occupydemocrats--2020-04-17--Livid Democrats erupt in fury after call with Pence’s virus team: “never been so mad about a call”

As public criticism of the Trump administration ’ s lackluster response to the coronavirus crisis continues to mount , our elected officials are begining to express their own frustration with the lack of transparency and urgency coming from the White House .
POLITICO reports that “ livid ” Democratic Senators “ erupted ” after a particuarly fruitless conference call with Vice-President Mike Pence and his coronavirus task force that failed to provide them with any of the answers they wanted about national testing efforts .
Maine Senator Angus King reportedly charged the administration with leaving states “ adrift , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ duty ” , and that he had “ never been so mad about a phone call in my life.
” Other Democrats complained that the Trump team was “ was vague on the details and was overly optimistic in its thinking ” when it came to America ’ s COVID-19 testing capabilities and the speed with which states would be able to re-open their economies , reports POLITICO ’ s Burgess Everett .
“ The fundamental problem is a lack of capacity which at this point they can ’ t fix .
So @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” said an unnamed Democrat .
They are right to be frustrated , as America ’ s testing woes are largely the fault of the Trump administration .
When the White House was first forced to take the threat from the novel coronavirus seriously , they deliberately slow-walked testing in order to avoid the discovery of more coronavirus cases and potentially damage Trump ’ s re-election chances .
On top of that , the Trump administration decided to refuse to accept the test kits that the World Health Organization was shipping to countries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ February .
Instead , reports POLITICO , they decided to go ahead with an American-made test that inevitably was delayed by manufacturing issues , lab contamination , and logistical problems .
While the virus was first picking up steam in February , America lagged far behind the rest of the world in testing and in declaring quarantine protocols , allowing the virus to spread at ease through major population centers .
VOX ’ s Dylan Scott reports that “ the US has improved from ‘ horrifically bad ’ to ‘ woefully short ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is decentralized and not coordinated…And the federal government has not stepped in to provide that coordination and help ramp up the manufacturing .
Finally , we have such a testing deficit that we are playing a terrible game of catch-up , ” warns Kaiser Family Foundation global health director Jen Kates to VOX .
After appalling mismanagment of virus containment and testing in the onset period , the Trump team appears to now dead set on mismangaging the recovery phase and forcing open the economy before it is safe to do so .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ thanks to their greed and ambition ?

As public criticism of the Trump administration’s lackluster response to the coronavirus crisis continues to mount, our elected officials are begining to express their own frustration with the lack of transparency and urgency coming from the White House.
POLITICO reports that “livid” Democratic Senators “erupted” after a particuarly fruitless conference call with Vice-President Mike Pence and his coronavirus task force that failed to provide them with any of the answers they wanted about national testing efforts.
Maine Senator Angus King reportedly charged the administration with leaving states “adrift,” that it was a “dereliction of duty”, and that he had “never been so mad about a phone call in my life.”
Other Democrats complained that the Trump team was “was vague on the details and was overly optimistic in its thinking” when it came to America’s COVID-19 testing capabilities and the speed with which states would be able to re-open their economies, reports POLITICO’s Burgess Everett.
“The fundamental problem is a lack of capacity which at this point they can’t fix. So they are explaining it away…Everyone was livid” said an unnamed Democrat.
They are right to be frustrated, as America’s testing woes are largely the fault of the Trump administration. When the White House was first forced to take the threat from the novel coronavirus seriously, they deliberately slow-walked testing in order to avoid the discovery of more coronavirus cases and potentially damage Trump’s re-election chances.
On top of that, the Trump administration decided to refuse to accept the test kits that the World Health Organization was shipping to countries around the world at the end of February.
Instead, reports POLITICO, they decided to go ahead with an American-made test that inevitably was delayed by manufacturing issues, lab contamination, and logistical problems.
While the virus was first picking up steam in February, America lagged far behind the rest of the world in testing and in declaring quarantine protocols, allowing the virus to spread at ease through major population centers.
Testing falls woefully short in U.S.: “Nationally, an average of 145,000 people have been tested for the virus/day over the past week.” In total, the US. has administered 3.26 million tests, which comes to just 1% of the population. https://t.co/2RwymTSB2N — Ali Velshi (@AliVelshi) April 16, 2020
VOX’s Dylan Scott reports that “the US has improved from ‘horrifically bad’ to ‘woefully short’ on Covid-19 tests.”
”The system is decentralized and not coordinated…And the federal government has not stepped in to provide that coordination and help ramp up the manufacturing. Finally, we have such a testing deficit that we are playing a terrible game of catch-up,” warns Kaiser Family Foundation global health director Jen Kates to VOX.
After appalling mismanagment of virus containment and testing in the onset period, the Trump team appears to now dead set on mismangaging the recovery phase and forcing open the economy before it is safe to do so. How many more lives will be lost thanks to their greed and ambition?
Original reporting by Burgess Everett at POLITICO.
Colin Taylor Opinion columnist and former editor-in-chief of Occupy Democrats. He graduated from Bennington College with a Bachelor's degree in history and political science. He now focuses on advancing the cause of social justice and equality in America. Latest Posts


