My state of Virginia will likely begin the “reopening” process this month. So far, our Democratic governor has been calm and somewhat effective, and he believes in a phased reopening. Who knows what that will look like – it feels like the situation is completely different every time I leave my house. But the general movement seems to be for a phased economic reopen over the next month across the country, with individual governors and mayors making the call for what’s best for their community. I think even if we had a smart president, that’s what would have happened. But don’t tell Donald Trump that – he’s given about fifty different explanations for when and how America will “reopen,” and he truly doesn’t realize that it’s not his call.
Confronted with America’s worst public health crisis in generations, President Trump declared himself a wartime president. Now he has begun doing what past commanders have done when a war goes badly: Declare victory and go home. The war, however, does not seem over. Outside New York, the coronavirus pandemic in the United States is still growing, not receding. The latest death toll estimates have more than doubled from what Mr. Trump predicted just weeks ago. And polls show the public is not ready to restore normal life.
But Mr. Trump’s cure-can’t-be-worse-than-the-disease logic is clear: As bad as the virus may be, the cost of the virtual national lockdown has grown too high. With more than 30 million people out of work and businesses collapsing by the day, keeping the country at home seems unsustainable. With the virus still spreading and no vaccine available until next year at the earliest, though, the president has decided that for life to resume for many, some may have to die.
“Hopefully that won’t be the case,” Mr. Trump said on Wednesday when asked if deaths would rise as a result of reopening, but added, “It could very well be the case. But we have to get our country open again. People want to go back, and you’re going to have a problem if you don’t do it.”
For a president who had staked his legacy on an economic record that was shredded by the crisis, moving on may seem like the best way to salvage his chances for re-election this fall. He tried to signal that this week by saying that his coronavirus task force would soon begin winding down. By his own admission, Mr. Trump was surprised to discover that many others thought it was too soon to do that. By Wednesday he reversed course, vowing to keep the task force going “indefinitely” and promising that health experts like Dr. Anthony S. Fauci and Dr. Deborah L. Birx would remain part of the group even as he added other members.
Even then, the president tried to pivot by redefining the task force’s mission to figuring out how to reopen the country safely and soon. “I thought we could wind it down sooner,” Mr. Trump told reporters as he hosted nurses in the Oval Office to sign a proclamation honoring National Nurses Day. “But I had no idea how popular the task force is until actually yesterday. When I started talking about winding it down, I got calls from very respected people saying, ‘I think it would be better to keep it going.’”
“People want to go back, and you’re going to have a problem if you don’t do it.” That feels like a threat. It feels like Trump will continue to signal to all of his Nazi buddies that they should continue to arm themselves and storm state capitals.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration buried a CDC guideline/document which would have provided state governments with their phased reopen. Oh, and Trump-supporting Republicans have a new talking point/conspiracy: the medical community is overinflating the infection rate and death rate for the virus to “make Trump look bad.” Which makes zero sense – if anything, the medical community has been forced to underreport infections and deaths because of lack of testing and lack of medical support.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
In addition to claiming that the medical community is inflating the infection and death rates, ardent Trump supporters are now claiming that they are so very concerned about the single moms who work as waitresses and office cleaners and can’t feed their kids unless we let them go back to work, all while they argue for an end to unemployment benefits, WIC, SNAP, Section 8 and other programs that help these people.
The “underclass” has ALWAYS been expendable since time began. And we know just how self-important MAGAts feel now that we have that Dumpster in the WH emboldening/enabling these “very fine people” GAG~
**It just came out on CNN that Dump’s valet tested POSITIVE for Corona. I just hope that all the preservatives in the fast food and Diet Coke Dump swills doesn’t act as a shield. Wouldn’t that be poetic justice?
It was also reported that Donald was pissed that his valet tested positive. Like how dare the little people infect him. I loathe this man. He can open the country, but he can’t make people go out and go to restaurants or shop if they don’t feel safe. You can bully the economy back open when people are already afraid for their lives.
