Another Edition of "Schrödinger's Trump

[bodysong]

Sharpie used on a copy of the speech used for a press conference broadcast-

Is it a Photoshop alteration, or is it real ?

The word cononavirus is crossed out, and Chinese virus substituted-

The US president has dismissed accusations that his use of the term
'Chinese virus' to refer to the coronavirus is racist. Speaking at his daily
coronavirus taskforce briefing, he said it was 'not racist at all. It comes
from China; I want to be accurate.' The World Health Organization has
advised against terms that link the virus to China to avoid stigmatisation

https://www.theguardian.com/world/v...s-calling-coronavirus-the-chinese-virus-video

Whatever the case may be, it bought Trump free publicity in print
and in the news media.

Washington Post Photographer Caught Trump Crossing Out ‘Coronavirus’
to Replace It With ‘Chinese Virus’

March 19th, 2020

Washington Post White House photographer Jabin Botsford captured
an incredible photo showing that President Donald Trump crossed out
with a sharpie marker the word "Corona" and replaced with the word
"Chinese" virus.

Close up of President @realDonaldTrump notes is seen
where he crossed out “Corona” and replaced it with “Chinese”
Virus as he speaks with his coronavirus task force today
at the White House. #trump #trumpnotes

— Jabin Botsford (@jabinbotsford) March 19, 2020

https://www.mediaite.com/news/washi...coronavirus-to-replace-it-with-chinese-virus/

 

[JackLuis]

Can we put Pudgy in a box?

 

[KeithD]

Can we put Pudgy in a box?

A pine box.

 

[domroger]

A pine box.

Cardboard would be more than he deserves .

 

[Bodington]

Trump Hatred Syndrome Run Amok

As I've said in another thread by this thread poster, "Hatred of President Trump robs one of intellectual discernment". That of course presupposes that one possess an intellect in the first place. To consider that Pres Trump's labeling of the virus as a Chinese virus, is racist crime displays a lack of any intellect at all. Even worse it supports the Chicoms propaganda assertion that US soldiers visiting China were actually responsible for the origin of this virus. That might place this poster in the category of "useful idiots" as Vladimir Lenin described rabid apologists for communism, but then again Lenin probably had in mind a more sophisticated idiot than what we have here.

 

[bodysong]

The nurses told Trump, directly, that the hospitals were suffering shortages

White House officials claim they did not know about the shortages,
before the nurses spoke to Trump directly

March 19, 202

Trump and Pence's efforts to cast a rosy glow over the coronavirus outbreak
appeared to contradict reality as health care workers raise concerns about
supply shortages.

Asked about the discrepancy between his own assessment that "millions"
of masks were available and the anecdotal reports of strapped hospitals,
Trump couldn't answer. "I cannot explain the gap," he said. "I'm hearing
very good things on the ground."

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/19/poli...Feed:+rss/cnn_latest+(RSS:+CNN+-+Most+Recent)

(Trump is fond of punishing the messenger- who would dare
contradict Trump, these days ?)

March 19, 2020

During a meeting between Trump and a group of nurses at the White House
on Wednesday, a large portion of the conversation revolved around securing
more personal protection equipment for health care workers on the front lines
of the coronavirus outbreak, according to a person who was in the room.

The nurses in the meeting applauded Trump for signing the Defense Production
Act, and were taken aback when it appeared later he wasn't planning to use it
right away to scale up production of badly needed equipment.

"When I saw it on the television," said Dr. David Benton, a nursing industry
representative who was at the meeting, "I thought, it's somebody writing the
stuff for him. It was so disassociated from what he said this morning at the news
conference and what he said to us," Benton said, describing the tweet as
"not connected to where the President was."

