Invisible Wounds

Early in the pandemic , the slogan was “ 14 days to flatten the curve ” with the objective of preserving the health care system and ensuring that it was not crushed beneath a tsunami of COVID infections .
The strategy has largely worked , keeping cases below a level that would have resulted in a catastrophic overloading of the nation ’ s hospitals .
According to some commentators , relative success in protecting the nation ’ s health care capacity means we can get back to something like our pre-COVID normal .
Most of the data say otherwise .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ that we need to be at around 10,000 new infections daily by September or “ we ’ re going to have a really bad situation in the fall ” —but now , in mid-October , at around four times that number and racking up over 700 deaths per day .
New York state has reached 1,000 infections per day for the first time since June .
Boston just announced a pause in its school opening as positive COVID test rates jumped to 4 percent .
Smaller states , like North Dakota , are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to care for critically ill patients .
Most of the modeling platforms suggest that within the next few months , we can expect an additional 100,000 COVID fatalities .
The highly regarded University of Washington model estimates we will see between 100,000 and 245,000 additional deaths between now and January 1 depending on whether social-distancing policy is maintained or substantially relaxed .
We ’ re still deep in the woods , and the only conceivable way out is widespread deployment of an effective vaccine , which is still months away .
In the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ healthcare system ” —a depersonalizing phrase that obscures what it means to describe—has its work cut out for it over the next six months .
The teams of highly skilled physicians , nurses , and technicians that constitute the “ system ” are not machines but flesh-and-blood people .
They have been conditioned by years of training and practice for workplace resiliency but they still have limits .
Earlier this year , hospitals in urban areas across the United States were close to being overwhelmed .
From springtime horror stories in New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Texas , and California , what we saw were hospitals so overtaxed that heroic efforts by physicians , nurses , and hospital staff were required to meet patient needs .
It is estimated that over 1,000 U.S. healthcare workers have died of COVID , many of them working in primary-care settings where PPE has been in especially scant supply .
When we say we have successfully protected the system , what we really mean is that these highly trained professionals and support staff have lost coworkers and colleagues but mostly survived to fight @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and deaths among health care workers tell only a small part of the story of how they have been affected by COVID-19 ’ s extreme demands .
In hard-hit urban areas , where our largest and most sophisticated hospitals are located , physicians and nurses spent much of the last nine months on what amounts to a war footing .
In an interview with WBUR in Boston , Jack Hammond , a retired brigadier general who leads care for veterans with PTSD and head injuries at Massachusetts General Hospital , compared the stress @ @ @ @ @ @ @ patients with working conditions in military hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan .
The wounds , he says , are not visible but they are real—manifesting in anxiety , depression , sleep problems , and feelings of despair .
The most thorough research to date on the health workforce impacts of COVID comes from a recent study of health care providers in Wuhan found more than 80 percent of medical and nursing staff had accessed counseling or psychotherapy as a result of their experiences during the outbreak .
This is the battered healthcare army @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the teeth of the next wave of COVID-19 .
The pandemic has thrust irreconcilable priorities on the entire country .
Our children and college students need in-person education—but sending them to school is likely to accelerate transmission .
Our largely service-based economy is in extremis—but reopening bars , restaurants , and hotels is an invitation to disaster .
Our health care workforce has performed miracles on our behalf—but the people that make it up are , in many cases , exhausted .
Lockdowns , masking , and social distancing are expensive and have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ testing and virtually nonexistent contact tracing—have left us with few other options to help us bridge to vaccines and therapeutics .
If we want to protect our health workforce , and by extension our own health , we will have to flatten the curve .
Again .

Early in the pandemic, the slogan was “14 days to flatten the curve” with the objective of preserving the health care system and ensuring that it was not crushed beneath a tsunami of COVID infections. The strategy has largely worked, keeping cases below a level that would have resulted in a catastrophic overloading of the nation’s hospitals.
According to some commentators, relative success in protecting the nation’s health care capacity means we can get back to something like our pre-COVID normal. Most of the data say otherwise. Dr. Anthony Fauci said in early August that we need to be at around 10,000 new infections daily by September or “we’re going to have a really bad situation in the fall”—but now, in mid-October, at around four times that number and racking up over 700 deaths per day. New York state has reached 1,000 infections per day for the first time since June. Boston just announced a pause in its school opening as positive COVID test rates jumped to 4 percent. Smaller states, like North Dakota, are already struggling to find enough ICU beds to care for critically ill patients.
Most of the modeling platforms suggest that within the next few months, we can expect an additional 100,000 COVID fatalities. The highly regarded University of Washington model estimates we will see between 100,000 and 245,000 additional deaths between now and January 1 depending on whether social-distancing policy is maintained or substantially relaxed. We’re still deep in the woods, and the only conceivable way out is widespread deployment of an effective vaccine, which is still months away.
In the meantime, these figures suggest that the “healthcare system”—a depersonalizing phrase that obscures what it means to describe—has its work cut out for it over the next six months. The teams of highly skilled physicians, nurses, and technicians that constitute the “system” are not machines but flesh-and-blood people. They have been conditioned by years of training and practice for workplace resiliency but they still have limits.
Podcast · August 15 2023 A.B. Stoddard: All the Ex-President’s Conspirators Donald Trump has been a low-rent mobster for his entire career, and now he’s getting…
Earlier this year, hospitals in urban areas across the United States were close to being overwhelmed. From springtime horror stories in New York to summertime despair in Florida, Texas, and California, what we saw were hospitals so overtaxed that heroic efforts by physicians, nurses, and hospital staff were required to meet patient needs. It is estimated that over 1,000 U.S. healthcare workers have died of COVID, many of them working in primary-care settings where PPE has been in especially scant supply. When we say we have successfully protected the system, what we really mean is that these highly trained professionals and support staff have lost coworkers and colleagues but mostly survived to fight another day.
The figures on infections and deaths among health care workers tell only a small part of the story of how they have been affected by COVID-19’s extreme demands. In hard-hit urban areas, where our largest and most sophisticated hospitals are located, physicians and nurses spent much of the last nine months on what amounts to a war footing. In an interview with WBUR in Boston, Jack Hammond, a retired brigadier general who leads care for veterans with PTSD and head injuries at Massachusetts General Hospital, compared the stress of caring for large numbers of COVID-19 patients with working conditions in military hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan. The wounds, he says, are not visible but they are real—manifesting in anxiety, depression, sleep problems, and feelings of despair. The most thorough research to date on the health workforce impacts of COVID comes from a recent study of health care providers in Wuhan which found more than 80 percent of medical and nursing staff had accessed counseling or psychotherapy as a result of their experiences during the outbreak. This is the battered healthcare army we may be about to throw into the teeth of the next wave of COVID-19.
The pandemic has thrust irreconcilable priorities on the entire country. Our children and college students need in-person education—but sending them to school is likely to accelerate transmission. Our largely service-based economy is in extremis—but reopening bars, restaurants, and hotels is an invitation to disaster. Our health care workforce has performed miracles on our behalf—but the people that make it up are, in many cases, exhausted.
Lockdowns, masking, and social distancing are expensive and have become tedious but other policy choices—like inadequate testing and virtually nonexistent contact tracing—have left us with few other options to help us bridge to vaccines and therapeutics. If we want to protect our health workforce, and by extension our own health, we will have to flatten the curve. Again.


