Who is to blame for Democrats' poor performance in Tuesday's election?

 

Here's a quote from an AlterNet article by Meaghan Ellis...

"The strong voter turnout for Trump, which stands at more than 68 million voters as of Thursday, October 5, proves that bigotry, white supremacy, and racial division are still alive and well in the United States."

Even with all three of the above Donald Trump abhorrent idiosyncrasies prevalent both in the 2020 campaign and in the last four years of the White House maniac's administration, the Democrats could not convince Trump supporters to get rid of this cancer that is destroying our country. Don't know if it was the ineptitude of the Democratic Party or the fact that this 68 million is mentally retarded and/or misinformed. Probably a combination.

Owen Jones from the Guardian says this...

"How could the electoral circumstances for the US Democrats have been more favourable? A quarter of a million Americans have died in a pandemic bungled by the incumbent president, and at least 6 million have consequently been driven into poverty."

Remember Brandy Lee, the Yale psychiatrist, who has been telling us for most of Trump's time in office that he is completely unfit for the presidency, and definitely mentally unstable? She now adds that, "Trump’s mental illness infected 48% of the electorate," the percentage that voted for him. Yet, somehow, the Dems were unable to turn all these horrendous flaws into the kind of message that says, 'You must get rid of this loser.' Which should have brought a landslide, but did not.

As a Progressive I am worried, very concerned, over the run-down state that liberals are in. Look at what happened in the House and Senate. We had a chance at Bernie Sanders, and I again wonder what would be our state of affairs today if the Bern had won in 2016, again in 2020???

Mary Trump exposes uncle Donald as "World's Most Dangerous Man"

 

George Orwell predicted Donald Trump

 

Orwell's classic, 1984, was published in 1949, one year before his death in 1950. He died of Tuberculosis, another respiratory disease, which is rare today but can still be spread by anyone who is infected. There is a vaccine for TB but isn't normally given in the United States because of the low risk of infection. When I was in my teens, I remember a neighbor who caught TB, was quarantined, and the neighborhood went on about its business. 

The above is given based on the fact that we are currently going through the coronavirus pandemic, also a respiratory disease, that as of today has spawned 8,380,969 cases and 224,643 deaths, with 60,000 of those preventable by Donald Trump in a grossly mismanaged campaign to control the virus. Most of this is attributable to the Oval Office lunatic's authoritarianism which is so similar to similar to Orwell's dystopia.

Ken Abramowitz, writing for the Jewish News Syndicate, says...

"It [1984] dealt with the consequences of a totalitarian government, mass surveillance, unending propaganda to distort the truth, and the suppression of freedom, including even the freedom of thought. The totalitarian state, which is at the heart of the story, perpetuates its rule by continuously spying on its citizens, systematically manipulating the truth, and rewriting history.

Sound familiar? Trump is not a fan of George Orwell but was compared to 1984 when making the statement in 2018, “What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening.” Abramowitz added...

For some, the quote immediately recalled a line from Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984: “The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”

The big difference here would be Donald Trump "told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears." And, of course, the poor souls who follow Trump have done just as he told them to do. There are some quotes in this article that are downright terrifying when compared to the real Donald Trump. Like...

• The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.
• Free speech is my right to say what you don’t want to hear.
• It’s frightful that people who are so ignorant should have so much influence.
• A society becomes totalitarian when its structure becomes flagrantly artificial: that is, when its ruling class has lost its function but succeeds in clinging to power by force or fraud.

Abramowitz had one last shot...

"One of Orwell’s observations is particularly appropriate today. He warned of the authoritarian enemies who, driven by an intoxication of power, will be waging a campaign of fear, rage and loyalty only to their party. Already in 1949, Orwell foresaw the budding of dystopia in the world."

For those of you who haven't read 1984, Remember Orwell’s warning: “Don’t let it happen; it depends on you!” VOTE DONALD TRUMP AND ALL HIS REPUBLICAN CRONIES OUT NEXT MONTH!