occupydemocrats--2020-04-17--Obama’s CIA chief leaps to his defense with public rebuke of Trump’s virus lies

The president is struggling to keep his dense head above water .
It ’ s now become clear to a huge swath of the population that his administration has botched its response to the coronavirus from the start and that Americans are dead because of it .
Shelter in place orders on the state level have finally managed to curb the infection rates somewhat , but right-wingers are already clambering for an immediate reopening of the economy .
Trump is torn between placating his unhinged base and the self-evident truth that a premature attempt to return to normalcy will lead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He ’ s in a lose-lose position and already seems to be tipping towards the more deadly option .
Add your name to reject Trump & Republicans ’ vile idea of sacrificing seniors ’ lives to save the stock market !
Pressured on several fronts and lacking the intellectual acuity or work ethic to actually solve any of these problems , Trump has been reduced to desperately slinging out counter-narratives and distractions in the hope that something will stick .
To that end , the president fired off a whiny tweet accusing Joe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ collective “ disaster ” in their handling of the H1N1 Swine Flu .
Ignoring the baseless claim that the Obama administration bungled their swine flu efforts ( neither of them dismissed that pandemic as a hoax ) , it should be pointed out that the CDC estimates 12,469 Americans died from H1N1 between 2009 and 2010 ( not the 17,000 that Trump claimed in his tweets ) .
For comparison , the CDC estimates that at least 31,000 Americans have already died from COVID-19 with more to come .
In case the first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t make it abundantly clear that this was nothing more than a cheap attempt to shift negative attention off himself , Trump included a complete non-sequitur about the website for the Affordable Care Act .
The transparent partisan hackery on display is enough to make one cringe .
Unable to formulate a real defense of his White House , Trump is reduced to slinging out random , irrelevant Fox News talking points .
John Brennan , former CIA director under President Obama and a vocal critic of the current occupant of the White @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to take Trump to task for his dishonesty which Brennan observed “ has no limits.
” The ex-CIA chief when on to correct the record , pointing out that swine flu was made an “ immediate top priority and handled decisively ” by the Obama administration .
He went on to outline all the ways in which the Obama response was vastly superior to Trump ’ s COVID-19 actions and finished by pointing out that approval for Obama and Biden was much higher than Trump ’ s is during this current crisis .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ bottom drubbing of our current president ’ s shameless lies .