thebulwark--2020-10-09--The Big Supreme Court Cases to Watch for This Fall

The U.S. Supreme Court opened its new term on Monday , with Judge Amy Coney Barrett ’ s confirmation battle looming .
She is poised to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg , who died on September 18 .
But with the White House now a superspreader site , the U.S. Senate floor was temporarily shut down after several members tested positive .
Whether Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will succeed in ramming Barrett ’ s nomination through before the election thus remains to be seen .
Looking to the term ahead , there are—so far—four cases on the Supreme Court @ @ @ @ @ @ @ case this fall is Texas v. California , which is scheduled for oral argument the week after the Nov. 3 election that will decide the political fate of the man who nominated Judge Barrett .
The case is the second challenge to the Affordable Care Act ( ACA ) to reach the high court .
In 2012 , the Court decided American Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius , which salvaged the ACA from constitutional demise on the theory that the so-called individual mandate—the part of the law that requires Americans to carry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pay a penalty—was a tax and thus constitutional .
With the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act , Congress amended the law to lower the individual mandate penalty to $ 0 .
In the pending challenge , a group of twenty states claims that , because the zero penalty generates no actual revenue for the federal government , it is no longer a tax , and thus unconstitutional .
The lower courts agreed with the states .
The Supreme Court will decide whether the individual mandate must go and whether , if that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the ACA must fail along with it .
The Trump administration has taken the position that only the statute ’ s protections for pre-existing conditions must be scrapped along with the individual mandate ; the rest can stay , including federal funding for premium subsidies and Medicaid expansion .
Seventeen other states are defending the ACA in the case .
In a 2017 essay , Barrett , then a law professor , criticized Chief Justice John Roberts ’ s majority opinion in Sebelius , asserting that it “ pushed the Affordable Care @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the statute.
” Approximately 20 million people currently have health care due to the ACA .
Their lives hang in the balance of the anticipated 6-3 conservative majority that would include a Justice Amy Coney Barrett .
Just this Friday , the Supreme Court agreed to take up two consolidated cases this term , Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee and Arizona Republican Party v. Democratic National Committee , which deal with voting rights .
It is well documented that the Republican party has been categorically challenging changes to states ’ voting laws that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ during the coronavirus pandemic , presumably on the belief that keeping people from voting is the best way for the GOP to hold on to political power .
It comes as a surprise to many people that there is no affirmative right to vote in the original Constitution , which leaves the electoral process largely up to individual states .
Although the Supreme Court has recognized an implied right to vote in the Constitution , the lack of express textual support for voting rights has allowed the Court to apply a squishy balancing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
So long as a restriction on ballot access is not “ severe , ” the government can get away with it on the rationale that it ’ s needed to facilitate “ fair and orderly elections.
” Importantly , moreover , in 2013 the Court struck down a key provision , section 5 , of the Voting Rights Act of 1965—the civil rights legislation that required states with a history of disenfranchising certain communities to get approval from the Department of Justice before implementing any changes to their electoral systems .
( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s desk since late 2019 . )
The cases now before the Supreme Court involve two Arizona laws restricting the right to vote .
One requires ballots cast in the wrong location to be tossed out , while the other prevents certain categories of individuals from delivering another person ’ s absentee ballot to the state ’ s election office .
After the Court struck down section 5 of the Voting Rights Act , the legal battleground shifted to section 2 of the statute , which prohibits voting practices that discriminate on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The consolidated cases involve a challenge under that provision .
Section 2 plaintiffs must show that the lawmakers who enacted a particular voting-related law acted with “ racially discriminatory motivation.
” That ’ s an extraordinarily high bar because legislators are skilled at drafting legislation that appears to be racially neutral , even if it has the effect of disenfranchising voters of color .
Chief Justice Roberts is known for his skepticism about the Voting Rights Act , so we can anticipate that a Supreme Court without Justice Ginsburg is especially unlikely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ challenging limits on ballot access .
The case is not expected to be decided until sometime in 2021 , so it won ’ t affect the Nov. 3 election .
Another big one this fall is Fulton v. City of Philadelphia , which deals with the same kind of issue of balancing religious freedom and antidiscrimination laws that we saw in Masterpiece Cakeshop , Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights in 2017 .
That case involved a bakery that refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple .
The couple filed a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rights Commission .
The baker claimed that the First Amendment protects his right to discriminate against LGBTQ customers on religious grounds .
The Supreme Court found for the baker , but not on the core First Amendment question of whether the Constitution guarantees a right to discriminate in furtherance of religious beliefs .
Instead , it determined that the state civil rights board was guilty of misconduct warranting a ruling for the baker .
In the latest case , Catholic Social Services ( CSS ) and foster-care parents are suing the city of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ place foster children with CSS or the parents it works with because of CSS ’ s refusal to work with same-sex couples .
CSS says that the policy violates its religious beliefs .
In 1990 , Justice Antonin Scalia—Judge Barrett ’ s mentor—authored a decision holding that laws that do not specifically target religious practices are largely constitutional .
The CSS plaintiffs are asking the Court to revisit that decision in this case .
The last in the lineup of important cases on the Supreme Court docket this fall is Department of Justice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which will address an important separation of powers question : Can the House of Representatives get the grand jury records from the Mueller probe ?
Rule 6 ( e ) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure keeps grand jury materials secret with some exceptions , including for a “ judicial proceeding.
” The Department of Justice is taking the position that an impeachment trial before a legislative body is not a judicial proceeding , so Congress is out of luck .
This position leaves oversight of presidential criminal wrongdoing effectively out of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the judicial branch off-limits through its internal policy against indicting sitting presidents .
If the eight remaining justices on the Court split 4-4 on any of these cases , the lower court ’ s decision will stand .
With a Justice Amy Coney Barrett cementing a 6-3 conservative majority , we can expect much less hand-wringing over how the Court will come out in controversial cases : The more progressive stance will probably lose , for a generation or more .

The U.S. Supreme Court opened its new term on Monday, with Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation battle looming. She is poised to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on September 18. But with the White House now a superspreader site, the U.S. Senate floor was temporarily shut down after several members tested positive. Whether Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will succeed in ramming Barrett’s nomination through before the election thus remains to be seen.
Looking to the term ahead, there are—so far—four cases on the Supreme Court docket worth knowing about.
Obamacare
The blockbuster case this fall is Texas v. California, which is scheduled for oral argument the week after the Nov. 3 election that will decide the political fate of the man who nominated Judge Barrett. The case is the second challenge to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to reach the high court. In 2012, the Court decided American Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, which salvaged the ACA from constitutional demise on the theory that the so-called individual mandate—the part of the law that requires Americans to carry a certain level of health insurance or pay a penalty—was a tax and thus constitutional.
With the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Congress amended the law to lower the individual mandate penalty to $0. In the pending challenge, a group of twenty states claims that, because the zero penalty generates no actual revenue for the federal government, it is no longer a tax, and thus unconstitutional. The lower courts agreed with the states. The Supreme Court will decide whether the individual mandate must go and whether, if that provision is struck down, the rest of the ACA must fail along with it. The Trump administration has taken the position that only the statute’s protections for pre-existing conditions must be scrapped along with the individual mandate; the rest can stay, including federal funding for premium subsidies and Medicaid expansion. Seventeen other states are defending the ACA in the case.
In a 2017 essay, Barrett, then a law professor, criticized Chief Justice John Roberts’s majority opinion in Sebelius, asserting that it “pushed the Affordable Care Act beyond its plausible meaning to save the statute.” Approximately 20 million people currently have health care due to the ACA. Their lives hang in the balance of the anticipated 6-3 conservative majority that would include a Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
Voting Rights
Just this Friday, the Supreme Court agreed to take up two consolidated cases this term, Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee and Arizona Republican Party v. Democratic National Committee, which deal with voting rights. It is well documented that the Republican party has been categorically challenging changes to states’ voting laws that would allow easier access to the ballot during the coronavirus pandemic, presumably on the belief that keeping people from voting is the best way for the GOP to hold on to political power.
It comes as a surprise to many people that there is no affirmative right to vote in the original Constitution, which leaves the electoral process largely up to individual states. Although the Supreme Court has recognized an implied right to vote in the Constitution, the lack of express textual support for voting rights has allowed the Court to apply a squishy balancing test for constitutional challenges to voting laws. So long as a restriction on ballot access is not “severe,” the government can get away with it on the rationale that it’s needed to facilitate “fair and orderly elections.”
Podcast · August 15 2023 A.B. Stoddard: All the Ex-President’s Conspirators Donald Trump has been a low-rent mobster for his entire career, and now he’s getting…
Importantly, moreover, in 2013 the Court struck down a key provision, section 5, of the Voting Rights Act of 1965—the civil rights legislation that required states with a history of disenfranchising certain communities to get approval from the Department of Justice before implementing any changes to their electoral systems. (Revised legislation has been sitting—untouched—on Mitch McConnell’s desk since late 2019.)
The cases now before the Supreme Court involve two Arizona laws restricting the right to vote. One requires ballots cast in the wrong location to be tossed out, while the other prevents certain categories of individuals from delivering another person’s absentee ballot to the state’s election office.
After the Court struck down section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, the legal battleground shifted to section 2 of the statute, which prohibits voting practices that discriminate on the basis of race and other characteristics. The consolidated cases involve a challenge under that provision. Section 2 plaintiffs must show that the lawmakers who enacted a particular voting-related law acted with “racially discriminatory motivation.” That’s an extraordinarily high bar because legislators are skilled at drafting legislation that appears to be racially neutral, even if it has the effect of disenfranchising voters of color.
Chief Justice Roberts is known for his skepticism about the Voting Rights Act, so we can anticipate that a Supreme Court without Justice Ginsburg is especially unlikely to stick its neck out for voters challenging limits on ballot access. The case is not expected to be decided until sometime in 2021, so it won’t affect the Nov. 3 election.
First Amendment and Religion
Another big one this fall is Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, which deals with the same kind of issue of balancing religious freedom and antidiscrimination laws that we saw in Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights in 2017. That case involved a bakery that refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. The couple filed a civil rights claim with the Colorado Civil Rights Commission. The baker claimed that the First Amendment protects his right to discriminate against LGBTQ customers on religious grounds. The Supreme Court found for the baker, but not on the core First Amendment question of whether the Constitution guarantees a right to discriminate in furtherance of religious beliefs. Instead, it determined that the state civil rights board was guilty of misconduct warranting a ruling for the baker.
In the latest case, Catholic Social Services (CSS) and foster-care parents are suing the city of Philadelphia over its policy of refusing to place foster children with CSS or the parents it works with because of CSS’s refusal to work with same-sex couples. CSS says that the policy violates its religious beliefs. In 1990, Justice Antonin Scalia—Judge Barrett’s mentor—authored a decision holding that laws that do not specifically target religious practices are largely constitutional. The CSS plaintiffs are asking the Court to revisit that decision in this case.
The Mueller Report
The last in the lineup of important cases on the Supreme Court docket this fall is Department of Justice v. House Committee on the Judiciary, which will address an important separation of powers question: Can the House of Representatives get the grand jury records from the Mueller probe? Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure keeps grand jury materials secret with some exceptions, including for a “judicial proceeding.” The Department of Justice is taking the position that an impeachment trial before a legislative body is not a judicial proceeding, so Congress is out of luck. This position leaves oversight of presidential criminal wrongdoing effectively out of reach, because DOJ has also made the judicial branch off-limits through its internal policy against indicting sitting presidents.
If the eight remaining justices on the Court split 4-4 on any of these cases, the lower court’s decision will stand. With a Justice Amy Coney Barrett cementing a 6-3 conservative majority, we can expect much less hand-wringing over how the Court will come out in controversial cases: The more progressive stance will probably lose, for a generation or more.