"The President did ask about ventilators in terms of how important they were,"
- Benton, the CEO of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/19/poli...Feed:+rss/cnn_latest+(RSS:+CNN+-+Most+Recent)

 

[bodysong]

'Ordering a lot of supplies' vs. 'Not a shipping clerk':

Trump's story changes on medical supplies

March 20, 2020

Donald Trump keeps changing his story on what’s going on with
the coronavirus and his administration’s response to it. He makes
an overblown claim about the number of tests available or how
quickly a vaccine will be available or a medication that might be
used to treat the disease and then reality intervenes and he’s forced
to walk it back or pretend he never said it. Trump’s stance toward
the government helping hospitals get the equipment they need is a
major case in point.

On Wednesday, Trump was a “wartime president” invoking the Defense
Production Act, which would empower him to call on private industry
to manufacture needed supplies, and then on Thursday, he hadn’t actually
moved forward with that because “The federal government's not supposed
to be out there buying vast amounts of items and then shipping. You know,
we’re not a shipping clerk.”

Daily Kos -Laura Clawson

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/20...erk-Trump-s-story-changes-on-medical-supplies

Amid coronavirus pandemic, Trump makes promises he can’t always keep

March 19, 2020

Asked Thursday about the gap between his rhetoric on testing and the
pleas from hospitals across the nation that testing is severely lagging,
Trump failed to come up with a cogent explanation.

“Well, I can’t — I cannot explain the gap,” he replied.
“I’m hearing very good things on the ground and we are —
look, they had a ramp up.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...d58d60-6a14-11ea-9923-57073adce27c_story.html

Excuses, shifting blame to others, and false claims ?

“The president’s press conferences seem to be this substitute for what
he would typically do at political campaign rallies, in which he floats
a bunch of things out there to see what sticks and then much of that
information is not accurate or entirely based in fact. That, in and of
itself, makes mounting a public health response much more difficult."

- Graham Brookie, a former National Security Council staffer in the
Obama administration who now oversees an Atlantic Council program
on governance, technology, security and social media..

 

[bodysong]

Daniel Dale ✓
Twitter › ddale8

Chloroquine is approved for other things, so doctors can prescribe it
unapproved (“off-label”) if they want. But contrary to Trump’s claim,
it has NOT been FDA-approved for safety and effectiveness if used
for the coronavirus; “approved” has a definition:

CNN

19 hours ago

Trump announced today that a drug was “approved very, very quickly”
by the FDA to treat the coronavirus. The FDA issued a statement later
today saying that it has not approved any drugs to treat the coronavirus.

CNN

19 hours ago

 

[bodysong]

*looks for Sharpie scribbles on documents*

April 3, 2020

EarlG from Democratic Underground noticed that someone
played switcheroo with the messaging at our national Strategic
National Stockpile website-

Original, long-standing, unaltered message...
"Strategic National Stockpile is the nation's largest supply of life-saving
pharmaceuticals and medical supplies for use in a public health emergency
severe enough to cause local supplies to run out."

"When state, local, tribal, and territorial responders request federal assistance
to support their response efforts, the stockpile ensures that the right medicines
and supplies get to those who need them most during an emergency. Organized
for scalable response to a variety of public health threats, this repository contains
enough supplies to respond to multiple large-scale emergencies simultaneously."

New messaging featured, mirrors Trump's grumpy remarks, such as-
"Not a Shipping Clerk"
"We're a backup. We're not an ordering clerk."

"The Strategic National Stockpile's role is to supplement state and
local supplies during public health emergencies. Many states have
products stockpiled, as well. The supplies, medicines, and devices
for life-saving care contained in the stockpile can be used as a
short-term stopgap buffer when the immediate supply of adequate
amounts of these materials may not be immediately available.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213225294

 

[bodysong]

Altered Order

Trump forced to defend Slumlord Jared Kushner's words, because
Trump wrote them...

Kushner was pressed as to why the administration didn’t have more ventilators,
facemasks, and other PPEs in its stockpile—as several government bodies and
medical experts have warned for years that a flu pandemic would potentially
ravage the country.

