Atticus
Atticus's JournalIf Trump was not permitted to make statements based upon false premises, he would have very little
to say.
A "premise" may be thought of as the base or foundational assumption upon which all that follows rests. Con artists and flim-flam men often try to rush us past their premise because they know it is false. They may start their spiel with phrases like "Everyone knows---" or "it is common knowledge that---". Their argument may sound quite reasonable if---and only it--- we accept the false premise upon which it depends.
Unsurprisingly, the false premise is one of Donald Trump's favorite methods of deception. Currently, he is starting discussions about who is responsible for the disorganized response to the pandemic with "Of course, the federal government is only meant to be a "back up" for the states in responding to the Corona virus."
Whoa.
Where did this "back up" BS come from? Where is the authority for individual states being primarily responsible for responding to a national emergency? I know the source of that authority: Trump sits on it!
Saying that New York or Washington or Illinois must each fight this pandemic using only their own separate resources and their own unique and uncoordinated methods is akin to having told Hawaii on December 7, 1941 "Good luck. Call us if you need anything and we'll see. We're just your back up, don'tcha know."
"The federal government is only meant to back up the states' efforts" is a classic false premise and its transparent purpose is to shift the blame for Trump's clusterfuck onto the governors. Reject it---and don't hide your disgust.
I'll go there. We are being told by perfectly earnest and sincere people that most of us
should not be wearing masks because healthcare personnel need them worse than we do.
This used to be the United States Of America and we did not have to make choices like this. In a national emergency, our government saw to it that EVERYONE got what they needed to survive. In the Fifties, when I stood in line to get my polio vaccine, everybody in my school---and every other school---got the vaccine without charge. And, we all got vaccinated for smallpox in the same fashion.
Why should we now have to feel guilty about maximizing our chances of survival and lessening the chances we'll infect our family?
Why are there not enough masks for everyone? (That's a rhetorical question. We all know damn well "why".)
I fear "There Will Be Blood". Unless people are provided some relief from their feeling of
total helplessness---some reasonable hope that competent Americans will take charge of this ballooning crisis--- some are going to "snap".
In the opinion of many---most assuredly including me---Donald Trump wll soon be morally (and, perhaps legally) responsible for a quarter of a million dead mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, sons, daughters and grandparents. The scale of the grief that imposes on their surviving family members and friends has never been visited on this nation before---Trump.
Like a sealed vessel filled with water boiling on your kitchen stove, the pressure WILL be released. If a pressure cooker's relief valve becomes clogged, the pot EXPLODES.
If WE explode, we must be aware that the violence will instantly be used as justification for martial law and the use of force to silence all dissent. Of course, there is always the possibility that Americans will get so beaten down and so desperate for peace and some sense of normalcy that they will just "get in line" and do AS they are told and believe WHAT they are told. I can't picture myself in that line.
I sincerely hope that this post will in the future be cited as proof that Atticus was a needlessly worried Chicken Little in the time of Trump's plague.
"We're at WAR!----and now, a word from our sponsors!"
If the invasion force had been soldiers and tanks, would we have to wade through all these mindless shallow TV commercials for weight loss products and investment advice?
Would not a competent administration order multiple PSA's to direct the fight against the threat?
Sorry---I guess I'm feeling a bit frazzled this morning.
Let me say this up front: yes, I know how this sounds but---
Has anyone heard a reasonable explanation for the fact that virtually every decision that Trump has made in dealing with this pandemic has worsened the crisis and placed Americans in more danger?
Initially, he had to choose between taking action to protect us or do nothing and let the pandemic gain a foothold in our country. He chose to ignore the problem and gave the virus free rein for weeks.
Thereafter, he chose at several other stages in the viral invasion to ignore or dishonestly minimize the threat we faced, playing politics with American lives.
He has almost totally failed to develop and provide vital testing procedures and supplies to tell us who is infected so they can be quarantined and their contacts traced.
He has declined to use federal authority to compel US companies to produce critical supplies and sell them here for our benefit. Some US companies are producing "PPE's"---personal protective equipment---but sell them overseas while nurses in the US wear garbage bags in place of gowns and reuse the same masks for days.
In February, we shipped over 17 tons of masks and gowns to China, apparently from our national emergency stockpile which is now nearly depleted.
He has refused to coordinate the purchase of ventilators, masks and other supplies, leading to expensive, time-consuming and often futile bidding wars between states shopping for the same items.
He has refused to issue a nationwide stay at home order, resulting in an inconsistent patchwork of conflicting "requirements" state to state.
I could go on and on, but so could most of you. My question is this: given the consistent avoidance of options that would help contain the threat and save American lives, is it not possible that Donald Trump is intentionally choosing to sacrifice tens of thousands of us? I could speculate about several possible motives, but that would be all that it was: speculation. For now, I'm simply asking that question.
I cannot think of any significant decision Trump had made that has helped protect us from this virus and I can't think of any rational explanation for the consistent harm he has done.
I'm embarrassed that some need to be told this, but DO NOT BUY INTO THE MEDIA'S BULLSHIT!
Trump's "tone", and whether or not it has changed, is IRRELEVANT, people! It doesn't mean diddly-shit!
If his incompetence kills hundreds of thousands of us, does it matter what "tone" he affected when he lied to us about how bad it was and how terrible it was going to get?
Do not watch him! Do not listen to him! Do not believe one damn word that he or his people say!
Publicity is his oxygen. Let him suffocate at his damn podium!
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Member since: 2002Number of posts: 15,124