thebulwark--2020-10-09--Trump is the Wizard of Oz—Only Nuts

Trump is the Wizard of Oz—Only Nuts

Anxious Democrats imagine Donald Trump as a political Houdini—a genius at escaping the most dire political straits .
Somehow , they fear , he will summon serial October surprises beyond the capacity of lesser mortals .
In truth , Trump is America ’ s ersatz Wizard of Oz—a one-trick faux populist with deep but finite appeal who , in 2016 , filled the mother of inside straights .
By 2018 , he had squandered his winnings .
In 2020 , he ’ s become the little man behind the curtain , brutally exposed by his own incompetence and instability .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ incompetence .
Just take the last three weeks—during which Trump has demonstrated the survival instincts of Jim Jones in his final hour at Jonestown .
He is committing electoral suicide , and taking his party with him .
His repugnant debate performance last week was a belligerent exercise on self-immolation .
So divorced from normal humanity is he that Trump reimagined his protean repulsiveness as riveting dominance .
Especially jarring was his profound dissociation from an ongoing pandemic which had killed hundreds of thousands of Americans .
Even as he mocked Biden for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public health protocols with the heartless élan of an amoral elite saying of the dead and dying “ let them eat COVID.
” America recoiled .
By a margin of nearly two to one , viewers thought that Trump had lost a debate he desperately needed to win .
His instant decline in national polls was reflected in battleground states .
This is genius in reverse—a fatal inability to see himself as others do : a repellent blowhard and bully indifferent to the travails of anyone else .
Trump ’ s subsequent horrific @ @ @ @ @ @ @ x-ray into the depths of his personality disorder .
Straining to show his imperviousness to a mere pandemic , Trump endangered the lives and health of coworkers , Republican leaders , and the Secret Service agents charged with his protection .
In his infinite vainglory , he stifled disclosure of his actual condition while cosseted by an extraordinary level of care unavailable to anyone else .
As for his own carelessness in contracting the virus , Trump cast it as an act of courage worthy of a truly extraordinary leader .
“ Don @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” he urged his fellow Americans—after all , “ I feel better than I did 20 years ago !
” Little wonder , an infectious disease specialist told the Washington Post : “ Steroids make everyone feel better.
” Would that 210,000 dead Americans and counting could feel the same—including those who died from believing Donald Trump .
Those he put at risk included his wife , press secretary , campaign manager , close personal aides , the RNC chairwoman , and three Republican senators .
Despite this , the White House shunned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s rollout for Amy Coney Barrett—a blatant violation of the government ’ s public health protocols that likely sickened most of these attendees .
Unsurprisingly , a CNN poll found that 63 percent of Americans believed the president had acted “ irresponsibly ” in “ handling the risk of coronavirus infection to the people who have been around him.
” His poll numbers slipped further , fresh confirmation of Trump ’ s distinctive gifts .
Yet Trump remained confident that what America wanted was more Trump .
Even though a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ should postpone the October 15 debate until he recovers , he stubbornly insisted he would appear .
That lasted until yesterday , when the debate commission decreed that safety required a virtual debate , whereupon Trump—denied the live audience that makes him feel alive—huffed that he would do a rally instead , further flaunting his contempt for public health measures .
Whatever course he chooses , this will not end well .
Even his family wondered at his behaviors .
According to sources quoted by Gabriel Sherman in Vanity Fair , “ Don @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Of Trump ’ s children , one source told Sherman , “ They ’ re all worried .
They ’ ve tried to get him to stop tweeting.
” Among medical professionals , speculation mounted that large doses of steroids needed to counteract serious cases of COVID were turbocharging Trump ’ s grandiosity .
That would explain Trump ’ s newest act of insanity : unilaterally and peremptorily canceling negotiations for a badly needed second round of stimulus .
Here , yet again , reason fails .
The economy is stalled ; people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but Trump , belying his claims of an imminent turnaround .
Unemployment remains at near-record levels ; millions are losing their healthcare ; thousands of small businesses are dying ; layoffs are escalating ; hotels are closing ; state and local governments face massive deficits which will strand still more public employees .
By a margin of three to one , Americans believe that Trump should prioritize coronavirus relief over bulldozing Barrett ’ s confirmation .
In his solitary grandeur , Trump believes otherwise .
Endangered Republican senatorial and congressional candidates , murmuring @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Trump ’ s Kool-Aid is poisoned .
Its most deadly ingredient is COVID-19 .
Seven months ago , our ersatz wizard proclaimed that the virus would disappear—appropriately enough— “ like a miracle.
” As Trump availed himself of superb medical care , 21 states showed a rise in new cases—including the electorally critical states of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin .
Nationwide hospitalizations rose for the first time since July .
It is hardly a coincidence that among the most vulnerable Americans , seniors , Biden leads by more than 20 points .
Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is killing his campaign .
Given Trump ’ s burgeoning plague of political locusts , the revelation of his tax records last week seems to have occurred half a lifetime ago .
But this particular mortification exposed that , as a businessman , Trump was less wizard than chiseler .
He paid no federal income taxes in 11 of 18 years ; took highly dubious write-offs to shelter his income ; showed staggering business losses ; and now faces hundreds of millions in loans which will shortly come due .
Though damaging in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ adverse implications .
They expose Trump ’ s vulnerability to leverage from outsiders , making him a potential national security risk .
They suggest that he must win re-election to avoid criminal prosecution for , at the least , tax fraud .
And they may explain an underlying reason for his enthrallment by Russia : debt .
Trump was never a brilliant businessman—he was a sociopath who used bullying , bankruptcy , and branding to perpetuate a false image of success .
As an entrepreneur , and as president , he now stands @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enduring four years of Trump , too many Americans see this too clearly .
He has done that to himself , and it is lethal .
Character is , after all , fate .
If Joe Biden can simply stay safe , you can stick a fork in the man behind the curtain .

Anxious Democrats imagine Donald Trump as a political Houdini—a genius at escaping the most dire political straits. Somehow, they fear, he will summon serial October surprises beyond the capacity of lesser mortals.
Rubbish.
In truth, Trump is America’s ersatz Wizard of Oz—a one-trick faux populist with deep but finite appeal who, in 2016, filled the mother of inside straights. By 2018, he had squandered his winnings. In 2020, he’s become the little man behind the curtain, brutally exposed by his own incompetence and instability.
Forget the first three-and-two-third years of self-aggrandizing incompetence. Just take the last three weeks—during which Trump has demonstrated the survival instincts of Jim Jones in his final hour at Jonestown. He is committing electoral suicide, and taking his party with him.
His repugnant debate performance last week was a belligerent exercise on self-immolation. So divorced from normal humanity is he that Trump reimagined his protean repulsiveness as riveting dominance.
Especially jarring was his profound dissociation from an ongoing pandemic which had killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. Even as he mocked Biden for wearing a mask, his retinue flouted public health protocols with the heartless élan of an amoral elite saying of the dead and dying “let them eat COVID.”
America recoiled. By a margin of nearly two to one, viewers thought that Trump had lost a debate he desperately needed to win. His instant decline in national polls was reflected in battleground states. This is genius in reverse—a fatal inability to see himself as others do: a repellent blowhard and bully indifferent to the travails of anyone else.
Trump’s subsequent horrific response to contracting COVID-19 provided a merciless x-ray into the depths of his personality disorder. Straining to show his imperviousness to a mere pandemic, Trump endangered the lives and health of coworkers, Republican leaders, and the Secret Service agents charged with his protection. In his infinite vainglory, he stifled disclosure of his actual condition while cosseted by an extraordinary level of care unavailable to anyone else.
As for his own carelessness in contracting the virus, Trump cast it as an act of courage worthy of a truly extraordinary leader. “Don’t be afraid of COVID,” he urged his fellow Americans—after all, “I feel better than I did 20 years ago!” Little wonder, an infectious disease specialist told the Washington Post: “Steroids make everyone feel better.” Would that 210,000 dead Americans and counting could feel the same—including those who died from believing Donald Trump.
Those he put at risk included his wife, press secretary, campaign manager, close personal aides, the RNC chairwoman, and three Republican senators. Despite this, the White House shunned contact tracing for guests at Trump’s rollout for Amy Coney Barrett—a blatant violation of the government’s public health protocols that likely sickened most of these attendees.
Unsurprisingly, a CNN poll found that 63 percent of Americans believed the president had acted “irresponsibly” in “handling the risk of coronavirus infection to the people who have been around him.” His poll numbers slipped further, fresh confirmation of Trump’s distinctive gifts.
Yet Trump remained confident that what America wanted was more Trump. Even though a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that 59 percent of voters thought Trump should postpone the October 15 debate until he recovers, he stubbornly insisted he would appear. That lasted until yesterday, when the debate commission decreed that safety required a virtual debate, whereupon Trump—denied the live audience that makes him feel alive—huffed that he would do a rally instead, further flaunting his contempt for public health measures. Whatever course he chooses, this will not end well.
Podcast · August 15 2023 A.B. Stoddard: All the Ex-President’s Conspirators Donald Trump has been a low-rent mobster for his entire career, and now he’s getting…
Even his family wondered at his behaviors. According to sources quoted by Gabriel Sherman in Vanity Fair, “Don Jr. thinks Trump is acting crazy.” Of Trump’s children, one source told Sherman, “They’re all worried. They’ve tried to get him to stop tweeting.” Among medical professionals, speculation mounted that large doses of steroids needed to counteract serious cases of COVID were turbocharging Trump’s grandiosity.
That would explain Trump’s newest act of insanity: unilaterally and peremptorily canceling negotiations for a badly needed second round of stimulus. Here, yet again, reason fails.
The economy is stalled; people are suffering in ways visible to everyone but Trump, belying his claims of an imminent turnaround. Unemployment remains at near-record levels; millions are losing their healthcare; thousands of small businesses are dying; layoffs are escalating; hotels are closing; state and local governments face massive deficits which will strand still more public employees.
By a margin of three to one, Americans believe that Trump should prioritize coronavirus relief over bulldozing Barrett’s confirmation. In his solitary grandeur, Trump believes otherwise. Endangered Republican senatorial and congressional candidates, murmuring feeble dissents, are perceiving too late that Trump’s Kool-Aid is poisoned.
Its most deadly ingredient is COVID-19. Seven months ago, our ersatz wizard proclaimed that the virus would disappear—appropriately enough—“like a miracle.” As Trump availed himself of superb medical care, 21 states showed a rise in new cases—including the electorally critical states of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Nationwide hospitalizations rose for the first time since July. It is hardly a coincidence that among the most vulnerable Americans, seniors, Biden leads by more than 20 points. Trump may outlive the virus, but it is killing his campaign.
Given Trump’s burgeoning plague of political locusts, the revelation of his tax records last week seems to have occurred half a lifetime ago. But this particular mortification exposed that, as a businessman, Trump was less wizard than chiseler. He paid no federal income taxes in 11 of 18 years; took highly dubious write-offs to shelter his income; showed staggering business losses; and now faces hundreds of millions in loans which will shortly come due.
Though damaging in themselves, these revelations come bearing grave adverse implications. They expose Trump’s vulnerability to leverage from outsiders, making him a potential national security risk. They suggest that he must win re-election to avoid criminal prosecution for, at the least, tax fraud. And they may explain an underlying reason for his enthrallment by Russia: debt.
Trump was never a brilliant businessman—he was a sociopath who used bullying, bankruptcy, and branding to perpetuate a false image of success. As an entrepreneur, and as president, he now stands exposed as a narcissistic fraud.
After enduring four years of Trump, too many Americans see this too clearly. He has done that to himself, and it is lethal. Character is, after all, fate.
If Joe Biden can simply stay safe, you can stick a fork in the man behind the curtain.