“The notion of the federal stockpile was it's supposed to be our stockpile.
It's not supposed to be states' stockpiles that they then use,” Kushner replied.
"So “we're encouraging the states to make sure that they're assessing the needs,
they're getting the data from their local situations, and then trying to fill it with
the supplies that we've given them.”

The answer confounded experts who said it fundamentally misrepresented
the purpose of the stockpile, including during the Trump years.

On Thursday afternoon, HHS updated the portion of its website that
describes the national strategic stockpile and appeared to alter it slightly
to more closely coincide with Kushner’s comments on Thursday.

Katherine McKeogh, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and
Human Services, told Politico in a statement Friday the revisions were in
progress before Kushner's appearance at the Thursday briefing.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/kushner-stockpile-claim-totally-at-odds-with-trumps-record

 

[bodysong]

Federal funding for testing facilities is being pulled on Friday, even as cases
continue to rise

April 9, 2020

April 9, 2020 8:32 AM

On March 13, Donald Trump came to his daily coronavirus rally appearance
with company. With a great deal of inappropriate closeness and hand-shaking,
Trump brought forth executives from Walgreens, Target, Walmart, and CVS,
with a promise that, across the nation, the parking lots of these companies’
stores would soon be filled with drive-through testing locations to identify
and isolate those with COVID-19. Of course, this was the same press conference
where Trump announced a website under development by “1700 engineers at Google"
which would would quiz Americans on their symptoms and pair them with the
appropriate test facility.

The website didn’t exist. And by April 1 the grand total of drive-through testing
facilities in the parking lots of these companies’ stores came in at five. And those
five offered testing only to first responders and healthcare workers, not the general
public. But it doesn’t matter now, because Trump is pulling the funding for those sites—
and for every other drive-through testing site.

- Mark Sumner

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/20...lled-on-Friday-even-as-cases-continue-to-rise

Some local officials are disappointed the federal government will end funding
for coronavirus testing sites this Friday. In a few places those sites will close
as a result. This as criticism continues that not enough testing is available.

"I am understandably disappointed that the supplies and federal contract
for lab testing is ending just as we are heading into the surge here in
southeastern Pennsylvania."

Montgomery County has been hit hard by the pandemic.

By Tuesday the county identified 1,294 positive cases and reported
32 COVID-19-related deaths.

"This site came with a contract with LabCorp, who accepted 250 samples
from this site every day," and she says the county is not able to secure the
supplies and tests on its own.

April 8, 2020

https://www.npr.org/sections/corona...r-coronavirus-testing-sites-end-as-peak-nears

 

[bodysong]

It has been a week of Trump running out of sides of his mouth to use...

Trump attracts attention for being the very worst. He is breaking records.

"Trump is the world's worst hypnotist."

- Seth Meyers

 

[bodysong]

Trump has a nearly limitless amount of people that are willing to lie
to the People, to Congress, to anyone. Some have been hired by Trump
to lie to the press and media, and are paid handsomely from tax-payer's
cash. Trump was called on his fuckery, so he will not be answering any
more questions. Now, we are returning to the question of "Did he say this,
or, are his Spokespeople telling a story that has no connection to reality ?"

Trump does not want to play the game, anymore.
He is taking his marbles and going home.

24 Apr 2020

- David Smith

Well, that was a brief briefing. Donald Trump made opening remarks and handed
over to Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the Food and Drugs Administration, and
Vice President Mike Pence, but then fled without taking questions.

The obvious conclusion is he is still smarting from Thursday night’s effort, when
he wondered aloud if injecting disinfectant into patients might be a good idea and
was duly hammered by doctors, politicians and even disinfectant makers.

White House coronavirus task force briefings are often two-hour prime time marathons
but on Friday Trump turned on his heel as reporters shouted questions in vain. Perhaps
it was a fit of pique, or perhaps revenge is a dish best served cold. He may also have
reached a tipping point with advisers warning that the briefings are now hurting him
more than they help.

via Axios "Next week, it said, “he may stop appearing daily and make shorter
appearances when he does”.

