COVID-19 Megathread 5: The Trumps catch COVID-19

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Tucker Carlson talks about Sweden and the WHO.

He said they were the only Western country not to place people in lockdown:

https://www.facebook.com/TuckerCarlsonTonight/videos/255471012495949/

Tucker is a little bit hysterical, but the interesting part is that Sweden might become a model for what Phase 2 and 3 relaxations look like.

Though that would require people not to act hysterically and to take social distancing seriously. The behaviour of the Sweden fans actually makes a Swedish-style relaxation less likely to be effective.

Sweden is an important data point for us because the post-lockdown America that is starting to form (especially in the South and Plains) is looking broadly similar to the Swedish model.

[American2020]

Global backlash against China


China is getting its Vietnam/Iraq backlash from public opinions.

https://twitter.com/fravel/status/1256930890229460992

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Over the last week, Google searches for "Reopen" and "Stay at home" have been almost identical (Stay at home had a massive edge a few weeks ago).  One cool feature is that it lets you break it down by state.

Strongest States for Reopen:
Arkansas- 87%
Oklahoma- 83%
New Jersey- 77%
New York- 76%
Connecticut- 73%
Nebraska- 73%
Utah- 71%
Kentucky- 70%
Tennessee- 69%
Iowa- 69%

Strongest States for Stay at home:
Indiana- 81%
Minnesota- 81%
Michigan- 81%
New Hampshire- 80%
Kansas- 78%
Washington- 78%
Maine- 76%
Illinois- 75%
Missouri- 68%
Wisconsin- 66%

Full map:

If you're curious, Reopen (in blue) would win this "Electoral College" 282-256, despite losing the popular vote 52.6%-47.4%.  The closest state was California, which rounded to 50-50.

[American2020]

https://twitter.com/ianbremmer/status/1256938701562748933

[Meclazine for Israel]

Global backlash against China


China is getting its Vietnam/Iraq backlash from public opinions.

https://twitter.com/fravel/status/1256930890229460992

Yes. Australians are super-pissed as well. We maybe suffering the least in terms of cases and deaths, but we are all locked down exactly the same.

It would be good if we learn some lessons after this.

[American2020]

Global backlash against China


China is getting its Vietnam/Iraq backlash from public opinions.

https://twitter.com/fravel/status/1256930890229460992

Yes. Australians are super-pissed as well. We maybe suffering the least in terms of cases and deaths, but we are all locked down exactly the same.

It would be good if we learn some lessons after this.

Many governments should authorize the creation of independent investigation commissions to discover what went wrong. It should begin at the first days of a Biden Administration, also in France, Spain, Italy, the UK and other countries.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

^ And we wonder why the US has been the worst hit by this pandemic.    Funny how a constitution written in the 18th century doesn't seem to jive with a virus spreading during the 21st.

Americans: "Give me liberty or give me death!"
Coronovirus: *shrug* "Ok."

Ah, but you're missing the detail that makes this so quintessentially modern American. The odds of death any specific individual who is not at high risk are pretty low. So it's really more like,

Republicans: "Give me liberty and kill someone else!"

[JRP1994]

https://twitter.com/TheBushCenter/status/1256607729151619073

I'm sure this has been posted already, but Donald Trump is the best thing that could've possibly happened to George W Bush's legacy. Just having someone show basic human compassion is incredibly refreshing.

[Koharu]

https://twitter.com/TheBushCenter/status/1256607729151619073
I'm sure this has been posted already, but Donald Trump is the best thing that could've possibly happened to George W Bush's legacy. Just having someone show basic human compassion is incredibly refreshing.

A person can be a good human being and a stinky president at the same time.

I think overall GWB is a decent human being, and he tended to show real empathy for people, so this kind of message isn't out of character or all that surprising.

It is, however, silly to imply that his being a decent human being somehow forgives his political obliviousness to the stupidity of tax cuts and starting a war without any way to pay for it and all the other political mistakes he made.

Also, GWB is backing up the messaging of the White House here, calling it an "invisible enemy" and framing this as a war. Not a fan of that rhetorical choice at all. The rest is exactly what a president should be saying, so I appreciate that.

[GoTfan]

I just saw a model that predicts 350,000 dead in the US alone by the end of June.

I lost hope I didn't even know I had.

[ON Progressive]

I just saw a model that predicts 350,000 dead in the US alone by the end of June.

I lost hope I didn't even know I had.

That would require approximately 4900 deaths a day for the next 58 days, which is very unlikely to happen.

[Roll Roons]

I just saw a model that predicts 350,000 dead in the US alone by the end of June.

I lost hope I didn't even know I had.

https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/495865-oxford-professor-possible-coronavirus-vaccine-could-show-efficacy

This should give you a little bit of hope. This guy is a longtime professor of immunology at one of the finest universities in the world, and he says a vaccine is looking very promising and could have results as early as next month. That would be unprecedented in terms of vaccine development.