thebulwark--2020-10-09--Trump’s Closing Argument: The Unfairness Never Ends

With less than a month until the election President Donald Trump took an extended break from treating his own case of the Rona , managing the country ’ s pandemic , and insulting his counterparty in his bizarre “ negotiation ” over whether or not to provide economic relief to American families and businesses .
Because the president needed to squeeze in some time with Rush Limbaugh on the EIB Network in what was otherwise a “ jam-packed day.
” ( The president was also scheduled to be on with Mark Levin and Tucker Carlson later in the day ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , 120 minute jag , El Rushbo and El Presidente Naranja focused on all of the important questions that America ’ s undecided voters have been puzzling over : • The television ratings of the NBA • And , of course , the Russia Hoax .
This is your brain on Rush .
But beneath the fan service was one unmistakable message that these two tragically sick , fabulously rich , geriatric white men wanted to get across : People have been mean to them and life is unfair .
Or as Rush @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lengthy diatribe about how Fox News lost its way after serial sexual harasser Roger Ailes was replaced at the network : “ The unfairness never ends.
” Is there anything that sums up the Trump-Limbaugh worldview better than , “ the unfairness never ends ?
” Throughout their burn book session , the message was simply that “ they ” ( the media , the left , professional athletes ) criticize “ us.
” That despite having the presidency and the most listened to talk radio show in the history of the country @ @ @ @ @ @ @ complete cultural hegemony that they require to be satisfied .
And while that might seem insane to those who are outside this grievance bubble , it is exactly what the dittoheads want to hear .
They want to be the ones who are righteously aggrieved .
They are sick of hearing about how Black Lives Matter .
( “ a terrible term , a racist term ” – Trump ) .
They are sick of hearing about the treatment of immigrants .
They are sick of hearing about women who are sexually assaulted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump .
They want a victimization narrative they can make their own .
And nobody is better at giving it to them than the boy from Queens who never got the respect he thought he deserved , even after he became President of the United States .
So without a real desire win over new people , but with a deep abiding sense of how unfair everyone has been to him his entire life , the president delivered the closing message of his campaign to the legions of Limbaugh stans : Of Maggie @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Of Fox News .
Of China .
Of Black Lives Matter .
Of everyone that you don ’ t like .
And if you want to be a victim too , let ’ s Make America Great Again , Again .
The unfairness will never end .

With less than a month until the election President Donald Trump took an extended break from treating his own case of the Rona, managing the country’s pandemic, and insulting his counterparty in his bizarre “negotiation” over whether or not to provide economic relief to American families and businesses.
Why?
Because the president needed to squeeze in some time with Rush Limbaugh on the EIB Network in what was otherwise a “jam-packed day.” (The president was also scheduled to be on with Mark Levin and Tucker Carlson later in the day).
Over the course of a wheels-off, 120 minute jag, El Rushbo and El Presidente Naranja focused on all of the important questions that America’s undecided voters have been puzzling over:
The Durham Investigation
Cuckservative Paul Ryan
The television ratings of the NBA
Hillary’s emails
“Back in chains”
Chris Hahn
The Wall
Indian accents at 7-11
Stolen ballots
Regeneron
Antifa
Obamagate
And, of course, the Russia Hoax.
This is your brain on Rush.
But beneath the fan service was one unmistakable message that these two tragically sick, fabulously rich, geriatric white men wanted to get across: People have been mean to them and life is unfair.
Or as Rush put it after the president finished a lengthy diatribe about how Fox News lost its way after serial sexual harasser Roger Ailes was replaced at the network: “The unfairness never ends.”
Boy. Howdy.
Is there anything that sums up the Trump-Limbaugh worldview better than, “the unfairness never ends?”
Throughout their burn book session, the message was simply that “they” (the media, the left, professional athletes) criticize “us.” That despite having the presidency and the most listened to talk radio show in the history of the country, they don’t have the complete cultural hegemony that they require to be satisfied.
And while that might seem insane to those who are outside this grievance bubble, it is exactly what the dittoheads want to hear.
They want to be the ones who are righteously aggrieved. They are sick of hearing about how Black Lives Matter. (“a terrible term, a racist term” – Trump). They are sick of hearing about the treatment of immigrants. They are sick of hearing about women who are sexually assaulted in the workplace by men like Donald Trump.
They want a victimization narrative they can make their own. And nobody is better at giving it to them than the boy from Queens who never got the respect he thought he deserved, even after he became President of the United States.
So without a real desire win over new people, but with a deep abiding sense of how unfair everyone has been to him his entire life, the president delivered the closing message of his campaign to the legions of Limbaugh stans:
I am a victim.
Of Maggie Haberman. Of the Deep State. Of Fox News. Of China. Of Black Lives Matter. Of everyone that you don’t like.
And if you want to be a victim too, let’s Make America Great Again, Again.
The unfairness will never end.