When rural America Magats wake up to this and their lack of healthcare, I wonder if they will still do the death March to reelect him. Some of Wisconsin increase in viral cases were clearly linked to in person voting. He has know answers for or solutions, just want states to reopen so he can get back to campaigning. Mourning in America is his legacy.
There are already rumblings that casting ballots by mail may be forbidden — horrifying, since that’ll be the only way to vote safely in urban areas during an ongoing pandemic. It’s distinctly possible that only rural Americans will be able to vote.
A major trump donor has been named next Postmaster General, so vote by mail is officially screwed.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.politico.com/amp/news/2020/05/06/trump-donor-postmaster-general-241381
@Jerusha, truly chilling. Everything this man touches turns to s**t—can’t imagine that installing a crony to run the postal service will be any more of a success than anything else…
@Jerusha, good luck to him. Trump won’t bailout the post office and the new guy will be blamed when there is a post office no more.
Elections are determined at the state level, so don’t be surprised if a lot of blue states can vote by mail, and red states can’t.
It should be available to all, and should have been long before this pandemic, but you can’t suppress votes that way.
The military votes by mail. Start emphasizing to everyone you meet that by ending Vote By Mail, he is blocking the military vote and that’s unpatriotic.
Americans living abroad also vote by mail ie me. In Canada atm.
the thing with the MAGA crowd is that they don’t want others to have any benefits because those are lazy people just wanting government handouts, but when the MAGA folks need government assistance, it’s because they are deserving people who really need assistance & have no other choice (they’re the same way when they show up at a clinic for their abortions)
Yep, you nailed it!
It’ll be interesting to where the world is going to be in twelve months time because I have no idea how this going to play out. The possibilities are endless.
So agree. But I find this more terrifying than interesting.
So in Germany, business are slowly opening again. You know what though? That doesn’t mean that people are going shopping etc. It’s just too much of a hassle. You have to wear the mask and deal with stressed customers telling you to move or shooting you annoyed looks (some, most are pretty chill). Sometime you have to wait outside and there’s always that one person who, again, makes a scene. None of that is too much to handle but it’s just no fun and people aren’t really back out there yet. I’m slowly getting used to it but it’s a lot. Employees are f*cking rock stars though, always friendly and patient.
Is this part of his reasoning? If there is such a thing with him. That if everything opens, it’s not his fault when businesses go under? Or does he really think it’s perfectly fine if this thing just ravages entire communities? Because that is not great for the economy either. Any way you look at it, it’s a sh*tshow and people will suffer. What is his endgame here?
Trump’s Endgame: Stay in White House.
That’s it. And he will sacrifice the world, without hesitation, to do so.
His endgame is to be called the greatest of all time. He is all ego and narcissism. He wants to be worshiped. At all cost. It’s that simple.
Yes but how is that going to get him there? I keep thinking it’s mostly about money for him and his mob associates. But except for a select few, nobody is making money right now. Nothing will change that. I don’t know, I’m having one of those days where I’m trying to understand him, maybe I should just get a cocktail instead.
Yes emmy, you should! hahhaa. That was so funny. Well, I have an ex who once said to me, Darla, you’re trying to make logic of something that came out of an illogical, chaotic mind. I hate giving men credit for anything, but I have to admit that stayed with me. I think he nailed that.
I don’t get how so many people fail to recognize that opening businesses right now doesn’t mean they’ll succeed. People are (rightly) scared. If HomeGoods opened tomorrow, that wouldn’t change the fact that I’m not going back there until 2021. All of these shops and restaurants are going to reopen with very few customers, and then they’ll have the additional expense of operating costs without the income to cover it. How is this a good idea?
Exactly. And I feel like I should be out there, supporting businesses. But then if everyone did that, we’d be back to square one in no time. It’s a f*cked up situation. I live in a relatively large city and walked through the center for the first time since February this week. On my way home from work. Stores were open but it was a ghost town. Many even had signs up saying they won’t open because it only costs money.
