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                  :-)