Update no.950

Update from the Sunland

No.950

23.3.20 – 29.3.20

Blog version:  http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/

            To all,

Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclination, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.

—John Adams (1770)

Carrie: “I found the truth, Saul.”

Saul:    “But the truth isn’t much good if no one will listen.”

            We learned this week that Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel ‘Boris’ Johnson and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Mental Health, Suicide Prevention and Patient Safety Nadine Vanessa Dorries, née Bargery, have tested positive for COVID19 in addition to Prince Charles, crown prince of Great Britain.  Johnson is not in a high-risk group.  Dorries is just on the edge of a high-risk group at 62 years of age.  Prince Charles is in the high-risk group at 71 years of age, but otherwise in good health.  We hope self-quarantining helps them all and whatever symptoms they develop remain mild.

            The COVID19 crisis is rapidly becoming the BIC’s Katrina.  Bush43 survived Katrina, but his legacy took a helluva hit as a consequence of the bungled response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster.  The six-week delay in federal sponsored and mandated testing has ensured we would be behind the infections spread.  Now, the Bully-in-Chief (BIC) is talking about opening the country for the public / social interaction out of a paucity of hard data, i.e., ignorance.  The BIC GAF’ed off the opportunity to get ahead of the infection’s spread, so now, we must endure, suffer and deal with the consequences of pandemic infection.  This is exactly what the ignorance of one man can do to 350 million people.  And so it goes.

            As I view the publicly available data, we have only seen the tip of the iceberg, and the BIC’s foolishness is quite akin to White Star Captain Edward John Smith who succumbed to corporate pressure for a record Atlantic transit and overrode his better judgment at sea on the evening of 14.April.1912.

            What the BIC has done with his denials and obfuscation is pitted the states against each other bidding and scratching for medical supplies.  POTUS declared a national emergency on 13.March.2020, as the spread of COVID19 expanded in the United States.  We do NOT need or want states competing with each other for the acquisition of medical equipment and supplies in the time of a national health crisis.

            Then, instead of doing what a president should do, the BIC has the audacity to publicly question the requirement of Governor Andrew Mark Cuomo of New York for 40,000 more ventilators.  Governor Cuomo’s response to the BIC’s foolish, ill-informed, and thoughtless statement was classic and perfect.  Cuomo said, “I hope we don’t need that many, but we will follow the counsel of the experts and the facts.”  If we ever need an example of what a president should NOT do, the BIC is and will be the ultimate example.

            I must have watched virtually continuous news coverage of the COVID19 crisis that Governor Cuomo of New York is doing a far better job of dealing with the situation than the BIC.  In fact, all of the frontline governors are doing far better than the BIC.

            Congress passed and POTUS signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (AKA CARES Act) [PL 116-xxx; H.R.748; House: voice vote; Senate: 96-0-0-0(4)); originally passed by House: 419-6-0-8(2); 134 Stat. xxxx].  The new law adds money to the previous two laws and allocates US$2.2T for the campaign against the COVID19 pandemic . . . that’s a freakin’ lot of money, all added to the national debt—money, money, money everywhere.  POTUS finally invoked the Defense Production Act directly on General Motors to mass-produce medical ventilators.  He also appointed White House Trade Advisor Peter Kent Navarro as the federal Defense Production Coordinator for this crisis.

            Fortunately, POTUS has backed off his open-by-Easter “aspiration” and begun to listen to the medical experts.  On the regrettable side of the ledger, the BIC persists in attacking the press for doing their job and he cannot resist any opportunity to pump up his image.

            It is actually beginning to sound like the USG is finally getting in gear to help the states deal with our collective under-preparedness for this pandemic. A day late and a dollar short, but better late than never.  As much as I would like to sing the praises of POTUS for what the USG is finally doing, he shoots himself in the foot . . . like a bone-spur deferment.  This could be a moment in history for him to shine, but he is squandering any goodwill we have left for the man.

            A little humor in these troubled times might be helpful.

We are 11 days into self-isolation, and it is really upsetting me to witness my wife standing at the living room window gazing aimlessly into space with tears running down her cheeks.  It breaks my heart to see her like this.  I have thought very hard about how I can cheer her up.  I have even considered letting her in . . . but rules are rules.

-- Howie Mandel

Stay safe, my friends.  This too shall pass.

            Continuation of contributions from Update no.948:

“A hospital worker I know personally reassured me about our city's capacity.  At least one large hospital here has half a floor vacant.  I don't know the national situation, though.  I'm familiar with the destruction of many rural hospitals, so that might become an issue.

“In any contagious disease, I would expect to hear more about one's immune system as a measure of risk.

“Has anything else happened?”

My reply:

            I am so glad that y’all have not reached or perhaps even approached your local treatment capacity threshold.  I do not believe that is true in other areas throughout the country.  We have heard nothing in our local press regarding our local capacity threshold; it is out there but has not been addressed, yet.

            I think the medical professionals and the Press have spoken to the risk factors including compromised immune systems.  Age is not the only risk factor.  They have also mentioned underlying medical issues like asthma, suppressed immune systems, e.g., organ transplant patients, et al.  Age is an inherent risk factor since age diminishes the immune system’s breadth of performance.

 . . . follow-on comment:

“I suspect compromised or just weak immune systems will be the determining factor.  A person can have asthma, diabetes, and what not without having a weak immune system.”

 . . . my follow-on reply:

            Agreed.

            Comments and contributions from Update no.949:

Comment to the Blog:

“Add Ohio to the states in ‘stay home’ status.  The Powers That Be get huffy if we say ‘lock-down.’  Welcome to 1984.

“I see Sen. McConnell has scheduled another vote on his economic relief bill for just after the markets open.  He embodies evil, but he’s aware of psychology.  The reason the Democrats oppose this thing is because it leaves out most of us that have no income tax liability.

“I will note that the 1^st Amendment includes the right to ‘peaceably assemble.’  Oops.

“I’m limiting my intake of news and social media to preserve my mental health.  What’s happening in Syria?  Is Utah recovering from the earthquake?  We’ve had serious flooding here in Ohio over the weekend.”

My response to the Blog:

            Ohio will not be the last to join the lockdown status.  No reason for officials to get huffy; facts are facts, and an apple by any other name is still an apple.

            The Democrats are spot-on correct.  Help is required where help is needed most.  Corporations have more reserves than most citizens have.  I sure hope they work something out soon.  We do not need to add to the complications of our situation.

            You are, of course, quite correct.  However, restrictions for public safety and the common good are necessary from time-to-time, e.g., censorship in wartime.

            Your choice entirely.  I am still trying to absorb as much as I can.

 . . . Round two:

“Remember that communication is my specialty.  Objectively, lockdown is correct.  However, the officials in question want us to avoid that perception, so they use other words.

“I monitor my mental health condition.  I had as much as my feelings could handle a week ago.  I'm still letting information into a degree, but not in a repetitive manner and with sharply limited opinion.  My TV got about 15 minutes' use yesterday and I have yet to turn it on today as of 10:52 a.m. local time.”

 . . . my response to round two:

            Agreed.  Image affects perception, and oh so often, perception is reality.  However, politics is one thing; a virus has its own processes that have nothing to do with perception.

            We must all do what we must do for our mental and emotional stability.  Stay safe and grounded, my friend.

 . . . Round three:

“The perception problem is around the reaction to the virus.  A large number and a wide variety of people in charge of important decisions are shaping the perceptions to suit their needs.”

 . . . my response to round three:

            You are, of course, quite correct.  Unfortunately, and regrettably, the BIC is concerned with only his image.  He has no interest in helping us navigate these troubled waters.  He remains desperate, dangerously desperate, to pump up his grotesquely inflated image of himself.  Mother Nature could not care less about his image of himself.

