Trump failed, then made failure an official policy.

[gulliver]

Back in the early days of the coronavirus, Trump was saying, "We think we have it very well under control." He didn't say, "the states have it very well under control." And Trump didn't wait for the governors to put travel restrictions on China. Why?

The idea that the federal government was a "backup" didn't start to show up in Trumpie lingo until they'd already blown it. The Trump response to failure was to declare that he, in effect, is supposed to fail at coordinating the federal response. It's not his ball.

He called the ball. He dropped it. He looked around for who to blame. And he now says it's not his ball anyway.

Terribly for our country, not only did Trump fail, but now he has to continue to fail (to keep up the pretense that he failed on purpose earlier). Trump and Republicans, solely to protect themselves, made failure of the federal government to coordinate an emergency into official government policy.

[enough]

1. Right on gulliver! You have said it all.

Sometimes Trump’s way of behaving seems to elude any kind of clear description or analysis. You have laid it out here so clearly it’s going to help us deal with it.

[Permanut]

2. The analysis of the Trump cult..

could take another century. So many morons swimming in the koolaid bowl.

[scarletwoman]

3. Federal government failure has been official GOP policy since Reagan.

Our mistake was in thinking that thousands of our fellow citizens dying from a horribly contagious disease might have impelled them to actually care enough to not fail.

[thucythucy]

5. Katrina was evidence of their lack of empathy

but back then they at least pretended to care (or tried to pretend).

We had a taste of what was coming with the Trump response to Maria--jetting down, throwing paper towels at a photo op, then blaming local officials and conditions for his own failure. And the media again fell down, failing to report on the extent of his failure.

Now their number one priority is trying to figure out how to use this catastrophe to stay in power.

Not a shred of decency among any of them.

[scarletwoman]

6. I bet they can't believe their luck that Covid-19 causes the most fatalities for people of color.

I can just picture them high-fiving amongst themselves in private.

[ancianita]

8. +1

[uponit7771]

11. +1

[yonder]

4. Excellent points.

[2naSalit]

7. I agree to some extent...

The entire government has been under siege since these monsters stole the election. Bannon said they planned to dismantle it from the inside and that's exactly what they have been doing since day one. This just happens to be a very opportune moment for a major power grab and a death blow. Unless we fight back, it's over.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

9. Interesting analogy. Here's another.

When a NAVY pilot lands his aircraft in the dark on the rolling deck of an aircraft carrier, he must align his aircraft with ONE light in a series of lights, to properly land and engage the arresting gear. When he approaches the deck, he calls out "I have The Ball" when he sees this ONE light. If he does not "have The Ball," he must waive off, circle back around and try again. This is one of THE most challenging manuevers a NAVY pilot must learn. Requires nerves of steel. And a strong sphincter.

Why the analogy ? If the pilot does NOT "have The Ball," and attempts to force the landing, many people could die.

[JohnnyRingo]

10. Well coined.

"I meant to do that".

[PaulRevere08]

12. Spot on! And to add, IF tRump really thought that each state needed to shoulder the

burden then FFS why didn't he tell them? At least they could have tried to act in a co-ordinated manner instead of having things devolve into this Lord of the Flies on a national scale fustercluck.

[patphil]

13. At some point in time, the dictionary definition of failure will have to include Trump's face.

[IronLionZion]

14. Republicans always claimed government won't help us, it's the problem, etc.

then they get elected and prove it.

[Karadeniz]

15. Thanks for seeing this angle...failure becomes policy...great!