Do you feel sorry for Trump?

[President Johnson]

Considering conservatives openly celebrated RBG’s death it’s only fair that we get that same opportunity now.

Well, then we wouldn't much better than them. But we are. That's also why Joe Biden and Kamala Harris sent out the Tweets they did. Trump wouldn't have done so in a reverse scenario, that's for sure.

[25 Abril/Aprile Sempre!]

I have to say: I feel sorry for most people in this thread more than I do for Trump.

[Badger]

No, because he got himself into that situation through his own ignorance

So are Jahana Hayes, Joe Cunnigham, Ben McAdams, Mike DeWine, Kwame Raoul and Keisha Lance Bottoms similarly ignorant?

Since when is catching an infectious disease an indication of someone's morality or intelligence?  

If you criticize Trump for getting COVID-19, then you have to also criticize the dozens of Democratic legislators and lawmakers who have as well.  

There is a difference between someone taking the virus seriously, taking precautions who then unofortunately gets it and someone that downplays the virus, takes no precautions (and flaunts it!) and then gets it because they are a dipsh*t.

No idea how any of these people caught it, but you are talking as if there is no difference between situations

Did that even need saying?
How difficult is it to understand this?
Is it ignorance, or just plain avoidance/deflection to simple, observable facts?

[Del Tachi]

No, because he got himself into that situation through his own ignorance

So are Jahana Hayes, Joe Cunnigham, Ben McAdams, Mike DeWine, Kwame Raoul and Keisha Lance Bottoms similarly ignorant?

Since when is catching an infectious disease an indication of someone's morality or intelligence? 

If you criticize Trump for getting COVID-19, then you have to also criticize the dozens of Democratic legislators and lawmakers who have as well. 

There is a difference between someone taking the virus seriously, taking precautions who then unofortunately gets it and someone that downplays the virus, takes no precautions (and flaunts it!) and then gets it because they are a dipsh*t.

No idea how any of these people caught it, but you are talking as if there is no difference between situations

No, there is no difference because Trump is no more or less responsible for his infection than anyone else would be.

Risks, by their very nature, involve a level of uncertainty.  Individuals decide if/how they will act to mitigate risk, but that doesn't diminish or augment the moral responsibility they have for the realized outcome.  Plain speaking, imagine two houses built in a flood zone but one owner chooses to build on slightly higher ground (where the probability of being flooded is lower).  A once-in-a-century flood comes and damages both houses.  Is the owner who built his house on the lower ground more at fault for the damages he sustained than the other?  or the other one less? 

The question isn't really whether some self-culpability for those who contract COVID exists or not...but if there is, then it should apply to everyone.  If Trump is responsible for his infection, then so is everyone else who has gotten COVID (after all, they all would have contracted it in the same way - from communicating with someone else!)  For those who choose to take enhanced mitigation techniques the reduced risk is their reward, not an abdication of their responsibility for the outcome.   

[Del Tachi]

No, because he got himself into that situation through his own ignorance

So are Jahana Hayes, Joe Cunnigham, Ben McAdams, Mike DeWine, Kwame Raoul and Keisha Lance Bottoms similarly ignorant?

Since when is catching an infectious disease an indication of someone's morality or intelligence? 

If you criticize Trump for getting COVID-19, then you have to also criticize the dozens of Democratic legislators and lawmakers who have as well. 

"If you blame a drunk driver for a car crash you have to blame everyone who's ever been in a car accident"

No.  My point is if you undertake a risky activity (like driving) then you inherently accept some level of responsibility for the outcome, and that level of responsibility isn't changed based on how you may act to mitigate the risk. 

Someone who is hit and killed by a drunk driver isn't any more or less at fault for their own death based on whether they wore a seatbelt or not (our laws even recognize this.)

[The Righteous Tip of the Abundance Spear]

No, because he got himself into that situation through his own ignorance

So are Jahana Hayes, Joe Cunnigham, Ben McAdams, Mike DeWine, Kwame Raoul and Keisha Lance Bottoms similarly ignorant?

Since when is catching an infectious disease an indication of someone's morality or intelligence? 

If you criticize Trump for getting COVID-19, then you have to also criticize the dozens of Democratic legislators and lawmakers who have as well. 

There is a difference between someone taking the virus seriously, taking precautions who then unofortunately gets it and someone that downplays the virus, takes no precautions (and flaunts it!) and then gets it because they are a dipsh*t.

No idea how any of these people caught it, but you are talking as if there is no difference between situations

No, there is no difference because Trump is no more or less responsible for his infection than anyone else would be.

Blatantly false premise, but I didn't expect anything else from a cultist.