Another contribution:

“Good morning Cap, congratulations on your new book!  I will check that out.  Hope you and your family/friends are all safe and healthy in these surreal days.  I will read your Update entirely in a bit and share it with the Group.  On Trump, he sure shot himself in the foot yesterday, just as he attempts to show some true leadership qualities during the live WH press conference on the COVID-19 crisis, one of the reporters says something about Sen. Rand Paul testing positive, and that 4 other congressmen had gone into self-quarantine and I think it was Trump asked which ones and the reporter (or a reporter) rolled off the names and one of them was Mitt Romney, and Trump says "Geez, isn't that too bad" in an almost comical tone.  The reporter said "is that a sarcastic comment" or something to the effect (I will have to get the transcript or transcribe it myself while re-watching the video) which the president said "no."  Trump cannot control himself, he is like a little kid that needs to be self-distanced from the kids that misbehave, and re-trained.  Just amazes me sometimes.”

My reply:

            I’m sorry; I just cannot bring myself to utter his name anymore—not worthy.  The BIC shooting himself in the foot is not a singular event; he does it almost every day; I’m surprised he has any feet left to shoot.  Now, he has banished the nation’s, if not the world’s, best infectious disease expert from the White House Press Room because the doctor had the audacity to contradict the vaunted BIC.  November cannot get here soon enough.  I just hope We, the People, are up to the task of handing him an embarrassing, humiliating and unequivocal defeat.  The best thing he could do is just disappear, leave the COVID19 response to the experts, and then he can take all the credit.  He is only making this terrible situation worse with the chaos that invariably swirls around him.  As I wrote five years ago, his pronounced personality flaws render him incapable of self-restraint or respectable behavior; he is a freakin’ snake-oil peddler.  I have seen his kind far too many times in my life, and I am far too old for his juvenile and sometimes infantile crap.  We need to be rid of him.

            My very best wishes to all.  Take care of yourselves and each other.

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)

Update no.949

Update from the Sunland

No.949

16.3.20 – 22.3.20

Blog version:  http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/

            To all,

            To So Few – Hunter is Cap Parlier’s 16^th published book and the 8^th book of the To So Few series of historical fiction novels.  It is available in print and all digital formats from bookstores and on-line retailers.

To So Few – Hunter Front Cover

            In the wake of the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor, the American volunteer fighter pilots serving in the Royal Air Force in England seek transfer to the U.S. Army Air Forces and are told to be patient; transfer will come in time.  Losses and defeats continue to mount for the Allies—Singapore, Hong Kong, Tobruk, Malaya, the Philippines and Wake Island fell to the Axis—although winter and the Soviets stopped the German advance on Moscow.  Brian ‘Hunter’ Drummond and his No.71 Eagle Squadron brethren press their contributions to the United Kingdom and freedom itself.  The squadron is involved in some of the most significant aerial combat engagements of 1942 like the Channel Dash, the Bruneval Raid, and Operation JUBILEE—the ill-fated Dieppe Raid, as they take offensive air operations to the Germans in Occupied France.  Charlotte and Brian raise their young son Ian, and use some of Brian’s inheritance to expand their property holdings in Hampshire.  Finally, No.71 Squadron is officially transferred and becomes the 334^th Fighter Squadron of the newly arrived U.S. Eighth Air Force.  As the squadron transitions, Brian is ordered home to join other celebrities in support of the First National War Bonds Drive.  He had no assurance he would be ordered back to England.  Brian reluctantly leaves Charlotte and Son Ian on the farm outside Winchester with an uncertain future of wartime.

            As always, Cap invites readers to write a review, tell your family and friends about the book, and offer constructive criticism.

            The follow-up news items:

-- The COVID19 virus, also known as 2019-nCoV or novel coronavirus 2019 [946], crisis expanded substantially this week.  On Monday, 16.March.2020, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) plummeted 30 seconds into trading triggering the Level 1 circuit breaker halting trading.

The NYSE has three progressive trading circuit breakers levels:

Level 1 – 7% drop of the S&P 500 – trading halted for 15 minutes for cooling off,

Level 2 – 13% drop of the S&P 500 – trading again halted for 15 minutes, and

Level 3 – 20% drop of the S&P 500 – trading halted for the rest of the day.

The DJIA fell nearly 3,000 points (13%) during that day’s trading alone.  The DJIA has lost more than 10,000 points in two weeks, one third of its value.  The signs I see point to further losses.  The bottom will come eventually.

-- Less than two weeks after Congress passed and the President of the United States (POTUS) signed into law the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020 [PL 116-123; 134 Stat. xxxx; 6.3.2020] [948], they added larger follow-on legislation on Wednesday, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act[PL 116-127; 134 Stat. xxxx; 18.3.2020] that expand the U.S. Government’s (USG) COVID19 response.

            Some of the states began to implement the USG recommendations regarding social distancing and self-quarantining to break the chain of the COVID19 infectious spread.  California, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, and Connecticut issued lockdown orders to all public interaction except essential activities.  The USG began to mobilize with the new laws noted above.  The POTUS cited a 70-year-old law—Defense Production Act of 1950 [PL 81-774; 64 Stat. 798; 8.9.1950]—utilized by President Truman during the early days of the Korean War to transition industry from commercial to war production.  The POTUS suggested the USG might use the 1950 law to mobilize U.S. industry to support the COVID19 response.  The disruption of the economy has been significant and will likely get much worse before we turn the corner.  The market has slipped into Bear Market territory, and the experts are forecasting unemployment may reach 20 million.  The Fed cut interest rates to near zero.  Talking of recession and even depression have begun to percolate into public intercourse.  Congress is struggling to generate a US$2-3T stimulus package legislation that dwarfs the combined stimulus packages at the beginning of the Great Recession signed into law by President Bush {Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 [PL 110-343; 122 Stat. 3765; 3.10.2008]} [355] and President Obama {American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 [PL 111-005; 123 Stat. 115; 17.2.2009]} [374].  Considering the rapidity and depth of this current economic downturn, the current version of the USG’s economic stimulus is probably warranted—a lot of American citizens do and will need help.

            As some of us continue to call out the Bully-In-Chief (BIC) for making matters worse during the COVID19 crisis, he and his supporters always default to wrapping themselves with the flag.  They advocate vociferously for those like me to stop criticizing the BIC and support his efforts to save the country and humanity.  If he would just keep his mouth shut and stop doing bonehead things, there would be no reason to criticize him.  As long as he continues to do the crap he does, I will continue to illuminate his myriad foibles, flaws, and mistakes.

            The daily briefing on Saturday by the USG demonstrated in graphic and dramatic form by the BIC is incompetent as POTUS or any position of public responsibility.  Just the tone, demeanor and words of contrast between the president and vice president.  When the BIC speaks, his words are disjointed and sometimes incoherent.  When he is questioned by the Press, he is argumentative, antagonistic and unresponsive.  He often degenerates into me, me, me.  When the BIC verbally assaults a journalist for doing his job, the BIC is violating his oath of office.  He swore before God and We, the People, to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States,” which he is violating in his attacks on the 1^stAmendment.  The job of the Press is to ask probing, challenging, argumentative, and even antagonistic questions of the POTUS and every government official—it is their job!.  The BIC clearly resents being challenged, so he lashes out as he did on Saturday.  When he violates his oath of office, I am obligated by my oath of office to confront the offender; that is precisely what I am doing now.

            I am not a fan of Vice President Pence, as the consummate moral projectionist; however, he acts and speaks as a president should; he is calm, measured, factual and unemotional.  He takes the tough questions from the Press (most times) and responds as he should.  At troubled times like these, Pence would be a far better president than the BIC ever has been and ever will be.  Unfortunately, the BIC is our duly elected POTUS, and he is terribly wanting.