thebulwark--2020-10-10--Trump’s Captain Queeg Crackup

Trump’s Captain Queeg Crackup

Was it only yesterday that I analogized Donald Trump to an ersatz Wizard of Oz afflicted with a disabling psychological condition ?
In the profoundly disturbing hours since , Trump has evoked an even more emblematic and instructive fictional character : Captain Philip Francis Queeg of Herman Wouk ’ s Pulitzer prize-winning novel of World War II , The Caine Mutiny .
Queeg is a frightening , pitiable caricature of naval leadership whose increasingly dangerous behaviors compel his officers to save their ship by seizing command .
Perhaps you ’ ve seen the movie , anchored in Humphrey Bogart ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up before our eyes , raving on the witness stand about “ disloyal ” officers until becoming incoherent .
But not even Bogart could capture , nor Wouk imagine , the terrifying self-indictment of a president far sicker than Captain Queeg .
Nonetheless , the fictional Queeg serves as prototype for the all-too-real Trump—and the dilemma he presents us .
Queeg is incompetent , paranoid , given to bullying , prone to blame-shifting , obsessed with appearances , unable to admit error , and determined at all costs to cover up grievous misjudgments @ @ @ @ @ @ @ captain ’ s mental fragility accumulates , his officers fear that he may crack under pressure .
But after resolving to report his behaviors to a higher authority , they temporize .
The crisis comes—a deadly typhoon in the Pacific .
Inevitably , Queeg ’ s panicky misjudgments threaten to capsize the Caine .
In extremis the captain ’ s second-in-command , supported by his fellow officers , displaces him to save the ship .
Over the last 24 hours , Trump ’ s statements provide an uncanny parallel to the behaviors which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ turning him in .
The difference is that , for a president , there are no higher authorities .
There is only the Twenty-fifth Amendment .
The situation in Washington grows dire .
For Trump ’ s most recent ravings make Queeg look like a model of sanity and restraint .
He attacked his own cabinet members for not prosecuting or persecuting his political adversaries .
Attorney General William Barr , Trump proclaimed , will go down in history as “ a very , sad , sad situation ” if he did not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Of Kamala Harris , Trump said , “ she ’ s a communist , ” calling her “ this monster that was on stage with Mike Pence.
” He claimed that Biden “ wouldn ’ t be president for two months ” because “ he ’ s not mentally capable.
” He retweeted tweets asserting that Nancy Pelosi might be planning “ a coup ” against him .
He asserted that law enforcement was “ watching ” Nevada ’ s governor for potential voter fraud .
After the FBI thwarted a kidnap attempt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , he labeled her “ the lockup queen ” —a reference to her life-saving public-safety directives to stave off the pandemic .
He complained that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had not yet released Hillary Clinton ’ s emails , exhuming his demented obsession from 2016 .
All this in but a few hours .
Obviously , Trump has long since has become an unacceptable danger to the country he is sworn to protect—not only to our spirit , but to our safety , security , and the conduct of our democracy .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ potboilers do lunatic presidents propose to jail the opposing candidate .
No man this unmoored should be permitted to hold—and abuse—such power .
But he does , and so we watch the spectacle of his unraveling .
When the presidential debate commission decided to hold a virtual debate for the sake of public safety , Trump refused to engage in this basic element of democracy .
Appropriately , Biden ’ s campaign condemned “ Trump ’ s erratic behavior.
” In a sign of chaos within Trump ’ s circle , his campaign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ debate after all .
Yet Trump still suffers from a potentially lethal disease which—with his considerable assistance—has killed nearly 215,000 Americans .
For his own sake , and that of others , a president possessed of minimal self-awareness and empathy would refrain from debating in person—or demanding the presence of others .
Not Trump .
“ I ’ m back because I ’ m a perfect physical specimen and I ’ m extremely young , ” announced our ill-conditioned , 74-year-old president .
That this man has already threatened the peaceful transition of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ remove him from office .
So is the worry that Trump will abuse our military power—potentially provoking an incendiary geopolitical crisis—in a reckless attempt to reverse his failing electoral fortunes .
This need not involve that terrifying conceit of apocalyptic political fiction : the unhinged president reaching for the nuclear button .
But whatever dangers Trump may pose , one can not dismiss the deranged verbiage he used yesterday with Rush Limbaugh to threaten Iran .
The language itself shows a president who has exceeded his limited capacities for self-control , rhetorical and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with us , ” he informed the Iranians , “ if you do something bad to us , we ’ re gon na do things to you that have never been done before.
” What might that be ?
One can not help but remember that John F. Kennedy ’ s coolheaded judgment during the Cuban missile crisis helped save the Western hemisphere from a nuclear catastrophe .
One simply can not know , and America should not risk , what Trump may do when his psychic thermometer passes the boiling point .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Trump daily exacerbates the deadly risk presented by the coronavirus .
That he is unable to comprehend the reality of COVID-19 , or his unique personal responsibilities as president , is—in itself—disqualifying .
Already he is pressing to restart his campaign—with public events .
“ I ’ d love to do a rally tonight , ” he said on Tuesday .
“ I wanted to do one last night.
” This is reckless—and utterly consistent with his skewed emotional wiring .
In his pathological isolation from other human beings , Trump can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that—because of his callous contempt for the public health protocols urged by his own coronavirus task force—his rollout of Amy Barrett proved to be a superspreader which sickened numerous staffers and GOP grandees .
Displaying his reflex for narcissistic self-expiation , Trump intimated that his infection may have come from the supposedly adoring Gold Star families who met with him one day later .
Better that he should worry about whether he infected the families of dead American soldiers—as would any normal person .
Trump ’ s refusal to acknowledge that he is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his grotesque unfitness for the presidency .
Even Mitch McConnell tacitly admits as much .
Says McConnell , “ I haven ’ t actually been to the White House since August the 6th , because my impression was that their approach to how to handle [ the pandemic ] is different from mine and what I suggested that we do in the Senate , which is to wear a mask and practice social distancing.
” A president who can not even appreciate that much must be replaced by one who can .
There @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Trump ’ s recent grandiosity , aggression , and erratic behavior stems from taking the steroids prescribed to control his case of COVID-19 .
“ In extreme cases , ” a medical expert told the New York Times , steroids may cause “ mania and impaired decision-making.
” Perhaps so .
No doubt to refute this and other physical and mental health concerns , last night Trump appeared on Fox News with Tucker Carlson so that a Fox medical contributor , Dr. Marc Siegel , could—as a network press release put it— @ @ @ @ @ @ @ during the program.
” This reality TV medicine , like everything else Trump orchestrates to tout his supposedly superb health , had all of the credibility of the televised assessment once proffered by the aptly-named Dr. Oz .
Dr. Siegel proved to be less physician than yet another Fox News enabler—who , one noticed , proved to be oblivious to the irony that he was conducting a remote “ medical evaluation ” with a president who insists that a remote debate is worthless .
A few softball questions elicited the surprising information that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ routed COVID-19—having staged an astonishing recovery reminiscent of the heartiest Viking .
Beyond the inherent wonder of himself , Trump credited ingestions of Regeneron ’ s antibody treatment which , despite his administration ’ s failure to facilitate timely mass testing , he promised to distribute to every American for free .
In short , we were proffered a few choreographed moments of Trumpian grandiosity—doubling down on his trademark contempt for the intelligence of his audience .
But Trump ’ s unsettling exercise in opacity , however unworthy of his office at so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ superfluous .
He has a pre-existing condition which made him a danger to our country since his first day in office : an ineradicable personality disorder which fatally compromises the ability to perceive anything outside his own stunted inner landscape .
The only reality he has grasped , in his frighteningly feral way , is that Joe Biden is going to beat him—and it is making him more dangerous than ever .
When a president becomes mentally impaired , the Twenty-fifth Amendment empowers the vice president and majority of the cabinet to notify @ @ @ @ @ @ @ discharge his duties—requiring the vice president to immediately become acting president .
But , unlike the officers of the Caine , Mike Pence and his fellow minions do not face imminent death , and their fear of Trump ’ s restive base far outstrips their concern for our country .
In their catatonic cowardice , they can not speak the truth they know .
Americans have but one recourse : to defeat Trump in November—by the decisive margin he so deeply fears .
Only then can we be assured that , despite his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ results .