The president is struggling to keep his dense head above water. It’s now become clear to a huge swath of the population that his administration has botched its response to the coronavirus from the start and that Americans are dead because of it.
Shelter in place orders on the state level have finally managed to curb the infection rates somewhat, but right-wingers are already clambering for an immediate reopening of the economy.
Trump is torn between placating his unhinged base and the self-evident truth that a premature attempt to return to normalcy will lead to a huge spike in deaths. He’s in a lose-lose position and already seems to be tipping towards the more deadly option.
Add your name to reject Trump & Republicans’ vile idea of sacrificing seniors’ lives to save the stock market!
Pressured on several fronts and lacking the intellectual acuity or work ethic to actually solve any of these problems, Trump has been reduced to desperately slinging out counter-narratives and distractions in the hope that something will stick. To that end, the president fired off a whiny tweet accusing Joe Biden and Barack Obama of being a collective “disaster” in their handling of the H1N1 Swine Flu.
Ignoring the baseless claim that the Obama administration bungled their swine flu efforts (neither of them dismissed that pandemic as a hoax), it should be pointed out that the CDC estimates 12,469 Americans died from H1N1 between 2009 and 2010 (not the 17,000 that Trump claimed in his tweets). For comparison, the CDC estimates that at least 31,000 Americans have already died from COVID-19 with more to come.
In case the first part of the tweet alone didn’t make it abundantly clear that this was nothing more than a cheap attempt to shift negative attention off himself, Trump included a complete non-sequitur about the website for the Affordable Care Act.
The transparent partisan hackery on display is enough to make one cringe. Unable to formulate a real defense of his White House, Trump is reduced to slinging out random, irrelevant Fox News talking points.
Biden/Obama were a disaster in handling the H1N1 Swine Flu. Polling at the time showed disastrous approval numbers. 17,000 people died unnecessarily and through incompetence! Also, don’t forget their 5 Billion Dollar Obamacare website that should have cost close to nothing! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 17, 2020
John Brennan, former CIA director under President Obama and a vocal critic of the current occupant of the White House, saw the tweet and decided to take Trump to task for his dishonesty which Brennan observed “has no limits.”
The ex-CIA chief when on to correct the record, pointing out that swine flu was made an “immediate top priority and handled decisively” by the Obama administration. He went on to outline all the ways in which the Obama response was vastly superior to Trump’s COVID-19 actions and finished by pointing out that approval for Obama and Biden was much higher than Trump’s is during this current crisis.
It was a succinct, top to bottom drubbing of our current president’s shameless lies.
Your dishonesty has no limits. H1N1 was an immediate top priority & handled decisively. FDA quickly approved testing kits, issued emergency authorizations & approved rapidly developed vaccines. Approval of Obama/Biden leadership was 66% at beginning of outbreak; 57% through fall. https://t.co/JNLgsxTKZm — John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) April 17, 2020
Staff Report This is a staff report from former Occupy Democrats Editor in Chief Colin Taylor or contributor Rob Haffney. Latest Posts


occupydemocrats--2020-04-17--Trump desperately tries to distract nation from his guilt by blaming Obama and Biden for swine flu

The president is struggling to keep his dense head above water .
It ’ s now become clear to a huge swath of the population that his administration has botched its response to the coronavirus from the start and that Americans are dead because of it .
Shelter in place orders on the state level have finally managed to curb the infection rates somewhat , but right-wingers are already clambering for an immediate reopening of the economy .
Trump is torn between placating his unhinged base and the self-evident truth that a premature attempt to return to normalcy will lead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He ’ s in a lose-lose position and already seems to be tipping towards the more deadly option .
Add your name to reject Trump & Republicans ’ vile idea of sacrificing seniors ’ lives to save the stock market !
Pressured on several fronts and lacking the intellectual acuity or work ethic to actually solve any of these problems , Trump has been reduced to desperately slinging out counter-narratives and distractions in the hope that something will stick .
To that end , the president fired off a whiny tweet accusing Joe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ collective “ disaster ” in their handling of the H1N1 Swine Flu .
Ignoring the baseless claim that the Obama administration bungled their swine flu efforts ( neither of them dismissed that pandemic as a hoax ) , it should be pointed out that the CDC estimates 12,469 Americans died from H1N1 between 2009 and 2010 ( not the 17,000 that Trump claimed in his tweets ) .
For comparison , the CDC estimates that at least 31,000 Americans have already died from COVID-19 with more to come .
In case the first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t make it abundantly clear that this was nothing more than a cheap attempt to shift negative attention off himself , Trump included a complete non-sequitur about the website for the Affordable Care Act .
The transparent partisan hackery on display is enough to make one cringe .
Unable to formulate a real defense of his White House , Trump is reduced to slinging out random , irrelevant Fox News talking points .
It ’ s also worth noting that Trump wrote it as Biden/Obama and not Obama/Biden .
Now that the former @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is beating Trump in the polls the president is sweating .
He knows Biden can beat him in November .
That alone is cause for hope .