            After we lost precious weeks as a consequence of the BIC’s denials, obfuscation and refusal to listen to the medical experts, as is his nature, the BIC is now trying to claim he recognized it was a pandemic “long before [the medical experts] called it a pandemic.”  And of course, we believe him implicitly, right?  Respectfully, he still does not get it based on Saturday’s White House press conference.  We were able to tolerate his buffoonery when the economy was booming . . . not so much in this crisis when the economy has tanked, and we desperately need an inspirational leader.

            Comments and contributions from Update no.948:

“I am sending your Update to the combined geopolitical/econ and aviation lists.  Thank you for your work with your weekly Update.

“Trump in his infinite wisdom goes live and tells the nation how the markets will love the FED (who he has been pressuring and unduly influencing) and their emergency move on a Sunday of lowing the FED rate to 0.25%.  Right now market circuit breakers are activated as the DOW Jones Industrial Average has dipped to over 2,400 points!  So much for the above logic.  Now the FED has no ammo (or little, except to go to negative rates) to maneuver with.

“We are now in uncharted waters.  Fasten your seat belts.

“Keep Calm and Carry On!

“Take care and everyone check your toilet paper inventories, and if low, go to Staples and buy legal pads.”

My response:

            As always, you are most welcome to distribute as you wish.  All comments and contributions are encouraged.

            Yeah, the oh so great, infinitely wise one tells us all the time that everything is peachy-neat.  Despite his unwavering belief in his omnipotent image of himself, even he cannot fool Mother Nature.  The bill will come due; always does.  Regardless of his false claims, the Oh-So-Great-Orange-One (when he decides to apply his face paint) watched with the rest of us as the New York Stock Exchange tanked in gross fashion reaching the Level 1 and Level 2 circuit breaker thresholds, stopping trading, and left the DJIA down 3,000 points (13%) in one day.  Yeah, quite so, thanks to the BIC’s incessant berating of the Federal Reserve to inflate his ego, and in doing so, as you note, the Fed has very little ammunition to fight recession and/or depression.  Thank you very much Oh-So-Great-Orange-One.

            We have been in uncharted waters since November 2016.  The waters got substantially more turbulent in the last month.  Strap in, indeed, and cinch it up tight.

            Wise counsel we should all endeavor to heed.

Another contribution:

“Well we may be approaching the equinox, but the English weather still believes it’s winter…this virus is turning the world upside down.  There’s now talk of us over 70s being locked up in doors!  Not sure who’ll do our weekly shop!  Like you I believe, your family are not on the doorstep.

“Hey, we’ll survive-the Nazis didn’t beat us and neither will this.”

My reply:

            Yeah, we are facing the same restrictions in the colonies as well.  I hope we can avoid the lockdown state.

            Yes, indeed, this too shall pass.  Stay strong my friend and abide the government’s instructions.  Take care, stay warm & dry, enjoy what you can.

 . . . follow-up comments:

“Good day Cap, it is only an ‘amusing’ few lines re your head man say something like this on the virus,

“‘More people are going to die than have died before’…

“We are just about in ‘lockdown’ and we’re still losing people-however the results coming out from China are encouraging.

“We will endure-is there any choice? No.

“How’s the writing?”

 . . . my follow-up reply:

            Our “head man” is barely either.  He has said so many foolish, verging upon maliciously ill-informed and inarticulate, things in the last few weeks . . . well, actually in the last 50 years of his life.  He is completely devoid of any semblance of compassion, empathy, understanding or knowledge.  He is singularly driven by one paramount, if not sole, motivation—pumping up his grotesquely inflated ego . . . me, me, me!  Social distancing or worse lockdown are intended to break the chain of transmission.  Yes, the information from the PRC and RoK is very encouraging.  The important lesson is this event is, be vigilant and careful; paranoia and freezing life does not help anyone.

            Yes, we will endure.  Humanity survived the Black Plague and the 1918 H1N1 Influenza pandemic.  We will overcome this one as well.

            My writing had a little hiatus for taxes; Uncle must get his due.  This week’s Update will announce my latest book—To So Few – Hunter.  It is my 16^th published book and the 8th book of the To So Few series of historical fiction novels.  I’m currently working on another divergent novel; the story takes a different approach to the so-called war on drugs.  I’m also working on my outline for To So Few – Struggle (Book 9 of the series) that takes the characters through 1943.

A different contribution:

“I always thought BIC was bitch in charge. :-)”

My reply:

            LMFAO.  Good one and it works nicely for the man who is the BIC.

Yet another contribution:

“Re JB and BS .. They are knowledgeable, informed, articulate and persuasive???? Where on the “green earth” could you deduct that ?? Ha !! They are BS artists !!  And Biden is clearly the puppet who may just slip Hillary in as his running mate, then should he insanely get enough votes to win, will somehow leave office and wellah she becomes President.. scary thought.  In some ways I almost hope it happens just so I can rub it into you but no ... my love for this country prevails and your continued bitching and moaning and weekly anti Trump tirades aren’t worth being concerned with.

“And don’t worry about the virus.. Trump has plenty of agencies paid to take care of the issue..just as these same agencies handled health issues in previous administrations.. as for using a teleprompter we all know who did that most .. and he also had plenty of writers !!  So Trump goes teleprompter once and you criticize.. yawn..”

My response:

            I appreciate your inherent revulsion to Democrats.  So, perhaps you have not had the opportunity to listen to the debate.  If not, you really should and try to keep an open mind.

            This may come as a shock but neither Bill nor Hillary Clinton are running for any public office.  I suppose it is possible to choose Hillary as a VP, but I think that is highly unlikely for a host of reasons.  For reasons previously stated, I would not be able to support such a ticket.

            To be frank and candid, I would love to be singing the praises of our POTUS.  Unfortunately, the man who currently occupies our Oval Office, as our employee, gives me far more to criticize than to praise.

            Don’t worry about this virus crisis . . . really?  I respect Mother Nature even when the BIC believes he is more powerful than Mother Nature.  No matter how powerful he thinks he is, even he cannot fool Mother Nature—the virus will do what viruses do without regard to the omnipotent image he holds of himself.  I presume you are going to vote today; enjoy.

            President Obama is no longer president; the BIC is!  He is on the hotseat, not Obama, or Bush, or Clinton, or Carter.  The BIC cannot hide.  So far, he has been showing himself to be wanting.

            Oh, the BIC has gone teleprompter before—same outcome.  Just a little serious practice would really help him do better.  I strongly recommend you take some time to read and listen to Churchill and Roosevelt, even John Kennedy.  The BIC just does not measure up.  We need a viable leader, and we get the BIC’s claim he is “not responsible.”  He can deny his position, but history will judge, and I suspect history will not be kind to this president.

 . . . follow-on comment:

“Highly Judgmental One, Yes that is just your opinion ..”

 . . . my follow-on response:

            Yes, I suppose so . . . and that is all that it is . . . my opinion.

Comment to the Blog:

“Well, it’s finally happened. I agree with the Chump, at least in his perception of the ‘pandemic’ and in what I perceive as his intention.  The actual infection rate per capita for COVID-19 is highest in Italy, where it’s at 350 per million.  That works out to a tiny fraction of 1%.  Beyond that, 80% of cases don’t need hospitalization or even prescription medications.  What people are not pointing out is the total population involved versus the number of actual or potential cases.  Also, ignore worst-case scenarios. They serve a planning purpose but are not intended to be realistic.  I’ve studied marketing and, thus, perception.  There’s a great, needless panic underway.