One other thought. What Trump might have delivered on Friday night was a sombre,
landmark speech recognising that more than 50,000 of his countrymen have now
been lost to the coronavirus. He did not.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/l...us-live-news-trump-cuomo-georgia-cases-latest

 

[bodysong]

bodysong comment-

Mark Grenon’s Genesis II Church of Health and Healing

There have been mentions in the news, that The Industrial Bleach Church of Florida
was selling bleach as a "cure-all." Most Americans rolled their eyes, and took pity
on gullible people that believed such a lie. The church has a leader- that man's
name is Mark Grenon. It seems he made enough money from selling industrial
bleach, to convince others to advertise his bleach on TV for him. "Conservative"
TV. It is within the realm of possibility that Trump owes something, because after
Grenon sent a letter to Trump, pleading to rescue his business from the Feds- Trump
produced video recordings during his national daily coronavirus press conference,
that can be chopped up and re-used to provide proof that Trump supports the bleach
cure-all theory.

/end bodysong comment

April 18, 2020

MMS is sold as a “sacramental kit” that includes a two-ounce bottle of MMS,
comprised of sodium chlorite, and a two-ounce bottle of hydrochloric acid,
said to be the activator.

The organization recommends adults take up to six doses a day for five days
to treat the coronavirus, with children receiving about half that amount.
Genesis II Church says MMS “should wipe it out this flu-like virus that
many are being scared with its presence in the world.”

https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com...ustrial-bleach-sacrament-now-treats-covid-19/

Revealed:
Leader of group peddling bleach as coronavirus 'cure' wrote to Trump this week

24 Apr 2020

Mark Grenon wrote to Trump saying chlorine dioxide ‘can rid the body of
Covid-19’ days before the president promoted disinfectant as treatment

A few days after Grenon dispatched his letter, Trump went on national TV
at his daily coronavirus briefing at the White House on Thursday and promoted
the idea that disinfectant could be used as a treatment for the virus.

Grenon styles himself as “archbishop” of Genesis II – a Florida-based outfit that
claims to be a church but which in fact is the largest producer and distributor
of chlorine dioxide bleach as a “miracle cure” in the US. He brands the chemical
as MMS, “miracle mineral solution”, and claims fraudulently that it can cure
99% of all illnesses including cancer, malaria, HIV/Aids as well as autism.

Last week the US Food and Drug Administration obtained a federal court order
barring Genesis II from selling what was described as “an unproven and potentially
harmful treatment for Covid-19”. The FDA also ordered a disciple of Genesis II,
Kerri Rivera, to remove claims that MMS cured coronavirus from her website.

Mark Grenon- “Dear Mr President, I am praying you read this letter and intervene.”
(intervene, because the Feds

Grenon said that 30 of his supporters have also written in the past few days to
Trump at the White House urging him to take action to protect Genesis II in its
bleach-peddling activities which they claim can cure coronavirus.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...eddling-bleach-cure-lobbied-trump-coronavirus

April 24, 2020

- Terry Firma

On Friday, hours after Trump talked about disinfectant on live TV, Grenon went further
in a post on his Facebook page. He claimed that MMS had actually been sent to the White
House. He wrote: “Trump has got the MMS and all the info!!! Things are happening folks!
Lord help others to see the Truth!”

https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com...ng-disinfectants-from-floridas-bleach-church/

Eight months after the August 2019 bust, they are still selling poison-
Busted again, they go crying to Trump to protect their business

Judge halts sale of bleach marketed as coronavirus treatment

April 18, 2020

Judge Kathleen Williams entered a temporary injunction on Friday
- halting Genesis II Church of Health and Healing's sale of Miracle
Mineral Solution in the U.S.