This is all terrible and I hope our politicians do the best they can, I certainly don’t want to make those decisions.
I guess if Trump forces people to go back to work, they can’t claim unemployment etc.? Why am I still trying to figure him out???
Case, that is my thinking too. People will be too cautious to go places and businesses will go under regardless. But apparently “if you build it, they will come” is at least partially true. Just look at all the beaches that got bombarded last weekend. Cinco de Mayo, all the Mexican restaurants were slammed. And mother’s day is Sunday, the biggest day of the year for restaurants, and I bet they will all be packed. And this virus will spread like crazy. I believe we will see the numbers of infections and deaths go way above all predictions in 2-3 weeks.
This, because we are all scared of:
-getting sick.
– another virus spread with healthcare system conclusive collapse, and even more deaths.
-another lockdown, worst than this one.
“does he really think it’s perfectly fine if this thing just ravages entire communities? Because that is not great for the economy either.”
YES!!!! This all day!
People are FOOLS if they think that opening prematurely will be good for the economy. It will lead to all kinds of consequences that will HURT the economy. A possible short boost in exchange for long term economic pain.
People who get sick can be out of work for weeks at a time, which will impact their ability to pay bills and hurt their employers. People can be hospitalized for weeks, resulting in large medical costs that they might not be able to pay. If companies have employees that spread it among each other, they will contaminate their entire workforce and not be able to function as a business.
It is a really short sighted business strategy.
And my idiot governor, who reopened the state on Monday, went to several businesses yesterday without a mask on. One being the Disabled Veterans organization that showed him with some veterans. I can’t anymore. And from what I read, Trump is still pressing for the SC to declare Obama Care illegal.
The economy was headed for recession anyway because of his fiscal policies so I don’t know what he thinks forcing low-income workers back to work is supposed to do.
Narcissistic sociopaths don’t care how many bodies they leave in their wake. He wants the economy to look better so he’ll be re-elected. That’s his vision for America: he gets re-elected, no matter how many corpses it takes to do it. True American values not. Darla, you said it perfectly.
Yep, he thinks the economy will recover as soon as it’s opened. So, dead bodies are a definite worthy tradeoff to him. I think what’s happening is; that’s magical thinking. The economy will not be better. People need to feel safe and then we will begin to see them going out, shopping, etc. Well, that’s assuming they have jobs.
Anyway, logical people see this, so they can’t grasp what he’s trying to do. But there’s no logic here. Only chaos. Once you realize this, you begin to understand that, as emmy said, might as well go get a drink! We’re gonna need them!
“People need to feel safe and then we will begin to see them going out, shopping, etc.”
yeah, this. it doesn’t matter how soon stuff opens up; if people don’t feel safe, they won’t go out and spend and we all know that even if they DID, the recovery won’t happen overnight (which is what he thinks will happen). honestly, the only business that I see ROARING back to what it was is barbers and hair salons. people are desperate for that…not so much for the close quarters of a restaurant or bar.
“People need to feel safe and then we will begin to see them going out, shopping, etc. Well, that’s assuming they have jobs.”
PREACH! This is EXACTLY what it all boils down to. There are lots of people without jobs, they sure as hell aren’t going out shopping and to restaurants. Then, there are the SANE people, who even if they have a secure job, are NOT going to go out and expose themselves to the virus, so they aren’t going out either. So, it will be the low paid workers, forced to go back to work, to serve some small percentage of dingbats that DO go out.
I work for a company that produces large conferences, I am so lucky to still have a job right now, and am grateful, but also worried, as i don’t know how long we can stay afloat without running these events, and it occurred to me quite early on that even once travel is allowed again, it will be even longer before individual people CHOOSE to get on a plane to attend a 3000 person event for business purposes. Opening things back up is not going to be the end all / be all.
People like us need to feel safe before we head back out.
People who were packed on FL beaches and crammed in Disney World until they shut it down don’t care and will go right back to living how they lived before putting everyone who has to go back to work at risk.