“What is disastrous is the response to the pandemic news.  Unemployment has risen by fiat, the entire travel-and-tourism industry is in a coma along with entertainment, and the Dow Jones Average has dropped from over 29,000 to under 21,000.  Other markets match the rate of loss.  The human harm is already extensive based on my Facebook groups and what remains of my human contacts.  Did anyone consider what alcoholics do when bars stay closed?  How about people who can’t pay rent or buy food?

“I believe the Chump has picked up on the panic.  His real understanding will be the market mess.  He’s well aware that fact and logic don’t move people much, and he’s right that we need people to stop panicking.  He’s doing what he can by saying soothing things, however irrational.

“However, I agree with the New York Times’ Dealbook newsletter this morning.  The central banks have done all they can with monetary policy.  We need fiscal action.  Supporting the unemployed, covering healthcare costs, and somehow helping businesses and industries that have lost (and will lose) huge amounts of revenue would address the panic.

“Draining the swamp will mean drying up the income of both major political parties and going from there.

“We already have the dangers of a national emergency.  Please God don’t bring the military into it.  I don’t have the money to move to another country, and this one would be over.”

My response to the Blog:

            Yes but . . . what he failed to grasp is the underlying reason for the sense of urgency among the medical experts and professionals is the lack of surge capacity in our treatment processes.  If we had unlimited respirators & ICU capacity, we could do what the BIC has advocated for so long—relax folks, let the disease run it’s course; this will pass; this is not so bad.  That is not reality.  We have very limited capacity as a consequence of the profit motive in the health care service community.  Once we exceed that capacity threshold (which some reports have suggested we already have in hot spot areas), then the triage decision will decide who lives and who dies.  I do not want to be in that latter category.  Thus, I do not support or appreciate the BIC’s message.  He thrives on chaos, and chaos is NOT what we need right now.

            The consequences of the panic induced by the BIC’s bizarre, conflicted and confusing words is one level of disaster.  An altogether greater level of disaster is his persistent denial, deflection, snake-oil crap cost us 4-6 weeks of early response when “flattening the curve” would have been easier, more efficient and more successful.  Unfortunately, by the time the BIC realized he could NO LONGER deny Mother Nature, the USG response induced panic.  We are finding ways to adapt to our new temporary new normal, but this has been a terrible wastage due to the BIC’s incompetence.  His words have not been soothing or calming; they have been indirectly inciteful.

            The die was cast last January when the BIC refused to listen to the medical experts.  The PRC has not been the paragon of virtue in this episode, but they isolated the virus in December, sequenced the genetic code for the virus, and notified the WHO on 7.January.2020.  Now, the BIC is pointing his crooked finger at the PRC rather than himself.  He created the panic we are in now.  Regrettably, we are now relegated to weathering the storm.  The BIC’s early denials and refusal to respond has made the costs of this infection far greater than it needed to be.  The PRC, the Democrats, everyone who disagrees with the BIC are not to blame in this serious situation we find ourselves; there is only one culprit—the BIC.  As always, We, the People, pay the price for our incompetent POTUS.  As I write in this Update, the contrast in leadership between the BIC and Vice President Pence was on dramatic display in Saturday’s White House press conference; we do not need more evidence.

            So far, you are the only response I have received to my drain the swamp question.  Thank you for that.  Money is certainly a root cause for the swamp.  Unfortunately, the many attempts to curtail the influence of money in DC have ultimately failed and been struck down by the SCOTUS decision in Citizens United; thus, we must have a constitutional amendment to overcome that threshold.  Citizens United made that objective much more difficult.

            I suspect our situation is going to get significantly worse before we see improvement.  The precipitous drop of economic output in the last few weeks portends deeper consequences.  Strap in, this is going to be a rough ride.

 . . . follow-up comment:

“The more I study the history and background of this disease, the stranger the response seems.

“First of all, I did college-level coursework in crisis communications.  This is not how it's done.  Even if the panic-stricken voices were correct, the presentation is utterly wrong.

“Secondly, we're not even attempting to follow the best practices here.  Best practices mean doing whatever gets the best results.  Those are in South Korea, followed by Taiwan and Singapore.

“There's more. I actually spoke to eight or ten people yesterday (don't tell the government), and at least three of them wondered aloud if they'd already had this virus in November or December. Something certainly went around that was passed off as "a virus" or "stomach flu." Given the state of diagnostic practice, those "flatten the curve" charts could be seriously off. In any case, people lie with charts and graphs.  It's easy.

“At this point, I'm complying with legally-enforceable directives to the extent I can. I learned long ago that panic never helps in any situation, and I'm annoyed with the many voices urging me to panic, regardless of party or the relatively factual content of their statements.

“I agree about the role of capitalism on this particular event.  I'm not sure what it will take to get capitalism out of politics, but if it doesn't happen life will only get worse for most of us.”

 . . . my follow-up response:

            I am with you on that one, Brother.  I have been doing exactly the same thing.  Understanding the timeline and sequence is important.  The BIC is depending on us (as he always does) to not pay attention to such details.  Like the snake-oil salesman wants . . . do not look too closely.

            I did not study crisis communications, but I truly believe you are correct.

            I think the scientists are struggling mightily to convince the USG to follow best practices; however, when the boss remains in denial, or creates and feeds chaos, it is not surprising that we get this disjointed, confusing result.  I have little doubt he will make this situation more difficult than it needed to be, but we shall endure and overcome.

            I do not think your conversationalists had the virus unless they visited Wuhan, PRC in October or November of last year.  Whether the charts are accurate in this instance is irrelevant.  The principle represented is accurate to my knowledge and understanding.

            Like you, we are complying with USG & state guidance.  We really must break the chain of infection, to reduce the infection rate.

            Panic serves no purpose and usually makes matters worse.

            There are some segments of civilized society where the profit-motive does NOT belong.  All signs point toward worse before better.

 . . . one more round . . . :

“Best practices would include some semblance of what South Korea has done. 

“Some doubt has arisen about the origin of the virus. The story available in the media is that Italian investigators suspect that some of their cases may have originated in November. Let's remember that the facts we have heard endlessly in the media are largely educated guesses. Given that doctors often don't bother to pin down which virus cause a patient's symptoms, there's room for doubt.  By the way, Italy has the second-oldest population in the world, which may explain some of the severity there.

“I am complying with enforceable rules. I just don't have that buy-in that marketers seek. Frankly, the state of the economy seems more of a threat to me.”

 . . . my response:

            The RoK appears to be the most successful at literally turning (flattening) the infection rate curve.  The PRC has flattened their infection rate curve as well, and they had no choice but to increase treatment capacity, since they had exceeded local capacity early on in the crisis.  Singapore and Japan have kept their infection rate low, but still not turned the corner.  As a quasi-scientist, the key is testing, i.e., we must know the data as accurately as possible to understand and amplify the efficacy of intervention actions.

            My understanding of the COVID19 timeline and the infectious disease investigatory effort have not yet identified Patient Zero, but the current data indicate Patient Zero was in Wuhan, PRC, in early November 2019.  The PRC government recognized something was seriously different was occurring in Wuhan Province and deployed medical investigators.  Once they had confirmation of COVID19, they dutifully notified the WHO.  Until the investigative data are made public, many questions regarding the origin (Patient Zero) of COVID19 will remain.  I want to see peer-reviewed infectious disease investigatory information as soon as it is available.

            We are complying with USG & state guidance as closely as possible.  It is the correct thing to do at times like these.  Being in the high-risk cohort adds a degree of caution.

            My very best wishes to all.  Take care of yourselves and each other.

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)

Update no.948

Update from the Sunland

No.948

9.3.20 – 15.3.20

Blog version:  http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/

            To all,

Reading gives us
someplace to go
when we have to stay
where we are.

