Mostly agree. I just think that initial positions were fluid and if Trump were capable of actually thinking ahead he could of come down on the side of a national response, instead of leaving it to the governors and mayors.
Highly probable short-term hit to his ratings, but it was obvious early enough from Europe that we were going to get hit, and he could have looked like an actual leader.
I think Trump’s biggest concern about his “ratings” related to how COVID was going to impact the economy. It was obvious to everyone that there was going to be a significant economic downturn, regardless of what the governments of the world actually decided to do.
But Trump had far too much of his ego invested in the “record stock market”, and was banking on that to win the 2020 election. He knew any hit to the economy was going to cost him, and so he had to pretend that COVID was nothing - convincing enough of the population not to worry about it was the only way to avoid an economic downturn. Supporting even a minimalist response to the pandemic would have required him to admit that there was a problem, which would have caused a downturn no matter what.
Because even if there wasn’t an “official” shutdown of businesses, there would still have been a decrease customers for lots of businesses, as individuals made their own decisions about their risk levels.
Trump just couldn’t bring himself to take that hit, so it was “Deny deny deny” until denial became impossible. And by that point, the battle lines had been drawn, and it’s a lot harder to re-draw battle lines after the fact. Getting the MAGAhats to change course would have required Trump to admit to an error - which is also something he is largely incapable of doing.
Just saw this gem posted in another forum:
“The mental instability happening right now is astounding.”
“All over a virus which I don’t know anyone who died or even had it bad.”
Personally, I won’t believe in the pandemic until a flatbed truck laden with corpses comes down my street with a guy on a bullhorn yelling “Bring out your dead!”
And even then, it would just be a bad flu.
For a change of pace, here is a story about what I consider a different kind of Covidiot.
A Swedish start-up company called Epicentre has invented a ‘rice-sized’ microchip that can be implanted under your skin.
The multi-functional chip stores COVID-19 vaccination records along with passport data and can also be used for making contactless payments.
I assume they mean well–but, as Charlie Brown would say, “Good grief!” It’s almost as if they had deliberately set out to come up with a proposal that would trigger every Covid conspiracy theorist around the globe. Is there not a single person in that company that bothered to think about the ramifications?
I’ve said it before in other threads, unless the bodies are blocking their driveway…
When have you heard of a startup techie with an “awesome” idea stop first to think of how it could go wrong? Hell, they probably heard the alarmists ranting about people getting chipped and thought, “Why that’s just BRILLIANT! You really mean nobody’s doing that?”
Every time you scratch your balls, you buy another year of Avast.
Would someone please come to my place and wack my Covidiot hubs with a clue by four? Do it as often as it takes because he’s giving me grief about getting his booster and I really don’t want to buy another kitten. They are all cute and shit but OMG what a pain in the ass.
Background for those of you who haven’t been breathlessly waiting for the latest development: Hubs refused to get vaccinated and caught Covid the first. I got pissed off and bought a giant breed kitten cause he doesn’t believe in spending money to buy a pet AND we agreed over 20 years ago that we wouldn’t get baby animals because they are such a pain. I’m a bitch, deal.
I threatened to buy another kitten (we are now talking a total of 5 grand because I’m a bitch) if he got sick again. He caught Delta 6 weeks after testing clean for Alpha. I put a deposit down on a new kitten. He got his first shot and promised to get his second one. He also promised to get yearly boosters but I screwed up with that one. We lost our 500 deposit, but the idiot was vaccinated so worth it for me.
I don’t really want another kitten but if I don’t follow through with my threat hubs will know that I might not follow through next time, so please PLEASE smack him around.
Anthrax doesn’t suffocate you, it makes you spew shit.
I can see how they might get confused.
@JaneDoe42 , buy him a leopard kitten that will, in due time, eat his face?
Maybe instead of a kitten, you need a new car, or some other extravagance that steps up the pressure without having to take care of another kitten? Not that I’m opposed to kittens, or anything – quite the opposite.