It’s why the America has to re-open stance coming from the President with no actual plan to also keep America safe makes me feel both ill and enraged.
“putting everyone who has to go back to work at risk. ”
That’s one of the worst parts. I hate how much power over people’s lives employers have in the US. They already have such great influence over healthcare, and now it’s exposure to high contagious deadly viruses.
As an American living in Canada, you are advised to stay home if you have an infectious ailment pre pandemic. In America, it is frowned upon if you stay home sick and I know some who have been fired for chronic ailments.
It’s almost farcical how delusional people are about how long this is going to take to resolve. My company is one of the largest medical distributors in the United States. Previous to COVID, my job would have me traveling intrastate 3-4 weeks a month. They initially grounded us until June 1st. Now? They just announced the work from home policy for all non-essential site workers until SEPTEMBER. That’s how long they think it’s going to take for things to even something approaching to normal, and I’m betting it’s going to have to be staggered across the company because our second biggest office is in Atlanta. Medical companies know better. This is for the long haul.
DUMP just needs to STFU. He sounds like a complete and utter moron each time he opens his mouth.
+1
I really found it interesting how he couldn’t restock supplies because he had to deal with the Russia inestigation, impeachment, etc. but he could go golfing every weekend. I guess everyone has their priorities. His just seemed to be only about himself.
golfing AND his nazi rallies.
The conspiracy ‘round my parts is that CV19 is being blamed for every medical issue, so the doctors and hospitals can receive more compensation than if it were a non-CV19 issue. I don’t work in medical billing or records, but I’m pretty sure no one (besides politicians and their cronies) is making a killing on the backs of CV19 hospitalizations.
lawd…I keep hearing the same kind of conspiracy about “big pharma” and vaccines from anti-vaxx/conspiracy theory folks…that is, the virus was created by “big pharma” so they can create a vaccine and get that $$$.
and I’m like THERE IS NO MONEY IN VACCINES! “big pharma” makes their money off of cancer drugs, diabetes drugs, anti-anxiety/anti-depression meds and MOSTLY FROM NARCOTIC PAIN KILLERS. it’s just so stupid and shows how critical thinking falls by the wayside for these people.
I work in one pharma that produces nuclear medicine treatment and testing and business in US is way down because of the hospitals which are not allowing elective procedures. (i never knew cancer testing was in this category but I guess that is another subject).
There may be a few pharma’s that profit but certainly not all.
One of my daughters works in a drs. office and they are done to maybe 4 patients a day. IIRC because elective procedures are not being done, hospitals are losing money.
Hospitals are LOSING money right now, many to the point of bankruptcy, especially if they were in areas that managed to avoid the surge because they don’t have elective surgeries to offset the profit loss. We’re probably going to see some shut down after this. Swear to God, I’m going to break blood vessel in rage over these idiots.
My Trump loving relative posted that on Facebook the other day and her daughter-in-law, who works for a VNA and has a severely disabled child, tried to gently correct that notion. I tried to support the daughter-in-law with some actual facts and then my two sisters, one who does medical billing for an oncology center and the other who is a Medicaid manager weighed in. The relative and a friend of hers than screamed that “hospitals are making bank off this.” I countered with the fact that several of the hardest hit Boston hospitals were laying off staff and cutting pay and that government reimbursement rates through Medicare and Medicaid are pretty much always at cost, if not lower, with no margin for profit. My Medicaid manager sister was ready to pounce on them. The whole thread got deleted and she went back to posting recipes for cupcakes. The woman doesn’t bake.
This has been fact-checked, and it is totally unfounded. Let me find links to share that clarify the details. (I edited my original comment because I overstated things, and details really matter in these kinds of things!).
Up here in Canada we have a Province opening their schools. It has the highest rate of infection. It is so, so, so odd … the choices some Leaders are making. Most Provinces have closed schools for the year. Not mine though, so I am nervous.
So, so, so sorry for you all that you had to go through a Pandemic with Trump as Leader. So, so sorry.
