PLAYING POLITICS
WITH PEOPLE’S LIVES
If Trump should bring about the scary scenario that Democrats and Never-Trumpers have been touting, and he succeeds in setting up a true Fascist regime, don’t put me in charge of the purge that follows. Given the mood I’m in, I’d stand a whole lot of people up against the wall, and put a quick end to the sedition, obstructiveness, and general nay-saying that have accompanied The Donald’s every move.
First on my list would be the New York Times desk editor who headlined a piece by columnist Gail Collins…
Let’s Call It Trumpvirus
If you’re feeling awful, you know who to blame.
Now, you can agree or disagree with Collins’ criticism of Trump for assigning Vice President Mike Pence to coordinate administration efforts against the Coronavirus (or any of her other points). But that headline writer worked hard to craft a neat little slander every Democrat presidential wannabe will use in every statement issued between now and the convention.
In Wednesday’s press conference Donald Trump was more subdued, businesslike and reasonable-sounding than I can recall ever hearing him. He didn’t claim, in his usual effusiveness, to have established a close friendship with all those rogue microbes or that this is going to be the most wonderful epidemic ever.
Rather, he tried for some perspective. He emphasized that, while no one can predict how the pattern of infection will develop, preparations are being made by the CDC and our nation’s hospitals, that screenings are underway, and that there’s no immediate reason to panic.
I even felt his assessment of the stock market slide made sense. Of course most of it has to do with fears about Chinese industrial paralysis due to the health crisis. Getting products and parts out of China is going to be tricky for the next few months, and this will put a crimp in our own manufacturing.
But The Donald was right that at least some of the market tumble can be attributed to the Democrats. Wall Street has suddenly begun to realize that Trump’s leading opponent is a for-real, dyed-in-the-wool Communist. Who woulda thought?!
If it doesn’t kill us all, this epidemic will be a boon to the Democrats, who’ve already upped the ante on Trump’s funding request. I’ve gotta say, though, he handled that nicely…
“If they want to give us more money than we asked for, we’ll take it.”
Commentator Glenn Beaton sees clearly that the Dems are just “politically posturing.” Writing on his website, Beaton observes…
“If Trump requests $2 billion to fight the virus, they say it should be $8 billion. If Trump had suggested $8 billion, I’m sure they would have said it should be $20 billion.
“Their demand for more money is not because they’ve talked to medical and other experts and done the math. They don’t even bother to say that they have.
“No, it’s because they want to be able to say down the road that the contagion grew into a deadly pandemic because Trump messed up.”
While trying to keep this current health crisis in proportion, Trump acknowledged that it is indeed a serious situation. Surely a plague that threatens all mankind would qualify as something that demands setting aside political advantage.
Well, good luck with that. I’ve already seen a Michael Bloomberg spot bashing Trump for cutting vital services to fight the outbreak. But then, as one-time Obama Chief of Staff “Rahm Emmanuel out it, “You never let a serious crisis go to waste.”
Alas, I fear Beaton’s summation of the Democrats’ attitude is as accurate as it is gloomy…
“I won’t contend that the Coronavirus was invented by the Dems. But I will contend this: In the struggle between humanity and the virus, they’re on the side of the virus.”
Uh…maybe we should clear out those bushes from in front of the wall. We just might be needing that space.
____________
As this cute meme suggests, The Donald’s recent sojourn in India may have prepared him for his cool, self-controlled presentation to the media about facing the Coronavirus threat…
____________
Here’s a link to Gail Collins’ column in The New York Times. Ignore the headline — not to mention the rest of the anti-Trump blather…
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/26/opinion/coronavirus-trump.html
And here’s Glenn Beaton’s sad take on the Democrats’ motives…
https://theaspenbeat.com/2020/02/27/are-the-dems-rooting-for-the-virus/
Bill C. says
From: Facebook…
They should be ashamed of themselves, and people should be smarter than they are to listen to such drivel.
Stephen says
From: Facebook…
The schneeflocken seem very sensitive atm. Possibly because they realise that this is a genuine cause for concern and that the Beloved Leader is not only singularly ill-equipped to manage it, his past actions have made it more difficult to manage.
Henry says
From: Facebook…
The NYT and those who work there know no shame. What if we change the name and regularly refer to the NYT Virus?
Daniel B.-S. says
From: Facebook…
It really is maddening to see the political games being played with people’s lives. Pence’s policies as governor of Indiana led to an outbreak of HIV, but Trump has made the political decision to put him in charge of this response.
Trump made the political decision to order the National Security Council’s global health security unit shut down.
Trump also made the political decision to slash funding for the global health section of the CDC to the point where much of the staff were laid off and the number of countries they were working in was reduced by almost 80 percent.
Oh, and an editor at The NY Times write a bad headline.
I could not agree more that playing politics with people’s lives is infuriating, frightening, and depressing.
Cam says
From: Facebook…
It’s The New York Times, what do you expect? Hardly a trustworthy source. No matter what Trump does it is wrong as far as they and similar dying legacy media are concerned. The sooner they go bankrupt, the better.
Bob says
From: Facebook…
Democrats are simply trying to repeat the success they had destroying the Bush Administration with Hurricane Katrina.
Kurt says
From: Facebook…
How about “Obama Flu,” since he wants to take credit for everything else?
Al says
What Daniel said. & ” The facts ma’am. Just the facts. And only the facts.”
Joe Friday. 1950 something. No time for foo foo food fighting.