My Comments: Over the coming weeks and months, some of you are going to unfriend me or unsubscribe to these posts. That’s fine with me. I’m increasingly convinced Trump is an abomination, a malignant tumor, one we must overcome if we are to survive.

Working from home is nothing new for me. I’ve been doing it successfully for over 30 years. I no longer leave the house unless it’s absolutely necessary. I’m left to stew in the juice that might have been less lethal if it weren’t for Trumps’ lack of leadership skills. The raw incompetence and self-centered words coming from Trump and his minions are an attack on our very soul as a nation.

I’m going to do what I can with my fingers in the dike. It may not be much but I’m committed to try and keep the sewage spewing forth from becoming all consuming. If this makes you angry with me, bye-bye.

By Mike Paris \ 5 APR 2020 \ https://tinyurl.com/vcl4cwe

Since the March 31 press conference, our medical experts, Dr. Tony Fauci in particular,  are finally allowed to tell the American public the sobering, (perhaps staggering) truth that 100,000 deaths are very well within the realm of possibility, and maybe as much as 250,000 even if everything goes 100% right. We have known since February what measures need to be in place.

And yet, there has been no organized national effort put into place by the White House. If ever there was a time for the national government to federalize the effort against this national health disaster and to start ordering industry to manufacture every bit of equipment, disease detecting kits, medicines and protective clothing that our medical personnel, need it is now.  How is it possible that South Korea and Singapore have comprehensive medical testing and our country does not?

This is more than just Steve Bannon type of ideology as in “ Let’s deconstruct the “dark” administrative State; Let’s dismantle liberal (Democratic) big government which just wastes our money”.  As if our federal government under the control of GOP conservatives doesn’t waste money even as we speak on such stupidities like building useless walls to keep Mexicans out; or giving away close to 2 trillion dollars in tax giveaways to wealthy Americans who need tax breaks as much as they need a case of Covid-19.

We need to spend our money on the things that protect the public, like the EPA, or like fire departments, or like our public education systems. Or more to the point, on a budget that does not decimate the CDC or the NIH, whose proper funding would have saved billions if not trillions that this runaway pandemic is probably going to cost. Talk about faulty cost benefit analyses!

Businessman and philanthropist, Bill Gates, gets it!  The question is why doesn’t Donald Trump get it. The answer may come from Senator Chris Murphy who has a theory that I think is correct. He characterizes Donald Trump not as a national leader, but more as the CEO of a public relations firm, which is more interested in protecting an image for industry leaders and a thriving economy, than for a country.

And why is he so interested in promoting a strong economy at all costs (beyond his obvious re-election desire), which sometimes means costs so high that they are ultimately and myopically counter-productive to a strong economy. The reasons unfortunately are called profiteering.

And who are the people and groups who like and support profiteering. Let’s start with the National Chamber of Commerce, who likes things just the way that Donald operates. And of course, industry chiefs and CEO’s whose companies stand to make extra profits from a country desperate for certain, “short in supply” products.

Every governor in the country complains that they are having problems getting vital equipment to combat this National Health Crisis because they’re losing out to other states who are forced to bid up prices in a bidding war, and guess who benefits? The answer is any industry whose CEO  supports the likes of Donald Trump and his GOP Buddies.

And that is as good a reason as why we do not have a tough, top down, nationalized (federalized), coordinated effort dictating to business what to manufacture and to whom to distribute,  which is what is needed.

Until that happens people are going to die unnecessarily, and the blood will be  on the hands of those “non leaders” who support this continued type of dis-jointed and “less than optimally effective” effort that is supported by every GOP elected representative who prefers this divided mess.

Currently the only corrective or remedial legislation being propounded to fix our people’s and our business’s problems is coming from the Democratic Senators. Nothing is been initiated by  the GOP or the Presidential executive branch.

Perhaps you believe, as I do, that continual lying by a White House who minimizes the severity of the damage it has caused; who fabricates phony excuses for its mistakes; and who falsely shifts blame for its failures on to others, is its own form of toxicity. This Trumpian toxicity is not helpful.

This is not a case of fighting fire with fire. In fact, the Trump toxicity, the lying, the spinning , the wishing, the bullying, bribing or blackmailing have met their match. They are useless against a Covid-19 pandemic. Only hard work, honest accountability and a laser focused, joint, national effort will prevail.

The math is pretty easy. Hopefully, Donald Trump is finally figuring it out.