Was it only yesterday that I analogized Donald Trump to an ersatz Wizard of Oz afflicted with a disabling psychological condition? In the profoundly disturbing hours since, Trump has evoked an even more emblematic and instructive fictional character: Captain Philip Francis Queeg of Herman Wouk’s Pulitzer prize-winning novel of World War II, The Caine Mutiny.
Queeg is a frightening, pitiable caricature of naval leadership whose increasingly dangerous behaviors compel his officers to save their ship by seizing command. Perhaps you’ve seen the movie, anchored in Humphrey Bogart’s indelible rendition of a man cracking up before our eyes, raving on the witness stand about “disloyal” officers until becoming incoherent. But not even Bogart could capture, nor Wouk imagine, the terrifying self-indictment of a president far sicker than Captain Queeg.
Nonetheless, the fictional Queeg serves as prototype for the all-too-real Trump—and the dilemma he presents us. Queeg is incompetent, paranoid, given to bullying, prone to blame-shifting, obsessed with appearances, unable to admit error, and determined at all costs to cover up grievous misjudgments and mistakes.
As evidence of their captain’s mental fragility accumulates, his officers fear that he may crack under pressure. But after resolving to report his behaviors to a higher authority, they temporize.
The crisis comes—a deadly typhoon in the Pacific. Inevitably, Queeg’s panicky misjudgments threaten to capsize the Caine. In extremis the captain’s second-in-command, supported by his fellow officers, displaces him to save the ship.
Over the last 24 hours, Trump’s statements provide an uncanny parallel to the behaviors which moved Queeg’s officers to consider turning him in. The difference is that, for a president, there are no higher authorities. There is only the Twenty-fifth Amendment.
The situation in Washington grows dire. For Trump’s most recent ravings make Queeg look like a model of sanity and restraint.
He attacked his own cabinet members for not prosecuting or persecuting his political adversaries. Attorney General William Barr, Trump proclaimed, will go down in history as “a very, sad, sad situation” if he did not indict Joe Biden and Barack Obama:
Unless Bill Barr indicts these people for crimes, the greatest political crime in the history of our country, then we’re going to get little satisfaction unless I win and we’ll just have to go, because I won’t forget it. . . . They want to get more, more, more, they keep getting more. I said, “You don’t need any more.”
Of Kamala Harris, Trump said, “she’s a communist,” calling her “this monster that was on stage with Mike Pence.” He claimed that Biden “wouldn’t be president for two months” because “he’s not mentally capable.”
He retweeted tweets asserting that Nancy Pelosi might be planning “a coup” against him. He asserted that law enforcement was “watching” Nevada’s governor for potential voter fraud.
After the FBI thwarted a kidnap attempt by right-wing militia against Michigan Gretchen Whitmer, he labeled her “the lockup queen”—a reference to her life-saving public-safety directives to stave off the pandemic. He complained that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had not yet released Hillary Clinton’s emails, exhuming his demented obsession from 2016.
All this in but a few hours.
Obviously, Trump has long since has become an unacceptable danger to the country he is sworn to protect—not only to our spirit, but to our safety, security, and the conduct of our democracy. Until now, only in feverish political potboilers do lunatic presidents propose to jail the opposing candidate. No man this unmoored should be permitted to hold—and abuse—such power.
But he does, and so we watch the spectacle of his unraveling. When the presidential debate commission decided to hold a virtual debate for the sake of public safety, Trump refused to engage in this basic element of democracy. Appropriately, Biden’s campaign condemned “Trump’s erratic behavior.” In a sign of chaos within Trump’s circle, his campaign manager—also afflicted with COVID-19—suggested that Trump might debate after all.
Yet Trump still suffers from a potentially lethal disease which—with his considerable assistance—has killed nearly 215,000 Americans. For his own sake, and that of others, a president possessed of minimal self-awareness and empathy would refrain from debating in person—or demanding the presence of others.
Not Trump. “I’m back because I’m a perfect physical specimen and I’m extremely young,” announced our ill-conditioned, 74-year-old president.
Podcast · August 15 2023 A.B. Stoddard: All the Ex-President’s Conspirators Donald Trump has been a low-rent mobster for his entire career, and now he’s getting…
That this man has already threatened the peaceful transition of power—and clearly means it—is reason enough to remove him from office.
So is the worry that Trump will abuse our military power—potentially provoking an incendiary geopolitical crisis—in a reckless attempt to reverse his failing electoral fortunes. This need not involve that terrifying conceit of apocalyptic political fiction: the unhinged president reaching for the nuclear button. But whatever dangers Trump may pose, one cannot dismiss the deranged verbiage he used yesterday with Rush Limbaugh to threaten Iran.
The language itself shows a president who has exceeded his limited capacities for self-control, rhetorical and behavioral. “If you fuck around with us,” he informed the Iranians, “if you do something bad to us, we’re gonna do things to you that have never been done before.”
What might that be? One cannot help but remember that John F. Kennedy’s coolheaded judgment during the Cuban missile crisis helped save the Western hemisphere from a nuclear catastrophe. One simply cannot know, and America should not risk, what Trump may do when his psychic thermometer passes the boiling point.
Far more prosaic, but still lethal, Trump daily exacerbates the deadly risk presented by the coronavirus. That he is unable to comprehend the reality of COVID-19, or his unique personal responsibilities as president, is—in itself—disqualifying.
Already he is pressing to restart his campaign—with public events. “I’d love to do a rally tonight,” he said on Tuesday. “I wanted to do one last night.” This is reckless—and utterly consistent with his skewed emotional wiring.
In his pathological isolation from other human beings, Trump cannot even take responsibility for the fact that—because of his callous contempt for the public health protocols urged by his own coronavirus task force—his rollout of Amy Barrett proved to be a superspreader which sickened numerous staffers and GOP grandees. Displaying his reflex for narcissistic self-expiation, Trump intimated that his infection may have come from the supposedly adoring Gold Star families who met with him one day later.
Better that he should worry about whether he infected the families of dead American soldiers—as would any normal person. Trump’s refusal to acknowledge that he is the center of a coronavirus hotspot epitomizes his grotesque unfitness for the presidency.
Even Mitch McConnell tacitly admits as much. Says McConnell, “I haven’t actually been to the White House since August the 6th, because my impression was that their approach to how to handle [the pandemic] is different from mine and what I suggested that we do in the Senate, which is to wear a mask and practice social distancing.”
A president who cannot even appreciate that much must be replaced by one who can.
There is informed speculation in the medical community that Trump’s recent grandiosity, aggression, and erratic behavior stems from taking the steroids prescribed to control his case of COVID-19. “In extreme cases,” a medical expert told the New York Times, steroids may cause “mania and impaired decision-making.”
Perhaps so. No doubt to refute this and other physical and mental health concerns, last night Trump appeared on Fox News with Tucker Carlson so that a Fox medical contributor, Dr. Marc Siegel, could—as a network press release put it—“conduct a medical evaluation and interview during the program.” This reality TV medicine, like everything else Trump orchestrates to tout his supposedly superb health, had all of the credibility of the televised assessment once proffered by the aptly-named Dr. Oz.
Dr. Siegel proved to be less physician than yet another Fox News enabler—who, one noticed, proved to be oblivious to the irony that he was conducting a remote “medical evaluation” with a president who insists that a remote debate is worthless. A few softball questions elicited the surprising information that, according to Trump, he has routed COVID-19—having staged an astonishing recovery reminiscent of the heartiest Viking. Beyond the inherent wonder of himself, Trump credited ingestions of Regeneron’s antibody treatment which, despite his administration’s failure to facilitate timely mass testing, he promised to distribute to every American for free. In short, we were proffered a few choreographed moments of Trumpian grandiosity—doubling down on his trademark contempt for the intelligence of his audience.
But Trump’s unsettling exercise in opacity, however unworthy of his office at so grave a moment, was also ultimately superfluous. He has a pre-existing condition which made him a danger to our country since his first day in office: an ineradicable personality disorder which fatally compromises the ability to perceive anything outside his own stunted inner landscape. The only reality he has grasped, in his frighteningly feral way, is that Joe Biden is going to beat him—and it is making him more dangerous than ever.
When a president becomes mentally impaired, the Twenty-fifth Amendment empowers the vice president and majority of the cabinet to notify Congress that the president is unable to discharge his duties—requiring the vice president to immediately become acting president. But, unlike the officers of the Caine, Mike Pence and his fellow minions do not face imminent death, and their fear of Trump’s restive base far outstrips their concern for our country. In their catatonic cowardice, they cannot speak the truth they know.
Americans have but one recourse: to defeat Trump in November—by the decisive margin he so deeply fears. Only then can we be assured that, despite his sickness, he cannot defy the results.


thebulwark--2020-10-10--The Trumpist Death Cult

The Trumpist Death Cult

In 1993 , during the Branch Davidian standoff at the Mount Carmel compound outside Waco , Texas , in between doing live-shots for Fox News and Sky News , I met a curiosity-seeker .
He stood among the members of the press , general public , and even t-shirt vendors—I still have a hat that says “ Waco : We Ain ’ t Coming Out ” —who arrived daily to try and get a closer look at the madness inside the compound .
“ What makes someone want to join a cult like this ?
” the man asked me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after the ATF raid and two-month FBI siege that culminated in gunfire and flames and scores of dead .
The study of Koresh ’ s death cult was intense .
The Waco Tribune-Herald ran a series of investigative reports on the Branch Davidians and David Koresh called “ The Sinful Messiah , ” exposing allegations of Koresh abusing children and committing statutory rape , as well as fathering several children from a variety of women and girls , some as young as 13 , among the Branch Davidians who lived with him .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ was a madman , ” Bob Ricks , the FBI ’ s main media spokesman throughout the standoff , said of Koresh 25 years later .
“ I think probably the best description of him is a master manipulator.
” H.L .
Mencken , unflinchingly clear-eyed , said that every great religion was susceptible to cults .
Mystics , he wrote , drive many cults and the “ essence of mysticism is that it breaks down all barriers between the devotee and his god , and thereby makes the act of worship a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , in his own perverse way , one of the greatest mystics of the 21st century .
He is a masterful manipulator who told everyone from the beginning of his political career how he could shoot someone in front of witnesses and not lose a voter .
He also explained that he calls the news media liars so people won ’ t believe us and will believe him .
Like every mystic , Trump adheres to magic over science .
When pressed about climate change , he said the scientists don ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he said it would magically disappear .
He often refuses to wear a mask and may be responsible for as many as 40 people in and around the White House becoming infected by the coronavirus .
Like the huckster selling snake oil or the phony shaman dancing around a fire , Trump proclaimed himself feeling “ great ” in a video he tweeted to his millions of adoring fans .
His magic is that of the wizard in the Wizard of Oz , and few who love him would dare pull back the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who will right all wrongs , drain the swamp , build a wall , make the economy better , and turn life into heaven on earth .
Only he can solve the problems—never mind that he caused most of them .
He lies to convince his worshipers , who in turn believe him because he addresses their concerns .
Something isn ’ t right if the common man is getting screwed so much and life is so tough .
Trump must be right .
He ’ s a common man to the common @ @ @ @ @ @ @ admirers act as though he is a Christian ; they are unwilling or unable to see he clearly is not .
In truth , he ’ s merely a rich , pampered insecure man who only worships himself .
It ’ s hard to see as he gives those who feel so disaffected an enemy to hate .
It ’ s not our fault , he says , it ’ s the swamp .
It ’ s the deep state .
It ’ s anyone but us .
Like every cult leader , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rage he has against those who think or act differently than he .
His closest disciples and believers have gone all in—because they see a path to glory and power they would otherwise not have .
Stephen Miller , a man perpetually picked last for kickball , would never reach such heights without Trump , the mystic , as his mentor .
Trump is a sedulous fly-catcher and he is among the best .
He ’ s never worked for a living , but has convinced hard-working Americans that he alone knows what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He ’ s never served either in the military or in politics , prior to his run for president , but those who believe in him see a dedicated and selfless public servant who would charge into a tense standoff with guns blazing , like a cinematic Rambo .
He will continue to preach as he does because he knows nothing else .
His minions will take up arms on his behalf—triggered by the president whom the marginalized and the dangerous have found a friend .
He is indirectly responsible for those who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ told the Proud Boys to stand back and stand by .
The KKK endorses him .
Every violent paramilitary group in the United States flocks to him as Branch Davidians flocked to hear their messiah in Waco .
The language is nearly the same .
David Koresh spoke of an apocalypse at the hands of the federal government .
So does Trump .
Koresh said they were out to get him .
So does Trump .
Koresh violated the most basic forms of civility to maintain control .
So does Trump .
Though @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus , he plans once again this week to hit the streets and attend a rally where his supporters will deny science , refuse to wear masks , and blow off social-distancing .
Meanwhile , the White House remains a biohazard petri dish with staffers terrified of catching the virus from Typhoid Donny , a president who wants to serve and promote his cult .
In the end , the Branch Davidians , assuring themselves that the apocalypse was upon them , died in a fire inside their own compound .
Trump too @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be upon us .
Here ’ s hoping Trump and his cult go a different route than the Branch Davidians should the president lose his bid for re-election .