The president is struggling to keep his dense head above water. It’s now become clear to a huge swath of the population that his administration has botched its response to the coronavirus from the start and that Americans are dead because of it.
Shelter in place orders on the state level have finally managed to curb the infection rates somewhat, but right-wingers are already clambering for an immediate reopening of the economy.
Trump is torn between placating his unhinged base and the self-evident truth that a premature attempt to return to normalcy will lead to a huge spike in deaths. He’s in a lose-lose position and already seems to be tipping towards the more deadly option.
Add your name to reject Trump & Republicans’ vile idea of sacrificing seniors’ lives to save the stock market!
Pressured on several fronts and lacking the intellectual acuity or work ethic to actually solve any of these problems, Trump has been reduced to desperately slinging out counter-narratives and distractions in the hope that something will stick. To that end, the president fired off a whiny tweet accusing Joe Biden and Barack Obama of being a collective “disaster” in their handling of the H1N1 Swine Flu.
Ignoring the baseless claim that the Obama administration bungled their swine flu efforts (neither of them dismissed that pandemic as a hoax), it should be pointed out that the CDC estimates 12,469 Americans died from H1N1 between 2009 and 2010 (not the 17,000 that Trump claimed in his tweets). For comparison, the CDC estimates that at least 31,000 Americans have already died from COVID-19 with more to come.
In case the first part of the tweet alone didn’t make it abundantly clear that this was nothing more than a cheap attempt to shift negative attention off himself, Trump included a complete non-sequitur about the website for the Affordable Care Act.
The transparent partisan hackery on display is enough to make one cringe. Unable to formulate a real defense of his White House, Trump is reduced to slinging out random, irrelevant Fox News talking points.
It’s also worth noting that Trump wrote it as Biden/Obama and not Obama/Biden. Now that the former vice president is the presumptive nominee and is beating Trump in the polls the president is sweating. He knows Biden can beat him in November. That alone is cause for hope.
Biden/Obama were a disaster in handling the H1N1 Swine Flu. Polling at the time showed disastrous approval numbers. 17,000 people died unnecessarily and through incompetence! Also, don’t forget their 5 Billion Dollar Obamacare website that should have cost close to nothing! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 17, 2020
Staff Report This is a staff report from former Occupy Democrats Editor in Chief Colin Taylor or contributor Rob Haffney. Latest Posts


occupydemocrats--2020-04-17--Trump smears Cuomo’s virus response after NY Gov. reminds him how Constitution works

President Trump and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo clashed again on Friday afternoon , this time over whose responsibility it was to run COVID-19 testing programs .
Trump finally admitted yesterday that it was up to the states to decide when to re-open their economies and lift quarantine/social distancing procedures and it was not the President who had “ total authority ” over the matter , as he had previously decided to argue .
Gov .
Andrew Cuomo , tired of the President ’ s obvious ignorance of the Constitution and the preposterous power games Trump has played with Democratic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ LIBERATION ” of Michigan , Virginia , and Minnesota from statewide lockdowns — remarked today that it was always up to the states and taunted Trump over his inability to force the states to heed his will .
Predictably , this provoked a furious and insulting Twitter outburst from the President : The president ’ s words are a continuation of a month-long feud he has waged against Cuomo , one in which life-saving medical supplies and equipment have become playing pieces on a perverse chessboard of petulance .
Add your name @ @ @ @ @ @ @ idea of sacrificing seniors ’ lives to save the stock market !
Densely populated New York City has become an epicenter of coronavirus infection , and Governor Cuomo has understandably been extremely vocal about his state ’ s need for medical supplies and equipment , especially life-saving ventilators .
In response , the President — who is from New York City — has disparaged and mocked Governor Cuomo ’ s urgent requests for more and more material as “ complaining ” and continuously accuses Cuomo of being “ ungrateful ” for what he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of that , Trump bizarrely and baselessly told FOX ’ s Sean Hannity that he didn ’ t believe New York , which now has over a hundred thousand cases , actually needed 30,000 to 40,000 ventilators .
While the president ’ s sociopathic disregard for human life has been obvious for years , it is still a great outrage to see him treat medical supplies and equipment — and the lives that hang in the balance — as yet another weapon for him to use in his childish and monstrously petty feud @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his many , many , many faults , is just trying to keep people from dying .