-- Mason Cooley

            The follow-up news items:

-- A very little-noticed event began this week in a Dutch criminal courtroom in Schiphol, Netherlands.  A five-judge panel (three will hear the case; two are alternates) with Presiding Judge Hendrik Steenhuis will hear the case against three Russians and one Ukrainian in the murder of 298 innocent souls aboard Malaysian Airlines flight 17 (MH17) at 15:20:03 [B] CET {13:20:03 [Z] GMT}, Monday, 17.July.2014 [657, 665, 722, 771, 772, 946].  Some of the leading perpetrators are being tried in absentia and will not likely face justice; however, this is an important gesture toward justice for the families and friends of those killed by the Russians.  Unfortunately, the real, source perpetrator will not face trial—Vladimir Putin—yet.  Putin unleashed the forces that invaded Ukraine; he is ultimately responsible, but he is the BIC’s bosom-buddy, so quite unlikely to face justice.  We may learn more; there is always hope . . . until there is none.

            I offer apologies for my failure to illuminate yet another monumentally foolish statement by our beloved Bully-in-Chief (BIC), AKA our employee in the Oval Office.  This event occurred late last week, and I did not document the BIC’s words in his public statement.  So, I shall make amends.

            This latest, particularly bonehead “let them eat cake” misstatement comes to us in the midst of the worldwide COVID19 pandemic concerns and the in situ quarantine of passengers on the MV Grand Princess at sea off the coast of San Francisco, California.

            On Friday, 6.March.2020, after an off-again-on-again site visit to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, actually happened, a journalist asked the BIC what is he going to do about the passengers stranded on the cruise ship.  Our vaunted and beloved POTUS publicly stated:

Well, that’s a big question.  So, I was just on the phone with the vice president, and they are trying to make a decision on . . . I mean frankly, ah, if it were up to me, I’d be inclined to say leave everybody on the ship for a period of time and use the ship as your base.  But, a lot of people would rather do it a different way. They would rather quarantine people in [unintelligible]. When they do that, our numbers are going to go up.  OK, our numbers are going to go up—the 240 is going to go up—and I assume that perhaps—you know it’s a very big ship.  There are thousands of people on it, including the sailors and the crew.  You’re talking about a massive number of people.  That is a big ship.  If it were up to me, I would do it that way.  A lot of people think we should do it the other way.  They are Americans, or mostly Americans, and we have to take care of Americans.

They would like to have the people come off.  I’d rather have the people stay, but I’d go with them.  I told them to make the final decision. I would rather—because I like the numbers being where they are.  I don’t need to have the numbers double because of one ship that wasn’t our fault.  And it wasn’t the fault of the people on the ship either.  OK, it wasn’t their fault either, and they are mostly Americans.  So, I can live either way with it.  I would rather have them stay on, personally.  But I fully understand why they want to take them off.  I gave them the authority to make the decision.  [emphasis mine]

A cruise ship is NOT a hospital ship.  No cruise ship has the capacity, equipment or expertise to deal with serious medical situations like infectious disease transmission.  Many of the people on that cruise ship are in the vulnerable category—older folks like me.  All of the passengers and crew need to be tested and the affected, at risk, individuals need to be evacuated to proper medical treatment facilities—NOT confined on a ship to make the BIC’s numbers look good.

            Does he really think his words instill confidence in him and his administration in their handling of this situation?’  Does anyone think the BIC’s words sound presidential?  Can anyone detect even a sliver of empathy in his words?  They were largely American citizens on that ship.  Do the BIC’s words sound like any president, or even any dictator, ever in history?  In essence, the BIC is arguing ignorance is bliss and reminds me of the combat pilot’s countermand adage, “What you don’t see can’t shoot you down!”  The words recorded above are bad enough, but it is the BIC’s delivery of those words that make them truly injurious.  He speaks like a snake-oil salesman or carnival barker rather than a president of the United States.

            Why on God’s little green earth does he say such foolish, misinformed, injurious things?  Why should we believe a single word he says or tweets?  . . . especially now after all these years of his falsehoods.  Does he really think he is helping the situation?  Does he really believe his words are perfect, divine utterances from the oh-blessed-one?  Why didn’t he just say what he really thinks—let them die, who cares?  People who really care only care about him.

            The BIC loves to be the commander-in-chief, the top dawg, when it suits him and his grotesquely inflated image of himself, but then at times like these, he shuffles off responsibility and accountability to other hapless minions like Vice President Pence, who, by the way, has not backed off standing up to the line in taking on this difficult assignment.

            I surmise the BIC’s parents never taught him as a child the old adage: if you don’t have something good to say, say nothing at all.

            By the way, the BIC apparently forgot to apply his characteristic orange face paint or wash his hair.  He appeared like a rotund ghost with a big red ballcap that declared Keep America Great (as if he fulfilled his prior claim) to hide his hair.

            To anyone who cares to comment or offer an opinion:

What does drain the swamp mean to you?

            Congress passed and the POTUS signed into law the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020 [PL 116-123; H.R.6074; Senate: 96-1-0-3(0); House: 415-2-0-13(5); 133 Stat. xxxx] that allocates US$8.3B to various governmental agencies for combating the COVID19 virus in the United States.  The bill had broad, bipartisan support.  The only votes against the bill were Senator Randal Howard ‘Rand’ Paul of Kentucky, and Representatives Andrew Steven Biggs of Arizona and Kenneth Robert Buck of Colorado.  Further, the House passed H.R.6201 - Families First Coronavirus Response Act [House: 363-40-1-26(5)] that proposes additional funding allocations to PL 116-123, as well as the expansion of the federal government response to the COVID19 spread.  The H.R.6201 bill has been passed to the Senate for action.

            The president’s address to the nation Wednesday evening regarding the on-going COVID19 situation was a valiant attempt to calm the developing panic.  His words were prepared by someone, or group of someones, and were presumably vetted by experts.  He read the words on the teleprompter, and yet, he misspoke in a number of places.  How on God’s little green earth does that happen?  Was he adding words on the fly?  Was he just making stuff up?  To my knowledge, we have not had a president in history that had to deploy his minions immediately after his speech to correct the misstatements.  What the king meant to say was . . .  Just his delivery alone failed to instill confidence in me, and perhaps many other citizens.  His monotone, droning delivery did NOT inspire confidence in any shape or form.

            In many respects, every leader, every president, every prime minister, every general have years to prepare for such moments.  Accomplished leaders are very careful with their words, their tone, and the meter of their speaking are all part of the leverage a leader’s words have in any organization.  My only interpretation: he simply does not care.  It is a part of his job assignment that he does not enjoy, does not want to perform, and only reluctantly succumbs to the pressure from his minions.  We saw no heart in that speech.

            I am reminded of perhaps the single best descriptor of history’s greatest orator and arguably the best national leader in history—Sir Winston Churchill.

                 “He mobilized the English language and sent it into battle.”

                             -- Edward R. Murrow (1954)

                             -- President John F. Kennedy (1963)

Churchill is my standard by which all leaders are judged.  The BIC has been found wanting.

            On Friday, 13,March.2020, in the White House Rose Garden, the BIC invoked the Stafford Act [PL 100-707; 102 Stat. 4689] and declared a national emergency to fight COVID19 (novel coronavirus) spread.  The BIC went from his public claim that the whole coronavirus situation is the Democrats’ “new hoax” to declaring a national emergency in two weeks—two weeks!  There are multitudinous examples of the BIC being far more interested in his image, or his impression of his image, than anything even remotely concerned with national security or the health and welfare of We, the People.  This is just the latest example of his egocentricity, selfishness, and paucity of any semblance of empathy for his fellow mankind.

