councilwoman, who tweeted…

“For the record, if I do get the coronavirus I’m attending every MAGA rally I can.”

And of course, there are those who refuse to let reality rob them of their cherished ideological dreams…

…or their paranoid fantasies…

(In case you didn’t know, “SCROTUS” is one of those smartass, super-hip online terms intended as mockery of Donald Trump. It stand for “So-Called Ruler of the United States,” and its anatomical suggestion is obvious.)

Then too, there are people who, for all the unique accomplishments that have made them famous, just can’t get past their own warped assumptions…

Obviously, this great novelist hasn’t been watching the same press conferences I have — in which women occupying key positions in the virus fight have played prominent roles. But ah well, that politics, I suppose.

As for the rest of us — we’ll hunker down, conserve our toilet paper, and pray.

God, protect the nation.

____________

Whatever the challenge, Americans have always retained a sense of humor. And our current travail has produced some great images to chuckle over. Here’s one that suggests how people are spending their time in quarantine…

And here’s a wry comment that implies scriptural authority…

Speaking of scripture, my friend Joan McKay (who, incidentally, is a wonderful singer) takes to her Bible and finds a timely bit of reassurance…

A Swedish observer of U.S. politics provides this stinging comeback to Chelsea Clinton’s criticism of Donald Trump…

While J.R.R. Tolkien weighs in on our current toilet paper fixation…

This soft-focus image gives credit to Big Foot, the greatest social-distancer of all time…

Of course, you know as well as I do that Americans aren’t about to let their movements be totally restricted…

Finally, here’s something for all the art historians out there in cyberworld. It’s a little on the subtle side, evoking Edward Hopper’s famous 1942 oil-on-canvas painting, “Nighthawks.” If it wasn’t for coronavirus, there would be customers in that diner…