[beaver2.0]

I have sympathy for the man that is sick and hope he recovers.  However I also recognize some of this was brought on by his actions.

[Del Tachi]

No, because he got himself into that situation through his own ignorance

So are Jahana Hayes, Joe Cunnigham, Ben McAdams, Mike DeWine, Kwame Raoul and Keisha Lance Bottoms similarly ignorant?

Since when is catching an infectious disease an indication of someone's morality or intelligence? 

If you criticize Trump for getting COVID-19, then you have to also criticize the dozens of Democratic legislators and lawmakers who have as well. 

There is a difference between someone taking the virus seriously, taking precautions who then unofortunately gets it and someone that downplays the virus, takes no precautions (and flaunts it!) and then gets it because they are a dipsh*t.

No idea how any of these people caught it, but you are talking as if there is no difference between situations

No, there is no difference because Trump is no more or less responsible for his infection than anyone else would be.

Blatantly false premise, but I didn't expect anything else from a cultist.

This is a blatantly true premise if you accept the outcomes in question are probabilistic in nature.

[The Righteous Tip of the Abundance Spear]

This is a blatantly true premise if you accept the outcomes in question are probabilistic in nature.

Trump was responsible for the overall handling of the virus in this country, which he bungled. He additionally didn't take personal precautions for himself. There is no reasonable way to conclude that he is somehow just as much a victim of circumstance as the millions of people who've gotten infected so far.

[Zohranism is OUR future]

I have about 50 times more sympathy for Trump now than I did before.

[Big Abraham]

Would you feel sorry for someone dying of lung cancer if they were a smoker all their life, intentionally neglecting all warning signs that cigarettes are carcinogenic?

The answer to the question will vary from person to person. I personally would. Trump brought this upon himself, but the sick son of bitch still has my sympathy. Suffering isn't a good thing, unless it's brought about upon the convicted as a result of a speedy trial by jury with all commensurate due process rights

[falling apart like the ashes of American flags]

I have about 50 times more sympathy for Trump now than I did before.

I do too. But 50 x 0 is still 0.

[Zohranism is OUR future]

I have about 50 times more sympathy for Trump now than I did before.

I do too. But 50 x 0 is still 0.

Congrats you caught the hidden joke.

[The Righteous Tip of the Abundance Spear]

Would you feel sorry for someone dying of lung cancer if they were a smoker all their life, intentionally neglecting all warning signs that cigarettes are carcinogenic?

I would feel bad for that person. But I wouldn't feel bad for someone who did all those things and used their platform as a prominent political figure to lie to people, spread obvious pseudoscience, and tell them that cigarettes aren't harmful. And that goes for Ayn Rand too.

[Del Tachi]

This is a blatantly true premise if you accept the outcomes in question are probabilistic in nature.

Trump was responsible for the overall handling of the virus in this country, which he bungled. He additionally didn't take personal precautions for himself. There is no reasonable way to conclude that he is somehow just as much a victim of circumstance as the millions of people who've gotten infected so far.

This sort of world view only makes sense if you see the virus as some sort of sentient deity vindictively infecting those who eschew its rules and righteously passing over those who respect them.  A surprising number of people (including a militant atheist apparently, lol) actually do act like this is the case since, like God, COVID-19 "doesn't care if you're White or Black, rich or poor, Republican or Democrat, etc."  It gets even more amusing...these variables are actually quite deterministic in a patient's COVID-19 prognosis

No, for those who practice enhanced disease mitigation techniques...the reduction in risk is their only reward.  But this doesn't alter the moral implications/responsibilities for those who actually do get infected.   

[Starry Eyed Jagaloon]

This is a blatantly true premise if you accept the outcomes in question are probabilistic in nature.

Trump was responsible for the overall handling of the virus in this country, which he bungled. He additionally didn't take personal precautions for himself. There is no reasonable way to conclude that he is somehow just as much a victim of circumstance as the millions of people who've gotten infected so far.

This sort of world view only makes sense if you see the virus as some sort of sentient deity vindictively infecting those who eschew its rules and righteously passing over those who respect them.  A surprising number of people (including a militant atheist apparently, lol) actually do act like this is the case since, like God, COVID-19 "doesn't care if you're White or Black, rich or poor, Republican or Democrat, etc."  It gets even more amusing...these variables are actually quite deterministic in a patient's COVID-19 prognosis

No, for those who practice enhanced disease mitigation techniques...the reduction in risk is their only reward.  But this doesn't alter the moral implications/responsibilities for those who actually do get infected.   