In 1993, during the Branch Davidian standoff at the Mount Carmel compound outside Waco, Texas, in between doing live-shots for Fox News and Sky News, I met a curiosity-seeker.
He stood among the members of the press, general public, and even t-shirt vendors—I still have a hat that says “Waco: We Ain’t Coming Out”—who arrived daily to try and get a closer look at the madness inside the compound.
“What makes someone want to join a cult like this?” the man asked me.
That question has stuck with me—years after the ATF raid and two-month FBI siege that culminated in gunfire and flames and scores of dead.
The study of Koresh’s death cult was intense. The Waco Tribune-Herald ran a series of investigative reports on the Branch Davidians and David Koresh called “The Sinful Messiah,” exposing allegations of Koresh abusing children and committing statutory rape, as well as fathering several children from a variety of women and girls, some as young as 13, among the Branch Davidians who lived with him.
“I don’t think he was a madman,” Bob Ricks, the FBI’s main media spokesman throughout the standoff, said of Koresh 25 years later. “I think probably the best description of him is a master manipulator.”
H.L. Mencken, unflinchingly clear-eyed, said that every great religion was susceptible to cults. Mystics, he wrote, drive many cults and the “essence of mysticism is that it breaks down all barriers between the devotee and his god, and thereby makes the act of worship a direct and personal matter.”
David Koresh did that.
Jim Jones did that.
So does Donald Trump.
Trump is, in his own perverse way, one of the greatest mystics of the 21st century. He is a masterful manipulator who told everyone from the beginning of his political career how he could shoot someone in front of witnesses and not lose a voter. He also explained that he calls the news media liars so people won’t believe us and will believe him.
Like every mystic, Trump adheres to magic over science. When pressed about climate change, he said the scientists don’t know. When pressed about the pandemic he said it would magically disappear. He often refuses to wear a mask and may be responsible for as many as 40 people in and around the White House becoming infected by the coronavirus. Like the huckster selling snake oil or the phony shaman dancing around a fire, Trump proclaimed himself feeling “great” in a video he tweeted to his millions of adoring fans. His magic is that of the wizard in the Wizard of Oz, and few who love him would dare pull back the curtain.
Podcast · August 15 2023 A.B. Stoddard: All the Ex-President’s Conspirators Donald Trump has been a low-rent mobster for his entire career, and now he’s getting…
He is the political messiah who will right all wrongs, drain the swamp, build a wall, make the economy better, and turn life into heaven on earth. Only he can solve the problems—never mind that he caused most of them. He lies to convince his worshipers, who in turn believe him because he addresses their concerns. Something isn’t right if the common man is getting screwed so much and life is so tough. Trump must be right. He’s a common man to the common man. Millions of his evangelical Christian admirers act as though he is a Christian; they are unwilling or unable to see he clearly is not . In truth, he’s merely a rich, pampered insecure man who only worships himself. It’s hard to see as he gives those who feel so disaffected an enemy to hate. It’s not our fault, he says, it’s the swamp. It’s the deep state. It’s anyone but us.
Like every cult leader, his outsized ego and narcissism fuel the rage he has against those who think or act differently than he. His closest disciples and believers have gone all in—because they see a path to glory and power they would otherwise not have. Stephen Miller, a man perpetually picked last for kickball, would never reach such heights without Trump, the mystic, as his mentor. Trump is a sedulous fly-catcher and he is among the best. He’s never worked for a living, but has convinced hard-working Americans that he alone knows what is best for the working man. He’s never served either in the military or in politics, prior to his run for president, but those who believe in him see a dedicated and selfless public servant who would charge into a tense standoff with guns blazing, like a cinematic Rambo.
He will continue to preach as he does because he knows nothing else. His minions will take up arms on his behalf—triggered by the president whom the marginalized and the dangerous have found a friend. He is indirectly responsible for those who plotted to kidnap a governor. He told the Proud Boys to stand back and stand by. The KKK endorses him. Every violent paramilitary group in the United States flocks to him as Branch Davidians flocked to hear their messiah in Waco.
The language is nearly the same. David Koresh spoke of an apocalypse at the hands of the federal government. So does Trump. Koresh said they were out to get him. So does Trump. Koresh violated the most basic forms of civility to maintain control. So does Trump.
Though he may still be contagious from the coronavirus, he plans once again this week to hit the streets and attend a rally where his supporters will deny science, refuse to wear masks, and blow off social-distancing. Meanwhile, the White House remains a biohazard petri dish with staffers terrified of catching the virus from Typhoid Donny, a president who wants to serve and promote his cult.
In the end, the Branch Davidians, assuring themselves that the apocalypse was upon them, died in a fire inside their own compound. Trump too says without his re-election, apocalypse could be upon us.
Here’s hoping Trump and his cult go a different route than the Branch Davidians should the president lose his bid for re-election.


thebulwark--2020-10-11--How Influential Was Eddie Van Halen?

How Influential Was Eddie Van Halen?

I am a high school history teacher and sometimes I fill in as the guitar teacher .
On my first day of guitar class six years ago , I gave the students a survey about their musical experience , interests , goals , etc .
One of the questions was : “ Who is your favorite guitar player ?
” After I collected the surveys and began to review them , I was shocked and saddened to see that the most common answers for that question were “ I don ’ t have one ” or just a question mark @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the early ’ 90s had asked me who my favorite guitarist was , I would have replied , “ I can only pick one ?
” If I had been asked that question in elementary school in the ’ 80s , though , I would have had an easy answer because I knew only one by name : Eddie Van Halen , who died last week at the age of 65 .
With Eddie on guitar , along with his brother Alex on drums , David Lee Roth on vocals , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was the coolest band there was when I was a kid .
As far as lead singer-guitarist pairs within rock bands , the ’ 60s gave us Mick and Keith , the ’ 70s gave us Plant and Page , and the first half of the ’ 80s gave us Diamond Dave and Eddie .
David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen were perfect for the glitz , glamour , and decadence of the ’ 80s hard rock scene .
Roth was the over-the-top , super-charismatic , loquacious , high-kicking frontman—and Eddie Van @ @ @ @ @ @ @ anything anyone had heard before .
As music critic J.D .
Considine wrote , “ Unlike virtually every rock guitarist before him , he didn ’ t simply build upon the electric-blues vocabulary of Clapton , Beck , Page and Hendrix—he created a whole new language , one that replaced the bluesy string bends and stinging sustain of old with screeching tremolo dive-bombs and lightning-fast hammer-ons and pull-offs .
As far as guitarists were concerned , it was as if the wheel had been reinvented.
” My introduction to Van Halen came with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ heyday of MTV , the songs and the videos “ Jump , ” “ Panama , ” and “ Hot For Teacher ” were fun and bawdy , just like the band wanted them to be .
( Disclaimer : Today , as an adult and parent—and , for that matter , as a teacher—I can not always condone the lyrics and imagery of Van Halen songs and videos that I liked when I was between the ages of 10 and 17 . )
A downside to the raucous , provocative , humorous @ @ @ @ @ @ @ may have made Eddie Van Halen seem like a mere party boy and unserious musician .
The latter couldn ’ t be further from the truth .
On the band ’ s biggest pop hit , “ Jump , ” the most prominent instrument is surprisingly not Eddie ’ s guitar : the song ’ s iconic riff is played on a keyboard synthesizer by .
.
.
Mr. Edward Van Halen .
“ Jump ” also features two different instrumental solos ( unthinkable these days ) : a guitar solo by Eddie @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Even though he never learned to read music , he was clearly the brains behind the operation of one of the biggest bands of the decade .
After 1984 , Roth left and was replaced by singer Sammy Hagar .
Eddie Van Halen continued to grow as musician and songwriter , and on both of the next two albums—5150 and OU812—played both guitar and keyboard parts , which alienated some of the hard rock purist fans .
In “ Finish What Ya Started , ” Eddie stripped away the distorted effects from his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ complained that his playing sounded too much like country music .
Although I , then a young teen , wasn ’ t a country fan , I remember thinking it was rad : “ What can ’ t this guy do ?
” The band ’ s 1991 album , For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge , opened with Eddie ’ s new trick : using a power drill to play the guitar on the single “ Poundcake.
” The drill was largely a gimmick , yes , but a symbol of his Eddie ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the fall of ’ 91 , I saw Van Halen in concert at the Capital Centre in Landover , Maryland—it was a blast .
My favorite part was an extended version of Eddie ’ s legendary unaccompanied guitar solo , called “ Eruption.
” I was a junior in high school and had been playing guitar for two and a half years .
I started because I had discovered the Beatles , followed by the magical format of classic rock radio : the Rolling Stones , Led Zeppelin , Cream , the Allman @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and many others .
While I quickly came to love the playing of Keith Richards , Jimmy Page , Eric Clapton , Duane Allman , Dickey Betts , and Jerry Garcia , that night I was in the presence of my original guitar hero .
By this time , I had gone back and listened to the band ’ s older material .
Like Prince , Van Halen exploded into superstardom with their sixth album , both released in 1984 ( Prince ’ s Purple Rain and Van Halen ’ s 1984 ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Halen ’ s first album came out in 1978 .
Van Halen ’ s self-titled album opened with “ Eruption , ” which segued into the band ’ s supercharged cover of The Kinks ’ seminal classic “ You Really Got Me.
” I can only imagine being a bit older and that being the first blast of Van Halen I ’ d ever heard .
I ’ m envious of those who experienced it that way .
Here ’ s a 4-minute version of “ Eruption ” and “ You Really Got @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , long after Eddie reunited with David Lee Roth and they started performing with Eddie ’ s son Wolfgang Van Halen on bass ( I picked this because in the old days , live versions of “ Eruption ” alone could be 10 minutes long ) : As Considine noted , a generation of guitarists were influenced by the likes of Eric Clapton , Jeff Beck , Jimmy Page , and Jimi Hendrix—just as those greats had in turn all been influenced by the blues guitarists who came before them , such as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sumlin , B.B .
King , and Buddy Guy .
Eddie Van Halen wasn ’ t unfamiliar with this musical legacy—I read an interview years ago where he discussed how he loved Clapton and learned all of his solos—yet his style sounds nothing like Clapton ’ s , nor like anybody else ’ s .
Eddie didn ’ t just synthesize what came before and add his own distinctive tweaks ; he made something new .
And Eddie Van Halen ’ s influence on others has been immense .
Following the 1978 debut @ @ @ @ @ @ @ virtuosos followed—including Joe Satriani , Steve Vai , Yngwie Malmsteen , Eric Johnson , and many others .
Their so-called “ shred ” guitar style continues to have an audience today .
For pop-oriented rock/hair metal bands of the 1980s ( Poison , Mötley Crüe , Whitesnake , etc . )
it was all but required to have a technically proficient lead guitarist who could take a solo in every song .
Why ?
Because Eddie raised the bar in rock guitar playing .
If you wanted to compete in that scene , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ changed in the 1990s : With the rise of Kurt Cobain and grunge , flashy guitar solos came to be seen as “ masturbatory , ” “ self-indulgent , ” and a symbol of the old , no longer cool era .
There ’ s a longstanding debate among Van Halen fans : Which is better—the David Lee Roth era ( pre-1985 ) or the Sammy Hagar era ( 1985-1996 , dubbed “ Van Hagar ” ) ?
To me , the debate always seemed largely unnecessary .
Both frontmen had their strengths @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Eddie Van Halen .
So is it really that important ?
Looking back at the videos , and reading some of the reassessments of the band from over the last decade , it might be tempting to dismiss Eddie Van Halen as “ just a guitar player in a hair metal band ” or “ a relic of the outdated , misogynistic sex-drugs-and-rock-and-roll ethos of the 1980s ” or “ a guy who likes immature album titles.
” But if you do , you dismiss an excellent musician and one of the greatest @ @ @ @ @ @