            An interesting column appeared in Saturday’s Arizona Republic (14.March.2020) titled: “McSally touts Trump’s virus ‘leadership.’  Is she ill?”  The article refers to Arizona’s junior senator, Martha Elizabeth McSally, who has been and remains a steadfast sycophant for the BIC.  To answer the question, I think she is seriously ill and not worthy of the office she holds.

            The latest debate among Democratic Party candidates took place Sunday evening in advance of the next Tuesday primary election, involving four more states.  The event was moved from Phoenix, Arizona, to the CNN studios in Washington, DC, without an audience, as a consequence of the COVID19 assembly restrictions.  The Sunday evening debate was the first event of this silly season between the two leading candidates—Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders.  Senator Sanders scored some major points early on with the questions regarding the COVID19 response of the current administration.  This was the first debate where we actually had a debate rather than a bunch of public relations sound bites.  One thing illuminated in brilliant lights: both of the remaining Democratic candidates are orders of magnitude beyond the incumbent.  They are knowledgeable, informed, articulate and persuasive.  They also display vastly more compassion than the incumbent ever has.

            As retired citizens, we are largely abiding the social-distancing guidance.  We are also taking all the necessary precautions: washing our hands often, using hand sanitizer, not shaking hands, et al.  I have not been a crowd person for many decades; the large assembly restriction is the easiest to comply with now.  We have also been touched by the restrictions of the crisis.  We expected to pick up our youngest son and his family Monday morning.  We really looked forward to seeing our youngest grandson and his family.  The pool was ready (I have been enjoying it for the last week).  We were ready and eager to pick them up.  Unfortunately, after numerous communications, the visit was postponed to some as yet unspecified date once the situation settles down—a disappointment but understandable.  There is far too much uncertainty to be traveling with a seven-year-old boy.

            The federal government’s woefully late response to the COVID19 pandemic as a consequence of the BIC’s juvenile denials has finally begun to break down when the BIC could no longer deny what was happening.  We lost precious days because the BIC was far more concerned about his damnable image than he was about the welfare and safety of the American people.  We do not know our real situation because the federal government failed to deploy sufficient test kits and evaluation capacity to know what our real infection rate is.  Thank goodness this deplorable under-response is finally turning around.  The medical professionals have argued gallantly to invoke preventative measures to hold the infection rate below out capacity to treat ill people.  The situation reminds me of airline deregulation.  After the passage of the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 (ADA) [PL 95-504; 92 Stat. 1705; 24.10.1978], the airlines based their operations on load factor—the number of paying passengers versus the available seats.  We may not like the shrinking seat spacing and the elbow-to-elbow packed occupancy, but that is how the airlines make their profit.  The model works for the airlines.  It does NOT work for health care, especially in peak, risk events like the current COVID19 situation.  Hospitals set their capacity by normal demand, not by peak demand; thus, the concern of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) regarding capacity, namely ventilator capacity, a primary tool for treating patients with respiratory distress.  The federal government, possibly in the form of the military reserve and national guard, must hold the surge capacity for situations just like this.  For-profit constraints leave us vulnerable to major events.  We need a paradigm shift.

            Of course, what would life be like without one of the BIC’s outlandish tweets for us to chew on?  In the middle of the COVID19 pandemic response, the BIC tells us:

So now it is reported that, after destroying his life & the life of his wonderful family (and many others also), the FBI, working in conjunction with the Justice Department, has “lost” the records of General Michael Flynn. How convenient. I am strongly considering a Full Pardon!

10:29 AM - Mar 15, 2020

Is this the contemporary manifestation of the Keystone Cops?  The BIC is the leader of both the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).  Of course, the BIC tells us he bears no responsibility as he loves to remind us. Further, he is inching closer to pardoning a self-confessed criminal who committed multiple federal felonies.  This is what the BIC does.  More evidence!

            Comments and contributions from Update no.947:

Comment to the Blog:

“The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has again chosen to ignore its membership and independent voters.  Whether or not the candidates and campaigns that endorsed Biden coordinated, the DNC has chosen a candidate acceptable to the high-dollar sponsors.  The only hope for progressives is that Sanders can get enough votes to overwhelm the DNC.  Otherwise, we get Chump 2.0.

“Due to a failure at my County Board of Elections when I voted, I am registered as a Democrat at the moment.  That bothers me.  I'm a Green Party member and don't want to be associated with the corruption and foolishness of the DNC.  I'm also an older white man, and I think it's time for us to gracefully concede power to younger people better equipped to meet changing times.

“The men who control the Republican Party and their allied Christian denominations fear women, hence their sick need for control even of women's medical decisions.  Yes, terminating a pregnancy is a medical decision.  The medical side of that is uncontested.

“Senator Schumer could/should have told Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh clearly that their decisions would come at a cost to their political sponsors.  That vague threat about ‘paying the price’ is indeed unworthy.

“In regard to our discussion last week, I didn't say that all the Democratic candidates were evil/corrupt.  I said the DNC and their chosen candidates are.  I'll stand by that.

“Your other commenter objects to the term ‘BIC,’ but specifically doesn't support the Chump.  I share the dislike of less-than-obvious terminology, but I typically have other fish to fry.”

My response to the Blog:

            I appreciate your opinion, but regrettably, I do not share that view.  We have always agreed about the need to get dark money out of politics.  I still admire your indirect argument for Bernie Sanders.  The only hope we have for silencing the BIC is his overwhelming, historic, and embarrassing electoral defeat in November, which I currently see as highly unlikely.  I genuinely fear what might happen if he loses by a very narrow margin.  If he wins, we will have to endure BIC v 2.0, and it will be far worse (if that is possible) than the first version.

            That is exactly why I refuse to participate in the primaries.  Most states have that effect.  I cannot tolerate being associated with any political party (they both disgust me), and I guard my independence religiously.  I’m all in with you regarding passing the torch.  As I have written many times, our generation has failed; we have only made things worse.  It is past time to hand the reins to the next generation, which is one of several reasons I liked Pete Buttigieg’s approach to the political conundrum.

            Oh my, you way understated the problem in my humble opinion.  I think the Republican Party fears everything that threatens their tenuous grip on power.  Their fears go way beyond women.  For a long time, I felt they sought maintenance of the status quo—old white guys decide what matters and how we are to live our lives.  Now, in the BIC era, they want us to regress to a time a century or more ago.  We see it in virtually everything they do or touch.  It is long past time to relegate their antiquated thinking to very distant minority status—everyone must vote!

            “Political sponsors” . . . for Supreme Court justices?  Do you mean supporters, or politically aligned?  No matter how we cut it, Schumer’s remarks were very BIC-ish, and as such, I energetically condemn them.  He sacrificed the intellectual high ground with his very foolish, misguided statement of contempt.  Descending to the gutter with the BIC is NOT the answer or a winning path.

            I do not believe the DNC has chosen candidates any more than the RNC chose its candidate in 2016.  I think the RNC establishment believed the BIC was the antithesis of Republican values.  The DNC is in the same spot.  The DNC establishment likely believes Sanders & Warren are taking the party too far to the left.  Unfortunately, as the RNC learned the hard way in 2016, Republican voters sought a far more right-ish candidate.  Likewise, Democratic voters are taking the party far more left-ish.  Today’s primary will be interesting.

            What is more obvious than Bully-in-Chief?

 . . . Round two:

“There’s an important point I didn’t get across in my discussion of candidates.  The Democratic National Committee (DNC) corruption bothers me, but that’s not the point.  The point is that voters refuse to turn out for them in enough numbers. That ought to be the lesson of 2016.  “Duty” doesn’t move people who don’t believe their votes matter.

“I agree about the Republicans’ fears, but your blog discussion centered on abortion.