American public has right to know Donald Trump's condition

 

Let's see, this is what we know so far. Donald Trump announced late Thursday that he and Melania Trump have tested positive for COVID-19. There are reports he knew he had been exposed when Hope Hicks reported she had the virus earlier, but Trump still attended a fundraiser in New Jersey, potentially exposing several Republican donors. T-rump, of course, rarely wears a mask. Then he was mysteriously whisked away to Walter Reed Hospital. 

The White House doctor Navy Cmdr. Dr. Sean Conley reported that things were going well, although "a source familiar with the President's health," said

"The President's vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care. We are still not on a clear path to a full recovery."

As usual, it is hard to believe those closest to Donald Trump because of all the misinformation and lies that have come from him in the last four years. Conley stated flatly Trump is not receiving oxygen, yet, again...

"a source close to the White House said Trump has received supplemental oxygen since his illness began. Trump 'definitely has had oxygen,' the source said, adding that it was on Friday."

Conley couldn't even get the reported date of the announcement correct and commented, "that the President had a fever at one point, but refused to say what it was." Although Trump proclaims that he feels fine, "the treatments administered to the President in the past 24 hours have raised concerns about his condition." While still in the White House, he was given...

"the experimental Regeneron polyclonal antibody cocktail, a promising treatment that has not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration."

Then after arriving at Walter Reed, he was administered the antiviral drug remdesivir. In the case of both of these drugs, experts have said that they are normally given to the more serious coronavirus patients. And then a rash of notices of the virus from former aide Kellyanne Conway and Trump campaign manager, Bill Stepian, both in close contact with T-rump. Add to that a third Republican Senator plus former New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie. 

But Donald Trump is still in charge, not yet turning control of the White House over to his second in command, Mike Pence. And this probably wouldn't happen unless he suffers the ultimate. Like the earlier source said, "the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care." The world is watching and one can only hope that the White House gang will put misinformation aside just this once and give us the truth on Donald Trump's condition.

Read more here.

White House nixed coronavirus masks in West Wing

 

Okay, it was early, in February, when the "first masks arrived on the White House grounds by special order of the National Security Council." Followed by, "Job One in their [WH staff] emergency response was to take personal precautions, preparing for the critical work at hand." But wait, the word got out this was happening and the higher-ups, assuming all the way up to Trump, decided this would not look good so the following decisions were made...

"If you have the whole West Wing running around wearing masks, it wasn't a good look," one administration official recalled of the directive that came down from senior staff and lawyers.

The West Wing wanted to "portray confidence and make the public believe there was absolutely nothing to worry about," the official said, revealing the image-conscious reason for the opposition to masks for the first time.

What this "confidence" got them was 7,489,417 cases of COVID-19, resulting in 212,506, mostly unnecessary, American deaths. The United States leads the world in these dismal statistics, all because Donald Trump was completely incompetent in the handling of the virus. Officials wanted to talk about Trump's ineptness but could not for fear of reprisals. But anonymously they...

"tell a consistent story of how White House attempts to deal with the virus were dogged by President Donald Trump's fixation on one thing: optics."

CNN reports...

"The radical polarization that now grips the country traces back to the very first workplace where it really sank in, at the West Wing of the White House."

As usual, the administration blamed its failures on Democrats. There's more...

"We lost so much time," a former administration official said, looking back. "The whole thing was mind-blowing. This could have been so different."

But it wasn't different and Donald Trump will have to live with those 212,506 American lives lost as long as he lives. Unfortunately, we know he doesn't care. 

Hard to believe? No! Donald Trump has 3,400 conflicts of interest

 

Yes, Donald Trump has had 3,400 conflicts of interest, and, yes, all while he has been in the Oval Office. CREW, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has labeled him the most corrupt president in history. My gut tells me that T-rump doesn't give a damn since multiple authors have books on the market that document his corruption over the years. If they were truly lies, like he is famous for, he would have quashed them with his legal team.

This is how CREW describes their study...

"Today’s report details some of the most glaring examples of presidential corruption and conflicts of interest ever raised by a president, all of which stem from his refusal to divest from his businesses."