Genesis sells MMS through its websites, according to a U.S. Justice Department
civil complaint filed Thursday in the Southern District of Florida. Prosecutors say
Genesis markets the solution as a treatment for COVID-19, as well as Alzheimer’s,
autism, brain cancer, HIV/AIDS and multiple sclerosis. The Food and Drug
Administration has previously issued public warnings that MMS can cause nausea,
vomiting, diarrhea and severe dehydration. The chemical product, chlorine dioxide
becomes a powerful bleach when combined with the included activator, officials said.

“We will zealously pursue perpetrators of fraud schemes seeking to take advantage of
the COVID-19 pandemic,” U.S. Attorney Ariana Fajardo Orshan said in a statement.

Disease-related treatment claims for (Miracle Mineral Solution ) MMS are unsupported
by any well-controlled clinical studies or other credible scientific substantiation, according
to the complaint.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/article242107801.html

bodysong comment-

It's not poison, it's a religious sacrament, that produces a miracle!/end bodysong comment

"If the solution is diluted less than instructed, it could cause damage to the gut and red
blood cells, potentially resulting in respiratory failure."

27 December 2017

Miracle Mineral Solution and Sodium chlorite solutions

Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS) and Sodium chlorite solutions, their danger to
health and what the National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) are doing to prevent them
being sold and or consumed.

Sodium chlorite does have approved uses in some countries as a surface cleaner
for areas used for food preparation.

It can sometimes be described as food grade but this should not be taken to imply
that it is safe for consumption. It is also frequently marketed as a water purification
chemical.

The aim of both products is to release chlorine dioxide gas, which is sometimes
claimed to have a purifying effect when it takes place inside the body.

Legal status of sodium chlorite

Sodium chlorite is not an authorised food additive in the EU. Advertising this product
as suitable for this purpose contravenes Regulation 1333/2008.

If the product is added, for example, to a glass of water to purify it, it would need
to be listed as an authorised additive.

If it is intended to be consumed by drinking, the product may be classed as an
‘unsafe food’ as defined under Regulation 178/2002. Food business operators are
obliged to remove unsafe food from the market. Food can still be classed as having
been placed on the market if it is offered for free or in return for a donation.

This is sometimes the case with sodium chlorite solutions such as MMS.


https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/miracle-mineral-solution-and-sodium-chlorite-solutions

(The side effects are a killer!)

 

[bodysong]

May 15, 2020

You might be forgiven for believing that Bill Barr’s DOJ didn’t made a vigorous argument
to Judge Emmet Sullivan that Flynn’s lies were material, one that remains active before
Sullivan, because almost no coverage of recent events concerning Flynn accounts for the
posture of the case, in which there are at least four pending decisions before Sullivan.
Several of those active representations argue Flynn’s lies were material.

Instead, coverage claims that Bill Barr’s DOJ believes that Flynn’s lies were in no way
material. It is true that, in a motion to dismiss the case submitted last week, Bill Barr’s
DOJ argued the lies weren’t material.

Trump’s Acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein agreed Flynn’s lies were material
when he approved false statement charges against Flynn in December 2017, Trump’s
Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker’s DOJ argued Flynn’s lies were material when
DOJ moved to sentencing in December 2018, Bill Barr’s DOJ argued “the FBI was
engaged in a legitimate and significant investigation,” when it successfully defeated
a request to dismiss the prosecution last fall, and Barr’s DOJ argued Flynn’s lies were
material in January.

Not only is the reference to “newly declassified information” a tell that this information is claimed only to be new to Flynn-

The motion to dismiss does none of the things legal filings are supposed to do to substantiate
claims like this.

There’s no declaration from Jeffrey Jensen describing the reasons for his review and
explaining how, over three years into this investigation, he came to discover “new”
information that hadn’t been considered by Rod Rosenstein and Matt Whitaker
and Bill Barr or Robert Mueller and Jessie Liu when DOJ had previously argued
this was a legitimate investigation.