“Speaking of old men, wouldn’t it be fascinating if several of those powerful old men caught COVID-19 at the CPAC or AIPAC conferences?  Those guys are obsessed with seeming strong.

“The Supreme Court Justices are nominated by Presidents.  That’s a close parallel to being sponsored for membership in a lodge or fraternal organization except for being much more important.  I like the term “sponsor” for all of the relevant people because large amounts of money are behind the USA political enterprise, much like the sponsorship that makes TV shows possible even though the show content might never discuss or show the sponsor or product.

“The RNC got out-played in 2016, but let’s not be naive about the political parties. The DNC is sharper, not nicer.  You’re right to feel disgust.  By the same token, the DNC’s choice of candidates has less to do with moral/ethical values and more to do with the sources of their income.

“‘Bully-in-Chief’ works fine.  The abbreviation is the problem.  The initials ‘BIC’ don’t have the resonance with ‘Bully-in-Chief’ that, for example, FBI does with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Always write (if it’s for publication) with your audience in mind.”

 . . . my response to round two:

            Corruption is a very strong word.  I fully understand that you and many of us are not tolerant of the evolved means of conducting political campaigns, but those means have been established over decades, if not centuries.  But, them’s the rules!  I have and will continue to laud Bernie’s efforts to reject the system, but he still must compete within the rules to gain the Party’s endorsement.  Duty or obligation may not move skeptical people to vote, but it should.  Abdication of that obligation to the nation gives the power to others . . . thus we have our current situation.

            One note: winning the presidency is not enough.  In our current state, Congress matters for a whole host of reasons.  I understand Bernie focusing on his guiding principles, but how will he help others get elected to help him lead the nation.  I have given up on any Republican leading the Senate.  The down ballot is very important.  Despite the Republican Senate crowning King Donald I, the president is not, or at least should not, be a dictator, a king, or a demagogue.  I see the Senate as more important than the presidency.  If Bernie has any hope of winning, he must convince citizens like me that he can manage a disparate Congress to get things done for We, the People.  We have King Donald I solely because enough people were unhappy with the intransigence, tribalism (factionalism), and damn bloody bickering about nonsense to elect a consummate snake-oil salesman to the presidency.

            Abortion happened to be the stimulant for that discussion as a consequence of Schumer’s quite ill-advised public statement.  The rest of it just rolled out.

            I don’t wish COVID19 on anyone.

            I do not agree with your supposition that nominated and sponsored are equivalent or even related.  Sponsored implies political alignment that is far more intimate than the singular action of nomination.  The process of confirming nominees to the bench has worked well for more than two centuries, except for Senator McConnell’s despicable adulteration and abuse of the process in 2016.  The political alignment we all have feared is the worst we have seen with King Donald I’s nominations, and yet, Supreme Court justices often become surprisingly independent and faithful to the law rather than politics.  The jury is still out on Gorsuch and Kavanaugh [and, I think that was what Schumer was trying to point out].

            I am not quite so cynical regarding our political selection process.

            Perhaps so, but we use acronyms all the time with respect to all sorts of people, organizations and entities.  I have conceded to the contributor’s admonition to introduce the acronym at the outset, which is established practice in the English language.  I will abide common practice.

. . . Round three:

“I'm also good with words.  To simplify, ‘the evolved means of conducting political campaigns’ that are ‘established over decades’ (specifically since Reagan) in this country amount to corruption.  The people with the money make the rules.  Let's not pretend that's morally sound or good for the country.  If it can't evolve in a different direction, we'll just get in deeper trouble.  Why keep voting when it's not realistic to believe I have the power?  I can't give away what I don't have.  You and the DNC telling us our moral duty won't move a majority of those eligible to vote.

“I'm turning my attention away from the race for President.  Biden probably won't defeat the Chump and may not have the mental capacity to govern if he did.  He's a tool, even more than the Clintons.

“The Congress is indeed the key.  We have seen Congress frustrate a far more capable President as recently as the Carter Administration.  In assessing the Senate races, the question remains the same.  The problem is not getting the votes of people like you.  You have done very well in this country as is and reached the relative safety of retirement. Also, you haven't suffered the losses and indignities of being a minority or a woman.  The people whose votes we need are those suffering the wrong side of the oligarchy and of their hateful allies.  Those people won't vote for the likes of Biden, Alabama's Doug Jones, or any of those other ‘moderates.’  Moderates don't make change.  They can't or won't stop the Republicans from dragging us deeper into trouble.  Why waste energy voting for them?

“I don't wish COVID19 on anyone either, but it's a possibility made more likely by Chump's insistence on operating as he likes.  The results would be fascinating if he and/or Pence became ill.  The death rate is relatively low even in the high-risk categories, but the unavoidable appearance of illness would throw a monkey wrench into his entire marketing.  His followers seek strength above all.  Otherwise, their fears kick in.

“You'd have to show me that the DNC's decisions aren't based on money before I accept your belief in anything else.  The evidence supports my statement, even if we only have access to FEC filings.

“I understand your background in engineering and especially the military required the constant use of acronyms.  Writing for a more general audience, not so much.  It's a matter of balance.  Just because we recognize USA, FBI, or perhaps SCOTUS immediately doesn't mean we can decipher all the initialisms on social media.”

 . . . my response to round three:

            I do not share your opinion regarding corruption in our political selection process.  I think you are extending the definition of corruption too far, but hey, that’s just me.

            How do you expect to change things if we do not vote?

            Our singular vote is one of our few tools for change short of violence.  Your cynicism regarding our political processes (and you are not alone) is a direct reflection of the broad dissatisfaction.  The inverse of your ill-feelings is exactly what elected the BIC to be POTUS.  The Republicans will vote; they are desperate for regression to an old order.  If we do not vote, they will get their way.

            I do not share your apparent opinion regarding Joe Biden.  I recognize your implied support for Bernie Sanders, but that does not make Biden incompetent or unworthy.

            Yes, many of us have noted the president’s rather cavalier approach to the COVID19 situation.  I do certainly agree that his conduct deserves infection, but I do not wish that on him or anyone else.  At his age, hospitalization for COVID19 infection would likely invoke the 25^th Amendment.  I can easily envision a scenario of running through our succession plan in short order.

            You know I cannot prove DNC (or RNC) decisions are not based on money.  I am not and will never be party to those decisions.  I suppose in this instance you can declare me naïve and ignorant.  I just do not share your cynicism even in the BIC era.  This too shall pass.

            I understand and appreciate your admonition regarding my use of acronyms and specifically the acronym in reference to our current employee in the Oval Office.  I accepted the constructive criticism; I had erroneously assumed it had become common usage in my communications.  I shall stick with the Chicago Manual of Style; I will introduce the acronym at the outset and let it stand for that edition.

 . . . Round four:

“The evidence on the DNC supports my ‘opinion.’  The decisions don't and won't conflict with the sponsors' interests.

“I personally am hoping for an overwhelming number of votes, enough to overcome both the Electoral College and manipulation of polling places, voter suppression, etc.  A majority of voters gave up on that years ago and I have to admit it's unlikely.  I don't think we have any other recourse.  Violence was never a viable option.  Those dimwit militias running around the woods with military weapons totally failed to recognize when people took over the government.

“Biden was always a DNC tool.  His executive functioning and word-finding issues may be getting worse under pressure.  Please excuse the neuroscience terminology, but that's what I see.

“My approach to the COVID-19 issue avoids panic.  The Chump isn't always completely wrong.  Odds are, per experts, most people will not get it and 80% of those that do are mild cases.  There are 7 billion people on this planet, and 124,000 (this morning's figure) have been diagnosed.  Of those, 88,000 are in China (population 1,435,000,000,000), where new cases have begun to decline.  The math says most of us are safe, especially if we are not in high-risk groups.  The high-risk groups are international travelers, those in close contact with them, and healthcare personnel.  There's none of that in my circle except one nursing-home worker.

