Month: October 2020

A Dark Winter Ahead

I have to give Joe Biden credit for the headline on the post: A Dark Winter Ahead. That’s what he said during last week’s Presidential debate, when he was throwing shade on Trump’s rosy (and wrong) evaluation that the USA was rounding the corner and the pandemic would soon be just a bad memory.

Unfortunately, facts tend to overshadow the predictions that we hear from Dofus-in-Chief and his merry band of compliant bootlickers.

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Oh, boy.

It appears that the USA is now in the midst of a second or third wave of the virus with no end in sight. More than eight million Americans have contracted the virus, and it has killed more than 230,000 (along with Trump’s presidency, most likely). And amazingly enough, we’re recording more than 80,000 new cases a day now as we are heading into the holidays. Good luck to Grandma as she tries to fix Thanksgiving dinner following a stay in the intensive care unit. I digress.

Anyway, I admit that I never thought I would still be writing about this national fiasco as we approach winter with snow on the ground here in Colorado.

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And part of the problem is that Trump has provided no leadership or responsible decision-making in response to this national crisis. In fact, he has done the opposite and taken measures that have further divided the country while going against the advice of health care professionals.

In Trump World, you are a patriot if you refuse to wear a face mask, even though health experts believe that this simple act might be more effective in defeating the virus than a vaccine.

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So it goes.

Since Trump’s response has been so anemic and pathetic, clearly someone has to take the blame. And guess what. That person now appears to be the good doctor Fauci.

Here’s what Trump said last week at a campaign rally (super spreader event?) in Arizona, according to the Chicago Tribune:

“People are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots,” Trump said of the government’s top infectious disease expert. “Every time he goes on television, there’s always a bomb. But there’s a bigger bomb if you fire him. But Fauci’s a disaster.”

Well, gee. What should we make of that critique from POTUS?

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It’s going to be a long, dark winter.

A Fly Wins The Debate

You have to admit that last night’s “debate” between Pence and Harris wasn’t as big a shit show as the one last week with the two Presidential candidates. Well, that’s unless you buy into the conspiracy theory that the DNC somehow managed to unleash a fly that attached itself to Pence’s head, highlighting that the VP is pretty much just a pile of dung.

Hard to believe I actually wrote that. Oh well.

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Actually, I discount that conspiracy theory. I seriously doubt that the DNC is smart enough to do that . Or most anything else for that matter.

But I do have a theory for how the fly managed to gain the attention of a nation desperately wanting to get some info from these political gasbags.

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I’m not sure what constitutes a good debate. But I know that these days we are a long way from the classic confrontations of let’s say Lincoln and Douglas. The candidates really don’t even make an attempt to answer the questions they are asked. And to the extent that they are stringing a series of words together the result is mostly a barrage of lies and bullet points taken from their campaign websites.

Oh well. We elected a reality TV personality in 2016. And the so-called debates are really nothing more than reality TV shows: all sound and fury with no substance. Kind of like studio wrestling without the divas.

So it’s not hard to understand why a fly can emerge as the star of the broadcast. 

And now the second Presidential debate has been scheduled for October 15 in a format that has been described as a virtual townhall. Trump says this would be a waste of time and won’t attend. Presumably he would rather be face to face in a crowded venue where he can infect others with the virus. I digress.

Yet I have to believe that Biden is already preparing for the next debate.

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It Is What It Is

Well, it looks like POTUS was right about the pandemic when he said: “It is what it is.”

And the IS now is that Trump and Melania and some White House staffers have tested positive for the virus and have to self-isolate for 10 days or so. Good grief. I’m sure the last thing Melania wants to do is be in quarantine with the Doofus In Chief. Thoughts and prayers to her. I digress.

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Ah, I don’t really take any joy or satisfaction in Trump testing positive. And I hope he, the First Lady and the thousands of others in this country who will test positive today and in the days ahead all have a full and speedy recover.

But let’s be honest about this. Does it really surprise anyone that POTUS has tested positive? If he would have followed the advice of the medical experts months ago maybe thousands of Americans would still be alive and the rest of us could get back to worrying about the Major League Baseball playoffs instead of having to read and listen to the barrage of news about the Prez.

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Oh well.

I guess leadership and competence really do matter. I digress again.

Anyway, I echo the thoughts of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who opined this morning that some good can come of this if people — read that as Trump supporters — now take the virus seriously and do what the medical experts have been telling us to do: wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands, avoid crowds and stay home when possible.

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