It must be very frustrating and difficult. My spouse has an aunt who won’t vaccinate, and it has caused a big rift in the family. I’m trying to understand the risks for my family, and make reasoned decisions, but other family members refer to her as a murderer, because her job means she is exposing people. I’m grateful I don’t have to deal with it within my own house.
Good luck finding a way to convince him. (No sarcasm intended.)
That’s certainly it. His first time to address the issue in public was the week the stock market tanked. And when others talked about the public health dangers, Trump got on to say their measures would get the DJIA back up tp where it had been.
But the kittens a new car, and let them really start to wreak havoc.
Leather furniture. Kittens love expensive leather furniture.
Yes! That’s what we need! Not only can he worry about the kitten/claw issue, he hates leather because it makes him sweat.
Leopard kitten is also a great suggestion.
However, because I’m too lazy to go furniture or leopard shopping I made him an appointment for his booster on Jan 4 because it is a yearly booster and he needs to get it over with now to avoid the nagging.
This is intensely frustrating. Hubs is retired, but he is anti-mask and was out and about while displaying symptoms of COVID. My 84 year old mother was staying with us when he went down. I’m sure he killed people during Covid the first and he could have killed my mother. Mom left and she is fine. The Covidiot was seriously sick for three weeks and still has mental fog and can’t get an erection.
Six weeks later, after spending three weeks down the dumbass got Delta. I know he carried that around as well. Assholes like him are the reason this shit is never going to be over.
OTOH, besides this issue, he’s still the kind and generous man I married all those years ago. Except for him walking around killing people, he’s an asset to the community, cares for a mentally ill friend and sends a monthly Chewy box to the local humane society. I sound like an abuse victim with all the excuses, don’t I?
I’m smoking a whole bunch of weed these days cause it’s easier than trying to process the dichotomy.
Sounds like a gem. We should all be so lucky.
Where I live people are dropping like flies every single day, but all people had to hear was that Omicron causes “mild” cases, and that’s all they heard. Lately I’ve been encountering a lot of people who are saying the same thing: “I’m tired of hearing about Covid. I’m not getting any more vaccinations and I’m not wearing a mask and I’m just going to ignore all the sickness and death around me.” I understand being weary of hearing about Covid. So am I. But assuming a see-no-Covid, hear-no-Covid, speak-no-Covid attitude is stupid. The inconvenience it takes to protect yourself is so little compared to the consequences of catching the disease. I don’t even want to risk a mild case.
My wife’s conservative younger brother and his wife and family have assumed this attitude, and when he posted as such on Facebook, my wife got so mad she returned their Christmas gifts.
Yeah, that’s quite the red flag, there.
Cat Towers… there are really nice ones I have on my wish list since kittens grow but still love towers.
I’m thinking either new PC for my anniversary/birthday in Jan. or Amazon.com
Wow, thank you for that link. It is a very attractive tree that would look great in the front room. It’s too small for our Coon. We have a taller and sturdier looking one but I don’t think it would work for the leopard kitten.
Hubs isn’t getting his booster next week, he’s not eligible yet. He just tried to preemptively avoid it. Too bad, so sad, I’m a bitch so I made an appointment for the day he is eligible. Butthead.
It’s made of wood vs the loads of trees we’ve had over the years (even one that had to be hooked to a hook on our ceiling :D).
I miss my 24 pound Brown Tabby who passed during the summer of 2020. It’s why I kept the silver tabby and the orange tabby boys and found a great home for the Siamese looking and the Persian looking kittens (momma is a Torbie (just figured that out: How To Tell The Difference Between Torbie, Tortie, Calico And Tabby Coat Color - Cole & Marmalade bottom both kitties kinda look like her).
My hubby “has his shots” *giggle cos every year we… he pays for the pets’ shots and it comes out of my non-working butt’s income tax return.
Which is far less than his cars/trucks/tools/guns stuff but even over 2 months (bird no, cats/dogs splittem up yes) it’s a chunk.
I do pay the mortgage and Internet 