There’s not even a description in the filing specifying what it is that DOJ is claiming
to be new!


https://www.emptywheel.net/2020/05/...sides-mike-flynn-journalism-like-a-rock-star/


emptywheel
Twitter › emptywheel

Schrodinger's Materiality: How to Both-Sides Mike Flynn Journalism Like a Rock Star

(link to Schrodinger’s Materiality: How to Both-Sides Mike Flynn Journalism Like a Rock Star

https://www.emptywheel.net/2020/05/...sides-mike-flynn-journalism-like-a-rock-star/)

Bill Barr's DOJ has two contradictory active arguments before Sullivan's court,
which presents the perfect opportunity for journos to practice Both-Sides journalism.

11 hours ago

 

[bodysong]

Trump pitches fit over something Michigan's female secretary of state isn't actually doing

May 20, 2020

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/20...emale-secretary-of-state-isn-t-actually-doing

Is trump pretending that he has no reading comprehension, or the analysis is correct,
and Trump cannot comprehend what he reads ?

or, did Trump concoct a lie out of thin air, despite known facts, because Michigan is
currently attracting attention.

Detroit Free Press ✓
Twitter › freep

See the aerial footage of historic mid-Michigan flooding

(link to Freep)

1 hour ago

Whitmer: Michigan will 'hold people responsible' for dam failures

1 hour ago

Heavy rains cause dam breach, evacuations in mid-Michigan

Dow in Midland: Flood water mixed with our containment ponds;

Trump threatens to stop funding for Michigan

Mid-Michigan flooding after Edenville, Sanford dam failures

Feds revoked failed Edenville dam's license in 2018 over inability to handle big floods

 

[KeithD]

or, did Trump concoct a lie out of thin air, despite known facts, because Michigan is
currently attracting attention.

Bingo.

 

[bodysong]

Breaking: Michigan sends absentee ballots to 7.7 million people ahead of Primaries and
the General Election. This was done illegally and without authorization by a rogue
Secretary of State. I will ask to hold up funding to Michigan if they want to go down
this Voter Fraud path!..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 20, 2020

(Trump deleted the tweet since this article was published.)

It isn’t clear what prompted Trump’s tweet, but it comes after Michigan Secretary of State
Jocelyn Benson announced that all Michiganders registered to vote would

that would let them submit absentee ballots for this year’s elections. Michigan law allows for
permanent voting by mail, applications for which are already available online.

Hi!I also have a name, it’s Jocelyn Benson. And we sent applications, not ballots.
Just like my GOP colleagues in Iowa, Georgia, Nebraska and West Virginia.

— Jocelyn Benson (@JocelynBenson) May 20, 2020

In the meantime, Trump is leveling similar accusations at Nevada.

State of Nevada “thinks” that they can send out illegal vote by mail ballots,
creating a great Voter Fraud scenario for the State and the U.S. They can’t!
If they do, “I think” I can hold up funds to the State. Sorry, but you must not
cheat in elections. @RussVought45 @USTreasury

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 20, 2020

UPDATE:

President Trump deleted the initial tweet and resent it, to not great reception.

https://www.mediaite.com/trump/trum...aim-they-illegally-sent-out-absentee-ballots/


Meet the Press ✓
Twitter › MeetThePress

WATCH: Michigan’s Secretary of State @JocelynBenson addresses Pres. Trump’s
tweets accusing her of “illegally” sending out absentee ballots to voters in her state.
Benson: “Every Michigan citizen has a right to vote by mail.”

5 hours ago

Sasha ✓
Twitter › SashaIngber

The president appears to have deleted his tweet accusing MI Secretary of State
Jocelyn Benson for rogue and illegal behavior -- mailing out absentee ballot
applications to Michigan voters who may not want to vote in person because
of the pandemic.

2 hours ago

Bloomberg Politics ✓

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson says the funding to send out the absentee
applications came from the coronavirus stimulus bill Trump signed

2 hours ago

 

[JackLuis]

Couldn't we just leave him in the box?