You see, with Donald Trump it is all about money and power, and as he has indicated now, he won't give up his position in the White House because that is the doorway to his keeping that money coming in and holding on to the beloved power. Since Trump's election, CREW has...

"tracked interactions between the president, the Trump Organization, and those trying to influence government decisions and public policies, including members of Congress, industry groups, lobbyists and cabinet officials. These interactions have continued to blur the lines between where President Trump’s public responsibilities end and his private financial interests begin, and between his loyalty to the Trump Organization and his obligations to the American public."

There has been no separation, and quite the opposite, he has used his position to influence deals for the Trump brand in the United States and even throughout the world. This is how CREW characterizes it...

"The extraordinary numbers in this report paint a picture of a president who is fixated on the personal financial benefits he might derive from his public service—and a whole ecosystem of officials, special interests and governments that exploit that fixation in order to curry favor and advance their own interests,” said CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder."

Here are some of the report's focal points...

• President Trump has made more than 500 visits to the properties he owns and profits from. The president’s frequent travel to and from his properties has cost American taxpayers well over $100 million.
• 141 members of Congress have patronized Trump properties. These visits often coincide with events held by special interests or wealthy political donors that rake in millions of dollars for his properties. 
• Special interest groups, many of which have business before the Trump administration, have hosted or sponsored 130 events at Trump properties since he took office. Political groups have held another 88 events at Trump properties. 

Remember, there 3,397 more conflicts you can see at the CREW report here. Just scroll down to the bottom of the page.  

200,000+ COVID-19 deaths should beat Donald Trump in November

 

Coronavirus deaths in the U.S. are the highest in the world. Add to that the over 7 million cases in this country, also the most worldwide. We are second in new cases and new deaths and number one in serious/critical cases. Faring better in cases per 1,000 population, number 11, deaths per 1,000 pop. at number 10, and number two, behind China, for total tests completed. You can see this all for yourself on Worldometer, which is updated regularly. 

And yet another ghastly figure reported by the New York Times, the 200,000+ figure is...

"nearly two and a half times the number of U.S. service members to die in battle in the Vietnam and Korean Wars"

There is no reason for this other than the ineptness of Donald Trump in the running of this country and his hassling of the CDC, which is contradicted regularly by T-rump. If Barack Obama had been this incompetent--and he never would have--the political system would have erupted against him. But that is total hindsight and what we have today is a maniac in the White House who has lied about the seriousness of coronavirus from the beginning.

With around 40,000 new cases a day...

"Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert, said he worries about the country entering the cooler months without having a handle on the virus."

Fauci is Trump's favorite whipping guy because the doc tells the truth, something Donald Trump does not understand. Just consider that all this could at least be slowed down if the population would wear masks and practice social distancing. The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Robert Redfield, said "wearing face masks may be more effective at protecting against COVID-19 than a vaccine.

The second major problem--Donald Trump is, of course, the first--is the anti-everything group, vaccines, facemasks, the pandemic. An August study provides that only 65% of the U.S. population use face masks; that leaves 35% who are actively passing around potential COVID-19 contamination. Here's the scenario...

"Still, the persistently high death numbers in the United States stand in stark contrast to mortalities in other high-income countries. Italy, once the center of the pandemic, reported 17 deaths on Monday; Germany reported 10 deaths the same day. In the United States that day, 428 people were reported to have died of the virus."

In the annual UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump once again blamed China's Xi for the coronavirus in the United States. In Xi's reply he, "described China’s response as scientific, generous and responsible," adding..."

“Any attempt at politicizing or stigmatizing this issue must be rejected.”

Donald Trump agonizes over the fact that China has done a much better job of controlling the COVID-19 virus than he did. Much, much! As an example, with a much larger population, China is 43rd in total cases where the U.S is number one. In total deaths China is number 30, the U.S. number one. Once again available on Worldometer. Joe Biden might very well want to study all the numbers and consider whether this might be a leading point in November.