What don't you get? Certainly infection is probabilistic, but Covid being in the United States in the first place was not. Trump is to blame for the pandemic, and therefore at least partially responsible for every single infection in the United States (a list which now apparently includes himself.)

[Calthrina950]

While I hope that the Trumps (both the President and his wife) have a full and speedy recovery from this virus, I find it difficult to actually feel sorry for him. He's a despicable human being, who does not care about anyone else except for himself; who has insulted and mistreated countless people over the decades; and who has presided over one of the worst Presidential Administrations in history. Moreover, Trump did not take the virus seriously, and has routinely downplayed it; had he been more decisive, its impact could have been lessened. And he has undermined the credibility of our nation's public health experts, with his attacks on such basic safety protocols as wearing a mask. So to a great extent, his recklessness played a role in getting him into this current situation.

[Big Abraham]

Would you feel sorry for someone dying of lung cancer if they were a smoker all their life, intentionally neglecting all warning signs that cigarettes are carcinogenic?

I would feel bad for that person. But I wouldn't feel bad for someone who did all those things and used their platform as a prominent political figure to lie to people, spread obvious pseudoscience, and tell them that cigarettes aren't harmful. And that goes for Ayn Rand too.

Agree to disagree then. There's no right answer here. If the CEO of Phillip Morris got lung cancer, I would feel sorry for him, even though it would certainly be evocative of poetic justice

[The Righteous Tip of the Abundance Spear]

This is a blatantly true premise if you accept the outcomes in question are probabilistic in nature.

Trump was responsible for the overall handling of the virus in this country, which he bungled. He additionally didn't take personal precautions for himself. There is no reasonable way to conclude that he is somehow just as much a victim of circumstance as the millions of people who've gotten infected so far.

This sort of world view only makes sense if you see the virus as some sort of sentient deity vindictively infecting those who eschew its rules and righteously passing over those who respect them.  A surprising number of people (including a militant atheist apparently, lol) actually do act like this is the case since, like God, COVID-19 "doesn't care if you're White or Black, rich or poor, Republican or Democrat, etc."  It gets even more amusing...these variables are actually quite deterministic in a patient's COVID-19 prognosis

No, for those who practice enhanced disease mitigation techniques...the reduction in risk is their only reward.  But this doesn't alter the moral implications/responsibilities for those who actually do get infected.   

Nothing I said logically entails any of the claims you made in this paragraph. I'm at a loss for what point you thought you were making here, and why you thought it made any sense at all.

[Storebought]

No, I feel contempt for Trump, but for a different reason:

If Trump, who is already being hospitalized as I type this, does in fact succumb to covid, then that would make the US the only wealthy nation whose head of state has died from this epidemic. That will be an indelible international humiliation of the US, and it would be entirely his fault.

[Calthrina950]

No, I feel contempt for Trump, but for a different reason:

If Trump, who is already being hospitalized as I type this, does in fact succumb to covid, then that would make the US the only wealthy nation whose head of state has died from this epidemic. That will be an indelible international humiliation of the US, and it would be entirely his fault.

Moreover, we haven't had a President die in office in almost sixty years, since JFK was assassinated in 1963. So that would be an alarming historical milestone, in and of itself. This whole situation has truly revealed to me that this country contains a large number of ignorant, uncaring, and evil people-who will willingly jeopardize the lives and fortunes of others, and who will not respond seriously to crises of this magnitude. And Trump, unfortunately, is one of them.

[Sestak]

This is a blatantly true premise if you accept the outcomes in question are probabilistic in nature.

"Probabilistic in nature" does not imply that everyone affected is equally inculpable if one such person's actions have directly caused those probabilites to increase! It's not as if this is Trump getting randomly struck by lightning or something.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

Donald Trump for Crematorium 2020

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

I have sympathy for the man that is sick and hope he recovers.  However I also recognize some of this was brought on by his actions.

I'm sure that mister beaver is a nice person and I'm not trying to pick on him in particular here. I just want to point out that there's a word for those who'd extend compassion and other lovely virtues towards anyone and everyone: we call them easy marks who can and will be fleeced by sociopaths.

Once you lose the facile notion that all human beings are good and embrace a bit of Calvinist theology that says that there are irredeemable people, which we might call "reprobates", you lose the foolish tendency to be compassionate towards everyone. Would you be compassionate towards Hitler? A serial child molester or serial killer? In order to be compassionate towards the broad mass of people who are basically decent or who have the potential to be decent, we need to be willing to be ruthless towards those who only make life worse for others.

Note that this mostly is not about Trump.

[Obama-Biden Democrat]

It is what it is.

I don't' care, do u?