I don’t understand Quebec’s thinking either, it makes no sense. Pineapple, do you know if their parents are okay with this?
Actually, I don’t know what parents are thinking. We have family in Quebec City, I will have to ask them. The teachers are in the schools setting up this week. The kids start attending next week, for those who “want to”. It just seems so odd. It’s nice to read this site and hear from other Canadians and Americans who have reservations about opening up. The Pandemic is not solved yet so I suppose masks and trying to stay home are the new normal?
Agreed, here in BC it’s not clear to me what the hell is going on in Quebec. They have not flattened the curve!
Our Premier announced some opening starting this week, but I feel good about it, and trust Dr. Henry. I loved the plan they produced – it has graphs! charts! bullet points! It feels very measured, and I know they will be monitoring every step of the way. Then I look around, particularly to the south, and shudder. Our biggest risk right now by FAR is the US.
Yup, I really hope the border stays closed for at least another 6 months. I’m expecting a huge temper tantrum with threats of tariff increases if we don’t do what Trump wants. He’s going to need a target for his rage and I fully expect it to be us.
I’m a huge fan of Dr. Henry too. She’s absolutely the woman we needed for this pandemic. I’m going to lobby Premier Horgan to rename a hospital or trauma centre after her. Dr. Tam needs a centre named after her too.
As a Canadian that is stuck in the states, I kinda want the border to open in less than 6 months so I can get a flight home.
At this point it’s looking like we’ll have to drive.
I find this so confusing too. The infection rates are so high there, I haven’t found any good answers as to why… it can’t be all cheek kissing, though I suspect the awful health care in many places there doesn’t help. When I was pregnant there the medical system was all paper based (vs. other provinces who have electronic communication) so I noped out of there before the baby was born.
My in-laws live in a small town in Quebec and the roads are closed and they’re forbidden to leave… but are schools somehow opening soon? Both of them have pre-existing conditions and I’m so afraid for them and all my family there.
In Ontario, Doug Ford asked the Quebecers to not come here. lol I am confused as well since their cases passed ours a few weeks ago and they are the 2nd largest province in Canada (we are the #1 largest). I would like to see what happens in the next few weeks. So far, schools are closed until the end of May here.
I’m in Quebec – Montreal is a shit show right now, so many health workers are becoming infected and have infected the people they take care of. Outbreaks in hospitals and long term care homes, so bad for the most vulnerable. My grandmother is in one of those hospitals being treated for an infection and I am so worried she will get the virus. She is 95 so it would be devastating. Most days I’m on the phone with the hospital trying to get a nurse or doctor to call me back, we went 7 days with no words from them about her state. 7 days!!! It’s a truly terrifying time.
This is not good for businesses, just governor’s who want people off unemployment. If the poll that 65% of Americans think the states are opening up too soon is correct, do you think those people will go shopping or the salon? There is no way to predict but this way if a business fails it’s not due to covid-19 lock-down and those small business owners and their employees are on their own.
I am rooting for the business to survive. But if they don’t then we will have opened the states for nothing while increasing exposure.
I’ve actually heard of a lot of people who are desperate for salons to reopen. Personally, that’s way too close contact for me, and I’d sooner cut my own hair than return to my salon for the foreseeable future (I like my hair no longer than shoulder-length, so I probably will do that quite soon, actually). I wish all these small businesses luck, but I wish the government would continue helping them out instead of forcing them to reopen.
Having someone make my pizza is too close for comfort, for me. I’m sorry, but it will be a few more months before I’m comfortable ordering take-out. There should be at least another three months govt. help for small businesses.
I can’t believe I can’t believe this, but I can’t believe that we’re living in a timeline in which the president and his goons are actually trying to demonize the medical community because a pandemic is making their numbers look bad.
A pandemic that could have been addressed so much earlier. A pandemic for which there is still a massive shortage of equipment because the GOVERNMENT is deliberately keeping it away from medical personnel. A pandemic that is going to cost more lives and rage on longer because the president LIED every single day about every single aspect of it. Who would rather incite people to take up arms against each other and the local politicians and police than take even the tiniest shred of responsibility for an unpopular decision. And the idiots who support him would still tell you that somehow Obama was the worst president in history and how this is all his fault.