I am a high school history teacher and sometimes I fill in as the guitar teacher. On my first day of guitar class six years ago, I gave the students a survey about their musical experience, interests, goals, etc. One of the questions was: “Who is your favorite guitar player?” After I collected the surveys and began to review them, I was shocked and saddened to see that the most common answers for that question were “I don’t have one” or just a question mark.
If my high school guitar teachers in the early ’90s had asked me who my favorite guitarist was, I would have replied, “I can only pick one?”
If I had been asked that question in elementary school in the ’80s, though, I would have had an easy answer because I knew only one by name: Eddie Van Halen, who died last week at the age of 65.
With Eddie on guitar, along with his brother Alex on drums, David Lee Roth on vocals, and Michael Anthony on bass, Van Halen was the coolest band there was when I was a kid. As far as lead singer-guitarist pairs within rock bands, the ’60s gave us Mick and Keith, the ’70s gave us Plant and Page, and the first half of the ’80s gave us Diamond Dave and Eddie.
David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen were perfect for the glitz, glamour, and decadence of the ’80s hard rock scene. Roth was the over-the-top, super-charismatic, loquacious, high-kicking frontman—and Eddie Van Halen’s guitar playing was unlike anything anyone had heard before. As music critic J.D. Considine wrote, “Unlike virtually every rock guitarist before him, he didn’t simply build upon the electric-blues vocabulary of Clapton, Beck, Page and Hendrix—he created a whole new language, one that replaced the bluesy string bends and stinging sustain of old with screeching tremolo dive-bombs and lightning-fast hammer-ons and pull-offs. As far as guitarists were concerned, it was as if the wheel had been reinvented.”
My introduction to Van Halen came with their album 1984. Released during the heyday of MTV, the songs and the videos “Jump,” “Panama,” and “Hot For Teacher” were fun and bawdy, just like the band wanted them to be. (Disclaimer: Today, as an adult and parent—and, for that matter, as a teacher—I cannot always condone the lyrics and imagery of Van Halen songs and videos that I liked when I was between the ages of 10 and 17.) A downside to the raucous, provocative, humorous image of the band is that it may have made Eddie Van Halen seem like a mere party boy and unserious musician.
The latter couldn’t be further from the truth. On the band’s biggest pop hit, “Jump,” the most prominent instrument is surprisingly not Eddie’s guitar: the song’s iconic riff is played on a keyboard synthesizer by . . . Mr. Edward Van Halen.
Van Halen - Jump (Official Music Video)
Watch this video on YouTube
“Jump” also features two different instrumental solos (unthinkable these days): a guitar solo by Eddie and a synth solo by Eddie. Even though he never learned to read music, he was clearly the brains behind the operation of one of the biggest bands of the decade.
After 1984, Roth left and was replaced by singer Sammy Hagar. Eddie Van Halen continued to grow as musician and songwriter, and on both of the next two albums—5150 and OU812—played both guitar and keyboard parts, which alienated some of the hard rock purist fans. In “Finish What Ya Started,” Eddie stripped away the distorted effects from his signature guitar sound. Hard rock purists complained that his playing sounded too much like country music. Although I, then a young teen, wasn’t a country fan, I remember thinking it was rad: “What can’t this guy do?”
Van Halen - Finish What Ya Started
Watch this video on YouTube
The band’s 1991 album, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, opened with Eddie’s new trick: using a power drill to play the guitar on the single “Poundcake.” The drill was largely a gimmick, yes, but a symbol of his Eddie’s experimentation and technical creativity.
Van Halen - Poundcake (1991) (Music Video - Full Length Version) WIDESCREEN 1080p
Watch this video on YouTube
In the fall of ’91, I saw Van Halen in concert at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland—it was a blast. My favorite part was an extended version of Eddie’s legendary unaccompanied guitar solo, called “Eruption.” I was a junior in high school and had been playing guitar for two and a half years. I started because I had discovered the Beatles, followed by the magical format of classic rock radio: the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Cream, the Allman Brothers Band, the Grateful Dead, and many others. While I quickly came to love the playing of Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Duane Allman, Dickey Betts, and Jerry Garcia, that night I was in the presence of my original guitar hero.
By this time, I had gone back and listened to the band’s older material. Like Prince, Van Halen exploded into superstardom with their sixth album, both released in 1984 (Prince’s Purple Rain and Van Halen’s 1984). And as with Prince, Van Halen’s first album came out in 1978. Van Halen’s self-titled album opened with “Eruption,” which segued into the band’s supercharged cover of The Kinks’ seminal classic “You Really Got Me.” I can only imagine being a bit older and that being the first blast of Van Halen I’d ever heard. I’m envious of those who experienced it that way. Here’s a 4-minute version of “Eruption” and “You Really Got Me” from a 2015 live performance, long after Eddie reunited with David Lee Roth and they started performing with Eddie’s son Wolfgang Van Halen on bass (I picked this because in the old days, live versions of “Eruption” alone could be 10 minutes long):
Van Halen - Eruption and You Really Got Me (Live 2015)
Watch this video on YouTube
As Considine noted, a generation of guitarists were influenced by the likes of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, and Jimi Hendrix—just as those greats had in turn all been influenced by the blues guitarists who came before them, such as Robert Johnson, Albert King, Hubert Sumlin, B.B. King, and Buddy Guy. Eddie Van Halen wasn’t unfamiliar with this musical legacy—I read an interview years ago where he discussed how he loved Clapton and learned all of his solos—yet his style sounds nothing like Clapton’s, nor like anybody else’s. Eddie didn’t just synthesize what came before and add his own distinctive tweaks; he made something new.
And Eddie Van Halen’s influence on others has been immense. Following the 1978 debut, a stream of technique-driven rock guitar virtuosos followed—including Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Eric Johnson, and many others. Their so-called “shred” guitar style continues to have an audience today.
For pop-oriented rock/hair metal bands of the 1980s (Poison, Mötley Crüe, Whitesnake, etc.) it was all but required to have a technically proficient lead guitarist who could take a solo in every song. Why? Because Eddie raised the bar in rock guitar playing. If you wanted to compete in that scene, your lead guitarist needed chops. That changed in the 1990s: With the rise of Kurt Cobain and grunge, flashy guitar solos came to be seen as “masturbatory,” “self-indulgent,” and a symbol of the old, no longer cool era.
There’s a longstanding debate among Van Halen fans: Which is better—the David Lee Roth era (pre-1985) or the Sammy Hagar era (1985-1996, dubbed “Van Hagar”)?
To me, the debate always seemed largely unnecessary. Both frontmen had their strengths and weaknesses. And both eras had Eddie Van Halen. So is it really that important?
Looking back at the videos, and reading some of the reassessments of the band from over the last decade, it might be tempting to dismiss Eddie Van Halen as “just a guitar player in a hair metal band” or “a relic of the outdated, misogynistic sex-drugs-and-rock-and-roll ethos of the 1980s” or “a guy who likes immature album titles.” But if you do, you dismiss an excellent musician and one of the greatest rock-and-roll guitarists who ever lived.