TheOppositeOfThePrecautionaryPrinciple
Anti-PublicHealthVille
First, there was this, as reported by Lena Sun and Josh Dawsey in the Washington Post:
...Earlier this month, the (U.S.) CDC issued a report warning about “superspreader” events where the coronavirus might be “highly transmissible in certain settings, including group singing events.” That report described a choir practice in Washington state in March at which one person ended up infecting 52 other people, including two who died...
Then, there was this:
...The Trump administration with no advance notice removed warnings contained in guidance for the reopening of houses of worship that singing in choirs can spread the coronavirus...
{snip}
...Two White House officials said the first version posted by the CDC was not approved by the White House. Once West Wing officials saw it, they asked the CDC to post a different cleared document without the choir references and other parts.
The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk about policy discussions, said there have long been concerns within the White House that there were too many restrictions on choirs. A CDC official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the guideline change also said the updated Saturday guidance was approved by the White House...
Thus, it is impossible not to conclude that the Trump Administration is knowingly inviting large scale infection to happen.
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Please note: The published version of Ms. Sun and Mr. Dawsey led with the reversal...I brought the CDC's original version to the fore to unbury what I consider to be the true lede.
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The Wars Come Home
1 hour ago
2 comments:
We have a running debate, my significant other and I, about why tRump does what he does, some of it seeming against his better interests. She and I agree: tRump’s single-minded goal is to get re-elected so’s not to lose immunity of the office against rafts, now, of sexual assault accusations, defamations for which preposterousness will be no excuse, breaches galore of public duty and trust, and glaringly apparent high crimes and misdemeanours. But she worries the sty-eyed Orange gloater might win in November; I just can’t see the numbers.
We agree he’ll go to any length to stay out of jail, like cheating or fomenting a civil war, say. But if the election proceeds (as I expect it will), how is it, we both wonder, tRump appears to be recommending his base do things that will probably reduce his electoral odds, like crowding them into churches to belt out hymns of potentially COVID19-infected baptisms of exhalation or, similarly, egging on protests against pandemic restrictions which put his followers at greater risk of catching and spreading the virus. Worse for this cohort is its relative poverty and lack of access to healthcare, its agedness and obesity.
I remind her of ample evidence of tRump-containment, an invisible cage—starting to become more apparent—that can be plotted in general outline by his provocative prodding and quick, if trite, retreats. My dove ain’t necessarily down with my containment theory, and fears “Madman” strategy.
I remind how such a spoiled, self-unexamined, puerile narcissist probably thinks, a la his late, arch de-mentor Roy Cohen, he can get away with almost anything, sort of the MacGiver of perpetual scrapes, always claiming victory in defeat, never telling a truth unadorned with blatant lies. I happen to think he’s simplistic and transparent—all the easier to contain him until voters get rid of him ( the US cultural predates him, and that his removal from office by any means other than democratic might, patriots fear, exacerbate it).
tRump could have easily elevated his tepid popularity by simply assuming an air of calmness and reassurance during the pandemic—and, if he had, I might be as afraid of his re-election as my darling is. Thankfully, he’s the only person I can think of who doubles down on jumping the shark. It seems to validate my estimation of his modus operandi on one hand, but diminish his odds of winning on the other.
Nota bene what he calls “leverage”—acquiring damaging dope on somebody, getting somebody he wants something from over a barrel. He has no qualm about bragging about it, like that he’s “too smart” to pay any taxes. (Giuliani diligently said he “knows too much” to be fired, leverage learned from his master.)
tRump even stretches his own supporters over the stump by threatening reprisal if they don’t support him or, more ominously, brand disloyalty if, say, American Jews don’t vote for him and his hackneyed understanding of Israeli politics.
What leverage does he hope to achieve by effectively accelerating the spread of the virus, especially amongst his own electoral base? I calm my sweet by noting the size and patriotism of the American government apparatus (the containment minders) and tRump’s native simplicity, superficiality and reliance on the fantasias of narcissism, chief among which is his belief that he’s got something, a “McGuffin”, perhaps, on his enemies and friends alike. I suspect his lack of discernment between the two is his Achilles Heel.
I hope so, anyways.
Scotty--
Well, he most certainly is pretty much, entirely, made of 'heel'.
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