“As far as the Chump and Pence, we both know the 25^th Amendment will not come into play.  That depends on the Cabinet.  It's not an issue whether he's hospitalized, either.  What I'm interested in is the public perception of their illness, if any.  After all, Chump and some of his minions came into contact at those conferences with people who've been diagnosed.  At this time, even an ordinary cold would damage his image with his followers.”

 . . . my response to round four:

            So you say.  I shall leave it there since I have no means to present hard evidence to the contrary.  Let it suffice to say, I do not share your cynicism, but I do share your revulsion to dark money in our political system.

            I join you in hoping for an overwhelming vote count in both the popular and Electoral College vote counts, which is precisely why I persist in advocating for every citizen to vote.  The only hope we have for relegating the BIC to the dustbin of history is a thoroughly embarrassing vote rejecting him and all his minions & sycophants.  The worst election defeat for an incumbent president in history would be quite appropriate.

            We do not agree regarding Joe Biden.  He is far from perfect, but he is orders of magnitude better than the BIC.

            The issue with COVID19 is the ease of transmission coupled with the 14-day incubation period when collateral infection can occur before precautions or preventative measures can be implemented.  Yes, COVID19 appears to be far more lethal to citizens over 60yo than to individuals under 18yo.  The medical professionals are trying mightily to overcome governmental lethargy.  The BIC foolish statement last Friday that ignorance is better than knowledge did not help matters at all.  He is incapable of learning a valuable lesson that sometimes it is best to keep his mouth shut and his finger still.  Yes, the math says most of us are safe, but the uncertainty in the marketplace may well push all of us into global recession or even depression since the Fed does not have a bountiful toolbox.  We are not crowd folks and likewise do not have contact with high-risk groups.  We may not face COVID19 infection, but all of us will suffer the effects of economic recession or depression.  Fortunately for us, we no longer have to worry about employment.

            FYI: PRC population is 1.4B rather than 1.4T (three too many zeros).

            I did not intend to suggest the 25^th Amendment might be invoked to replace POTUS and/or VPOTUS, but rather that the provisions might be activated for temporary substitution to cover periods of incapacitation.

            The COVID19 situation took on a face when Tom Hanks & Rita Wilson announced they have tested positive in Australia and are now quarantined.

 . . . Round five:

“I won't bother looking it up, but there's a correct term for message over-saturation.  Put simply, I and many others come to ignore hysteria that reaches a certain point.  Even more simply, I don't care anymore.  No energy left for this one.

“Once more.  My point about whether the Chump gets sick (still not especially likely) is not about law, Constitutional or otherwise.  Again and again, it's about what happens politically if he appears weak to his followers.”

 . . . my response to round five:

            Very well.  Understood.

            Yeah, a germane question: what happens if the strong man gets wounds, and shows weakness and vulnerability.  He might be no longer the strong man they believed in for their support.  Time shall tell the tale.

Another contribution:

“Bullshit that none of the candidates have violated any laws .. Biden tops the list and if he wins an election shame on those who vote for him and they will get what they deserve.. he will never be a true president, only a puppet controlled by those you may or may not see.  He isn’t mentally competent enough to preside.  Am sure if he becomes the candidate he will select Michael Obama as his running mate ... God help the ignorant people have no foresight...”

My reply:

            OK.  I’ll bite.  What laws have the candidates violated?  Please list as many as you can, and while you are at it, please list the BIC’s violations of law as well, for comparison sake.  This might be an interesting list for discussion.

            Who is Michael Obama?  I have not heard of him.

A different contribution:

“Two comments only, because of lack of time:

Your consistent position has two primary themes which may be paraphrased roughly as follows:

1.  The constitution favors prohibition of government interference with a woman’s choices about her own body.

2.  The constitution was written by old white male slavery sympathizers and therefore needs to be interpreted to fit modern needs of society.

“I anticipate your denial of my characterizations of your positions, so please expand your response beyond denial to address the essence of my observations and the questions I raise.  As you, I am a longtime admirer of your intellect and your articulate constructive criticism, as was my brother, when it is not diminished by blatant disrespect.  I hope you will see through any lack of clarity in the following:

“As to number one, please state clearly your position on when a fetus attains rights of citizenship.

“As to number two, please state your reason for not attributing any current inapplicability of our constitution to the failure of Congress to propose and urge adoption of appropriate amendments to the constitution as intended by our far-sighted but non-prescient founders.”

My response:

            If you distilled out the “primary themes” you noted, then I have failed to communicate properly, and I offer my humble apologies.

1.  The Constitution takes no position regarding a woman’s body . . . or a citizen’s fundamental right to privacy.  As I have stated multiple times over many years, I see Roe v. Wade [410 U.S. 113 (1973)] [319] as far more important and impactful with respect to the Court’s recognition of every citizen’s fundamental right to privacy than the ruling is about abortion.  A citizen’s fundamental right to privacy is not addressed anywhere in the Constitution either, but it underlays the Constitution’s definition of federal authority.

2.  I think many “strict constructionists” see the Constitution in that light.  I am not one of those.  I can find nothing in the supporting documentation or in the language of the Constitution that even remotely suggests the rigidity implied by the “strict constructionists.”  The Founders/Framers sought to lay out a framework and guidelines for us to follow as a society and culture that evolved over a long period of time.  The wisdom of their founding principles has been proven over centuries of trial & tribulation.

            Your anticipation was well-founded.  Thank you for that.

            Re: your first Q: I think the Court’s reasoning in Roe v. Wade was carefully, thoroughly and respectfully laid out. They used the antiquated term “quickening” to define that threshold of extra-uterine viability; in 1973, that point was the third trimester of pregnancy (26 weeks).  Using the Court’s term, medical technology, capacity and reach have shifted that threshold and it does not reach conception.  Roe NEVER established unbounded freedom of choice.  I have felt since my first reading and study of Roe that the Court’s logic was reasonable, understandable, and supported in the law.

            Re: your second Q: Your query construction leaves me a little confused and baffled, so in the interest of response and furtherance of the debate, I shall surmise your intent.  The key for me rests in my (albeit broader) interpretation of the 10^th Amendment.  The “strict constructionists” reason that the federal government and specifically the Supreme Court has no authority to rule or decide upon anything not explicitly stated in print in the Constitution; thus, privacy, abortion, et al, are beyond the authority of the Court.  By that reasoning, Roe should be overturned prima facie as an exceedance of the authority of the federal Judiciary.  As an extension, by the 10^th Amendment, each state retains the authority to enact laws restricting a citizen’s privacy et al.  To me, that reasoning is not sustainable in the full body of supporting documentation. For example, as reflected in English Common Law by Blackstone’s Commentaries, Chapter 1 – Of the Absolute Rights of Individuals, which contains § 1-1-139 (individual private rights) and extends to § 4-16-223 (man’s house is his castle).  The Court has often cited English Common Law as the underlayment of the Constitution.  It is via those facts that the Court has said there are limits to what any level of government can (or should) do with respect to absolute individual rights that lay beyond the Constitution.

            My “disrespect” for the current POTUS is a direct reflection of his monumental disrespect of the Office of the President of the United States that belong to us—We, the People—NOT to him.  Despite what Senate Republicans have done, he is not and never will be king.  I will continue to condemn his despicable behavior regardless of the good he may do; Hitler did good things for Germany, but his chosen means were contemptible.  ‘Nuf said.

            My very best wishes to all.  Take care of yourselves and each other.

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)