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

[Virginiá]

As I was saying earlier, we need a new thread.

Not doing the 2,000 post limit for a while, so I can assess the impact of the past 2 years' worth of performance updates.

[Virginiá]

Now that Republicans got what they wanted from the latest stimulus bill filling back up the PPP funding:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-states/mcconnell-says-he-favors-state-bankruptcy-over-more-federal-aid-idUSKCN2242U7

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday opened the door to allowing U.S. states to file for bankruptcy to deal with economic losses stemming from the coronavirus outbreak that are punching big holes in their budgets.

McConnell, in a radio interview, said Republicans would not support giving state and local governments more money in future coronavirus aid legislation, saying those funds could end up being used to bail out state pensions.

Speaking on the Hugh Hewitt syndicated radio program, McConnell said he instead “would certainly be in favor of allowing states to use the bankruptcy route.”

[Virginiá]

He hires the best people.

https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1253075681908531200

Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job

This looked an The Onion headline for a minute.

[Virginiá]

Starting to forget what it's like to not have a brain dead president who recommends we look into injecting bleach on live TV.

[Virginiá]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-gilead-exclusive/exclusive-trial-of-gileads-potential-coronavirus-treatment-running-ahead-of-schedule-researcher-says-idUSKCN2262X3

The Gilead stuff does not make sense to me because wasn't there a leak from one of the trials were turned out to be a major dud and they had to cancel it early because it showed no results

From the linked article:

Those hopes were dampened somewhat on Thursday, when details from a Chinese remdesivir trial in patients with severe COVID-19 inadvertently released by the World Health Organization suggested it provided no benefit.

Gilead pushed back on that interpretation saying the study, which was stopped early due to low patient enrollment, cannot provide meaningful conclusions.

[Virginiá]

Of course they wuld push back on it. It's in their financial interest to do so.

Yeah, I mean, I agree with that. Gilead has a history of corporate scumbaggery, anyway. I was just pointing it out since TSA asked.

[Virginiá]

https://townhall.com/columnists/johndempsey/2020/04/26/democrats-do-not-need-to-be-in-power-otherwise-america-is-finished-n2567623

I see the hyperventilating on the right about Democrats obtaining power is beginning again. Democrats are not just the opposition, but they are fundamentally illegitimate as a governing party. They must not be "allowed" to win. Etc. It's this kind of thinking that has delivered onto the country years of power plays bordering on election rigging from conservatives hell-bent on using their newly-won power in the 2010s to entrench the party's majorities up and downballot while feigning concern about voter fraud to justify these maneuvers.

It'd be really nice if we could all step back and accept that just because you disagree with the opposition, it doesn't make them fundamentally illegitimate participants in democracy, and a force that you must stop by any means necessary. Particularly when these terrible, terrible people generally represent a political party that has more members than your own, and regularly wins the popular vote more often than your own.

[Virginiá]

The administration’s response has been unfathomably incompetent.  I said on this board that Democrats should have made Trump’s resignation a prerequisite to supporting any stimulus package.  Doing this might have saved hundreds of thousands of lives.  But no one on either side has been willing to do what is necessary to get rid of him, so I’m not sure how complaining about Trump’s response now helps us going forward.

[...]

It most certainly would have been worse for the country because Trump would not have resigned and if Democrats stood their ground indefinitely, we'd have no stimulus money whatsoever, and we'd be watching wave after wave of bankruptcies instead. It's a solid bet that Trump wanted the money spigot turned on quickly because he was worried about reelection. There is a fairly good chance he is indicted at the state level once he leaves office, so it's literally a matter of his freedom for him. Plus, let's be honest here, I can't see any party conceding to this kind of demand, but the Republican Party? Or even worse, Donald J. Trump?? Oh, no.. He would never, ever concede that fight to the Democrats. I'm not sure he'd ever resign willingly.

[Virginiá]

File this under COVID-19-induced absurdity

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/davidmack/gma-reporter-no-pants-will-reeve-work-home

https://twitter.com/grahamorama/status/1255108155182329859

[Virginiá]

This is the late Christopher Reeve's son. He's been an ABC reporter for at least the past few years. However, this isn't the first time that I've seen something like this happening. One of the Five co-hosts on Fox News, Jesse Waters, has been anchoring from home, and was also photographed wearing a suit but not pants. You can't really bash people for not wanting to fully dress up if they aren't going into the studio; everyone makes mistakes.

lolol it's funny. You don't have to be serious all the time...

But if you want a super serious take, then there really isn't an excuse. If you're going on national TV, the least you could do is wear some sort of pants. Who would base this decision on the idea that they "know" the camera will only capture just above their waist? How lazy are these people? Why would you even risk it? I wouldn't even consider the idea. God forbid I think I can get away with it, only to become the butt of a joke across the internet and late night talk shows.

[Virginiá]

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

[Virginiá]

Just want to thank Arch for continuously posting an up-to-date list of new cases/deaths that even include percentage changes from the last report. It's been a very convenient way to keep track of things!

[Virginiá]

Going to be hard to get Trump into the low 30s on any subject without some erosion among Republicans or a near-total collapse of support among indies.

If a Depression-like economy and a global pandemic that will have killed probably at least 120,000+ people in America by November (and probably a lot more) doesn't result in much lower approvals for Trump, then this country is hopeless. Not really because of Trump himself, but because it will be substantial evidence that America is just never going to hold any politician accountable for anything anymore. If they are your party's guy, then that's the end of the discussion. Future politicians will learn from this, and not anything good. The last thing anyone should want is politicians thinking they are untouchable so long as they pander enough to the right people.

[Virginiá]

Seems misleading to label it house arrest when many states that did do some form of shelter-in-place were very lax about it and had broad exemptions. Despite FL closing many businesses for over a month, there were still a great number of people out and about on any given day, and many stores here were still open. Sometimes going out I couldn't really tell the difference between pre-COVID and the "lockdown." It's not like I went into town only to see empty streets. Not even remotely close to that.

[Virginiá]

Only in America could a pandemic be considered a political issue

Republicans have been conditioned to treat every single criticism of Trump by Democrats as a political scheme to take him down. Even COVID-19, which is now treated as a serious issue by Trump himself and Republican leaders, and Trump himself who recommended shelter-in-place orders for over a month, is still decried as a political attack and as being blown out of proportion by Democrats.

[Virginiá]

Only in America could a pandemic be considered a political issue

Republicans have been conditioned to treat every single criticism of Trump by Democrats as a political scheme to take him down. Even COVID-19, which is now treated as a serious issue by Trump himself and Republican leaders, and Trump himself who recommended shelter-in-place orders for over a month, is still decried as a political attack and as being blown out of proportion by Democrats.

Criticism of stay at home orders extends to both parties but continue your with set narrative

I didn't say criticism wasn't aimed at GOP governors as well. I just said that clearly there is a strain of thought going on in GOP circles that Democrats are trying to damage the economy to take down Trump. Examples:

https://thecitizen.com/2020/05/16/democrats-damaging-people-economy-out-of-trump-hatred/
https://www.foxnews.com/media/rush-limbaugh-democrats-hoping-destroy-trump-economy

I live and work in a Trump+24 county as well, so it's not exactly like I need to go far to hear this. With regards to my first post, the point was that virtually anything negative directed at Trump that is big enough to get picked up by conservative news seems to eventually be decried as a political scheme to take down Trump.

[Virginiá]

New thread: https://talkelections.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=402803