[GoTfan]

I just saw a model that predicts 350,000 dead in the US alone by the end of June.

I lost hope I didn't even know I had.

That would require approximately 4900 deaths a day for the next 58 days, which is very unlikely to happen.

With a significant amount of states reopening despite their cases rising, I'm inclined to agree. It'll likely be more.

[HillGoose]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-03/pompeo-says-enormous-evidence-links-virus-to-wuhan-laboratory

the Chinese gov must pay!

[GeorgiaModerate]

I just went for the weekly grocery shopping and was happy to see that supplies are improving.  Some products still don't have full shelves, but pretty much everything had *some* presence, even toilet paper.  This includes some items I haven't seen for weeks, such as liquid soap refill bottles and fresh garlic bulbs.

On the down aide, the proportion of customers wearing masks seems to be down from the last few weeks.  Maybe 40% were masked, and many were ignoring the one-way aisles (which might be accidental, as it's new for this store and only marked on the floor at the end of each aisle).

[Frodo]

I just saw a model that predicts 350,000 dead in the US alone by the end of June.

I lost hope I didn't even know I had.

How is it in Australia?

[GoTfan]

I just saw a model that predicts 350,000 dead in the US alone by the end of June.

I lost hope I didn't even know I had.

How is it in Australia?

I'm not worried about me. I'm worried baout my girlfriend in Oklahoma.

[emailking]

I just saw a model that predicts 350,000 dead in the US alone by the end of June.

I lost hope I didn't even know I had.

I'm guessing this was the worst case scenario of whatever model this is.

[emailking]

https://twitter.com/TheBushCenter/status/1256607729151619073

I'm sure this has been posted already, but Donald Trump is the best thing that could've possibly happened to George W Bush's legacy. Just having someone show basic human compassion is incredibly refreshing.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1256911953903202307

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

I just saw a model that predicts 350,000 dead in the US alone by the end of June.

I lost hope I didn't even know I had.

That would require approximately 4900 deaths a day for the next 58 days, which is very unlikely to happen.

Honestly, the best thing I've done for my mental health is to start audibly say "What an idiot" whenever I read an alarmist take that makes no sense. It's easy to worry and think about worst-case scenarios like that, especially if you have a naturally depressive mind. We've got to start aggressively discounting bad-faith models that seem to aim to scare people more than anything.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

The Coronavirus Is Rewriting Our Imaginations

argaret Thatcher said that “there is no such thing as society,” and Ronald Reagan said that “government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.” These stupid slogans marked the turn away from the postwar period of reconstruction and underpin much of the bullsh**t of the past forty years.

We are individuals first, yes, just as bees are, but we exist in a larger social body. Society is not only real; it’s fundamental. We can’t live without it. And now we’re beginning to understand that this “we” includes many other creatures and societies in our biosphere and even in ourselves. Even as an individual, you are a biome, an ecosystem, much like a forest or a swamp or a coral reef. Your skin holds inside it all kinds of unlikely coöperations, and to survive you depend on any number of interspecies operations going on within you all at once. We are societies made of societies; there are nothing but societies. This is shocking news—it demands a whole new world view. And now, when those of us who are sheltering in place venture out and see everyone in masks, sharing looks with strangers is a different thing. It’s eye to eye, this knowledge that, although we are practicing social distancing as we need to, we want to be social—we not only want to be social, we’ve got to be social, if we are to survive. It’s a new feeling, this alienation and solidarity at once. It’s the reality of the social; it’s seeing the tangible existence of a society of strangers, all of whom depend on one another to survive. It’s as if the reality of citizenship has smacked us in the face.

As for government: it’s government that listens to science and responds by taking action to save us. Stop to ponder what is now obstructing the performance of that government. Who opposes it? Right now we’re hearing two statements being made. One, from the President and his circle: we have to save money even if it costs lives. The other, from the Centers for Disease Control and similar organizations: we have to save lives even if it costs money. Which is more important, money or lives? Money, of course! says capital and its spokespersons. Really? people reply, uncertainly. Seems like that’s maybe going too far? Even if it’s the common wisdom? Or was.

[Landslide Lyndon]

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1256911953903202307

It's always about him.

[It’s so Joever]

I just saw a model that predicts 350,000 dead in the US alone by the end of June.

I lost hope I didn't even know I had.

It’s more possible than people think, keep in mind someone who said that 50,000 Americans would die from this at the end of April would have been called an alarmist back in March. I still think our (very weak) social distancing measures will help, and that number will be closer to 200,000. It still would be a tragic loss of life, but better than the worst outcome imaginable.
Luckily for us, Remdesivir and a possible vaccine may bail out the American people who have failed in the face of crisis.

[Virginiá]

https://twitter.com/agavedelacalle/status/1256734244522438656

[Person Man]

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1256911953903202307

It's always about him.

And his illiteracy.