Be interesting to see what happens in the next few months as the virus inevitably starts crawling into rural areas. Very easy to scream freedom when the coastal states took the hardest hits to protect everyone else.
^^^^^
Oh yeah! I’m waiting on this with some interest myself.
I agree. It’s going to be very interesting what happens, and what DUMP has to say about it. Let’s see what kind of spin he puts on it, like he does everything else.
And then the big flu season everyone is now warning about will hit in the fall and mingle with Covid just in time for the election.
We’re supposed to be “warriors” willing to heroically die to save his economy and presidency.
This f–ker is at Jim Jones levels of Cult leading right now. I’m so angry all the time about him, it’s scary. He’s evil personified.
And his nonsense is just gonna make things so much worse. America will become a global pariah if we don’t get rid of him.
Me too. Managing my anger has become an near full time job. I’m so afraid I’m going to meltdown and end up on a viral twitter video. I saw a video yesterday there of some woman COUGHING at workers in a small mail store, I think like a Fedex store? Or UPS. They asked her to wear a mask she called them sheep then started coughing at them. I can’t believe my eyes, and I think, but what if this happens when I’m in Fedex? (Which I still have to go to about every other week for my business). I will meltdown and take her down, and I’ll have to be dragged off, screaming obscenities. Because I can’t get a handle on my anger even when I’m home alone. I don’t want to end up going viral.
And it has just been announced that one of Trump’s personal valets has tested positive, meaning the Dotard has been exposed. And he exposed all those people at that plant and all those medical personnel he dragged into his office to insult yesterday.
There aren’t enough negative words to describe this evil man.
I spent a few hours down the rabbit hole that is statistics twitter yesterday, and the consensus is that the administration is also lying about the projections for cases/deaths. They are fudging the data but not taking into account that many states don’t report on weekends. And using those lower weekend numbers to argue that there’s a downward trend.
But then ignoring that there’s a increase in numbers on Monday/Tuesday. It’s no surprise then that they are able to manipulate all of their followers that this isn’t ‘so bad’ Blame, lie, steal. That’s the MO.
Double post to add-the other conspiracy argument is that lockdown ‘didn’t do anything’, we flattened the curve that was the goal time to reopen! Except it DID lower cases which was the point, so that we could prepare. More PPE, more tests, more hospital space.
8 weeks in and none of those things have been prepped.
We’re suffering the same nonsensical lying in our HOA community in south Kern County. They report Kern County, “tested numbers.” Our home owners in this area often have a second home in Orange, LA, or Ventura counties. And of course we have non-tested numbers. I’m fortunate I have a NW site and can state the truth as we know it. Staying Home. Staying Safe. Staying Healthy.
Of course they are. Would you expect anything less from them??
But he says he loves us. Covid deaths keep him up all night. He thinks about it more than we do the poor thing. He’s winning at thinking and grieving.
“Covid deaths keep him up all night.”
nah, that’s the adderall. 😉
WHEN will justice and karma come for this man??????
Let’s pray it’s soon. We all deserve to see what he gets.
Will the rural folks still reelect him when their loved ones die from this?
Yes. Yes they will. Because they already believe the lie that he has no fault in this. Or anything. So they will vote for him and sleep with a clear conscience, even if they are sleeping solo because their spouse died because of their Fuhrer. They have already been given a list of boogeymen to blame.
Yes they will, they will follow him off a cliff.
Probably. They are a bunch of dopes who follow everything DUMP says. It’s pretty scary how these dopes hang on to his every word as gospel. They are all like Stepford wives. LOL!
Like lemmings.
“But I had no idea how popular the task force is until actually yesterday. When I started talking about winding it down, I got calls from very respected people saying, ‘I think it would be better to keep it going.’”
This dumb ass MF.