 

[bodysong]

Sharpie gets more use in 2020

Pretending that the rally crowd in Oklahoma was "yuge."

Standard WH mouth piece reply-

He was joking.
He used sarcasm.
He did not mean it.
He was not thinking, when he said it.
He misunderstood the question.


'Uhhhhh' Trump falters as reporter pins him down on whether he slowed COVID-19 testing

June 22, 2020

Donald Trump used a whole lot of words to refuse to say “no” when asked if he really
told his administration to slow down coronavirus testing. During his flop of a Tulsa rally
Saturday, Trump had bragged about doing exactly that, saying “testing is a double-edged
sword” and “when you do testing to that extent, you're going to find more people;
you're going to find more cases. So I said to my people, slow the testing down please.”
White House officials had claimed Trump was joking, except that it sure didn’t look like
he was, and the statement was in line with other things he’s said about the negatives
he perceives in testing.

Asked about it on Monday, Trump tried to deflect and dodge, but it was Trump, so he
also fumbled and stumbled and confirmed that his view is that testing causes cases.
“If it did slow down, frankly, I think we’re way ahead of ourselves, if you wanna know
the truth. We’ve done too good of a job,” he ultimately said.

https://www.dailykos.com/user/Laura Clawson/rss.xml

 

[bodysong]

‘I don’t kid’: Trump says he wasn’t joking about slowing coronavirus testing

June 23, 2020

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/23/trump-joking-slowing-coronavirus-testing-335459

Trump's claim that he wants to slow coronavirus testing is the latest in a pattern of
supposed jokes and sarcasm

June 23, 2020

Tuesday morning, speaking to reporters before boarding Marine One, Trump
completely contradicted his advisers and flat-out denied his comments were
a joke. "I don't kid," Trump said. "By having more tests we have more l cases.
We've done 25 million. Therefore we have more cases."

The incident is a prime example of a phenomenon that has been a hallmark
of Trump's presidency— time and again, he will say something so false or
outrageous, aides and allies will try to explain it away by claiming he was
joking, only to have Trump undercut their efforts by suggesting he was serious.

Other times, Trump himself will play the "just joking" card after saying something controversial.

He was kidding, of course. Wasn't it obvious?

Although the tactics and circumstances differ, Trump's use of the "joking" and "sarcasm"
cards is merely an extension of his habit of making misleading statements, sowing confusion
and pushing false claims. And it puts the public in a tough position of having to gauge the
President's intent behind certain statements.

Here are some recent examples, beginning with a closer examination of Trump's comments about testing.

(8 issues)

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/23/politics/trump-claim-coronavirus-slow-testing-pattern-joking-sarcasm/

 

[bodysong]

Did he read it ? Did he listen ?

Does he care, if everyone knows ?

He does care that his bought-and-paid-for Supreme Court justices have just kicked dirt
into the faces of his paying customers, the Extremist Religious Right Evangelicals.

He is dancing as fast as he can, before the audience.

The curtain behind him is moving, and there are loud noises and voices behind him.

Jonathan Chait ✓
Twitter › jonathanchait

There are 2 explanations for Trump's refusal to act about the Russian bounty
on US troops. One of them is bad. The other is real, real bad.

(link NY magazine)

2 hours ago

Intelligencer ✓
Twitter › intelligencer

Even the "innocent" story of President Trump’s response to the Russian bounty
is damning.

@jonathanchait

1 hour ago

June 28, 2020

Don Winslow is hailed as one of the top mystery thriller writers in the world.
He’s also a political activist and he despises Donald Trump.

Winslow and Stephen King offered to donate $150,000 to the charity of Stephanie
Grisham’s choice, if she would just give one news conference. She refused.

Now Don Winslow Films has produced a two minute ad on the Afghan bounty issue
and it is killer.

On youtube- Don Winslow Films: #TrumpTraitor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg9LpQE8zh8

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/20...-s-Non-Response-to-Afghan-Bounty-Intelligence

April 14, 2020

March 9 wasn’t so long ago. In the coronavirus era, it’s an eternity.

Back then, the White House press secretary was still Stephanie Grisham
and the White House was still minimizing the threat of the new virus.
That morning, the day the number of reported American covid-19 cases
jumped from 423 to 647.

S. Grisham appeared on Fox News’s “Fox & Friends” remotely from Palm Beach, Fla
“Right now, we’re telling people to act as if this is a severe flu season,” she said.
“And, you know, wash your hands often.” The president wasn’t worried, she added
because he “is quite a hand washer.” Grisham critiqued those using the virus as
“a tool to politicize things and to scare people.”

A crime writer named Don Winslow said he’d donate $100,000 to a children’s
hospital if Grisham did a briefing. Stephen King joined in, doubling the pot.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/maga...ress-secretary-stephanie-grisham/?arc404=true

 

[bodysong]

Sharpiegate may seem silly, but it illustrates exactly how Trump has destroyed government integrity

July 10, 2020

White House is still blocking the release of a report related to the incident, the head
of NOAA violated ethics agreements in his efforts to please Trump, and the agency
actually allowed false information to reach the public. Meanwhile, those within
the agency that followed both ethical and scientific guidelines, put their careers
on the line to defend the truth.

Commerce Department obstructing release of ‘Sharpiegate’ investigation,
inspector general says

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is preventing the release of a final report
on the investigation of a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
statement about Hurricane Dorian in 2019.

The summary concluded that the Commerce Department ran a “flawed process”
that did not sufficiently engage NOAA and went against the interests of the agency
and the National Weather Service, which it oversees.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/07/02/commerce-ig-sharpiegate-dispute/

Sep 9, 2019 - Science

NYT: Wilbur Ross threatened NOAA firings after Trump hurricane contradiction

https://www.axios.com/wilbur-ross-a...ane-906916f7-8ba9-4053-a8df-3d7e8f52c1c3.html

 

[bodysong]

Is Trump the Orange Creature That Cried Wolf ?

What could possibly so critical, that Trump & minions dropped the Covid-19 nuke ?

Normally, the president's health is a matter to National Security.

Like everything concerning Trump, it is blanketed with lies.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...now-about-trumps-trip-hospital-last-november/

 

[bodysong]

Trumps Doctor Tries To Walk Back Morning Press Conference Mess

Dr. Conley, Trump’s doctor, attempted to give an update on Trump’s condition on Saturday
morning. Unfortunately, it was filled with numbers and dates that directly contradicted
publicly available information. For example, Conley said Trump was diagnosed 72 hours
ago, which would have meant early Wednesday, not late Thursday (which is what the public
was told.) Conley also said that Trump was administered the experimental drug 48 hours
ago, which would have meant early Thursday, before Trump went to a fundraiser in
Bedminster, NJ.

Conley was forced to put out a statement almost instantly:

Conley attempting to cleanup the timeline.

(link)

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) October 3, 2020

CNN’s Jeremy Diamond talked about these discrepencies in the above clip:

Crooks and Liars

The New York Times ✓
Twitter › nytimes

The White House offered a barrage of conflicting messages and contradictory
accounts about President Trump’s health on Saturday as he remained hospitalized
with the coronavirus and the outbreak spread to a wider swath of his political allies.

(link)

54 minutes ago

Aaron Rupar ✓
Twitter › atrupar

As Biden pauses negative advertising while Trump is hospitalized, a reminder that Trump
not only didn't do the same when Hillary Clinton had a bout of pneumonia in 2016,
but actually cut ads attacking Clinton's health

(link to Washington Post)

2 hours ago

Meanwhile, Trump's gremlins continue their attacks on Joe Biden.

Don't attack poor, ill, Trump, because you should not kick him, while he tweets from the hospital,and sends videos.