President Trump and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo clashed again on Friday afternoon, this time over whose responsibility it was to run COVID-19 testing programs. Trump finally admitted yesterday that it was up to the states to decide when to re-open their economies and lift quarantine/social distancing procedures and it was not the President who had “total authority” over the matter, as he had previously decided to argue.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, tired of the President’s obvious ignorance of the Constitution and the preposterous power games Trump has played with Democratic states — which included calling for the “LIBERATION” of Michigan, Virginia, and Minnesota from statewide lockdowns — remarked today that it was always up to the states and taunted Trump over his inability to force the states to heed his will.
Here's the Andrew Cuomo comments that apparently set off Trump: "The only thing he's doing — let's be honest — 'well, it's up to the states' … it was always up to the states. What, are you going to grant me what the Constitution gave me before you were born?" pic.twitter.com/mFHTlXnwro — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 17, 2020
Predictably, this provoked a furious and insulting Twitter outburst from the President:
….testing that you should be doing. We have given New York far more money, help and equipment than any other state, by far, & these great men & women who did the job never hear you say thanks. Your numbers are not good. Less talk and more action! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 17, 2020
The president’s words are a continuation of a month-long feud he has waged against Cuomo, one in which life-saving medical supplies and equipment have become playing pieces on a perverse chessboard of petulance.
Add your name to reject Trump & Republicans’ vile idea of sacrificing seniors’ lives to save the stock market!
Densely populated New York City has become an epicenter of coronavirus infection, and Governor Cuomo has understandably been extremely vocal about his state’s need for medical supplies and equipment, especially life-saving ventilators.
In response, the President — who is from New York City — has disparaged and mocked Governor Cuomo’s urgent requests for more and more material as “complaining” and continuously accuses Cuomo of being “ungrateful” for what he’s already recieved.
On top of that, Trump bizarrely and baselessly told FOX’s Sean Hannity that he didn’t believe New York, which now has over a hundred thousand cases, actually needed 30,000 to 40,000 ventilators.
While the president’s sociopathic disregard for human life has been obvious for years, it is still a great outrage to see him treat medical supplies and equipment — and the lives that hang in the balance — as yet another weapon for him to use in his childish and monstrously petty feud with a governor who, for all his many, many, many faults, is just trying to keep people from dying.
Staff Report This is a staff report from former Occupy Democrats Editor in Chief Colin Taylor or contributor Rob Haffney. Latest Posts


occupydemocrats--2020-04-17--Trump unleashes Twitter outburst for Americans to “LIBERATE” Minnesota from virus lockdown

The idea is quickly taking hold on the far right that the government should immediately move to reopen the economy and send people back to work even if it means a big spike in coronavirus deaths .
Fox News has been steadily beating the drum that such losses would be acceptable and Trump himself is actively pushing for a speedy return to economic productivity .
It ’ s hardly surprising that the GOP , a political party that exists primarily to protect the wealth of the super-rich , would be willing to sacrifice American lives for profits , but it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be falling for it .
Yes , being unable to work is a terrible burden and the economic downturn will hurt all of us , but sending people back to work early and skyrocketing the infection and mortality rates would overwhelm hospitals and perhaps even push us into a worse economic position .
The sudden deaths of thousands of Americans would have an unimaginable effect on this country , both psychologically and economically .
There is simply no sane argument to ease virus restrictions yet .
Protests are starting to heat up , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ take this pandemic seriously enough pressure their state leadership to prematurely end shelter in place laws .
Michigan saw a mob of conservatives and Trump supporters descend on the state capitol to protest the Democratic governor and demand an end to virus restrictions .
Similar protests against stay at home orders were held at the governor ’ s mansions in Minnesota and Virginia .
Add your name to reject Trump & Republicans ’ vile idea of sacrificing seniors ’ lives to save the stock market !
The position the president finds himself in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He rode into the White House on a wave of far-right populism , with all the warts ( namely anti-science biases ) that come with such politics .
Now he must decide between these frankly suicidal calls for an early reopening against his desire to keep his base happy and convinced that he ’ s on that side .
To that end , Trump tweeted out in all caps that Americans must “ LIBERATE ” Minnesota , followed up by a similar tweet about Michigan and one about Virginia .
The deranged all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protestors will be able to read them as unwavering support for their causes and unspecific enough that he has plausible deniability when it ’ s pointed out that he ’ s backing an idea that will kill countless Americans .
If there ’ s one reliable thing about Donald J. Trump it ’ s that he will always put his own political interests over the common good and health of this nation .
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The idea is quickly taking hold on the far right that the government should immediately move to reopen the economy and send people back to work even if it means a big spike in coronavirus deaths. Fox News has been steadily beating the drum that such losses would be acceptable and Trump himself is actively pushing for a speedy return to economic productivity.
It’s hardly surprising that the GOP, a political party that exists primarily to protect the wealth of the super-rich, would be willing to sacrifice American lives for profits, but it is surprising how many people seem to be falling for it.
Yes, being unable to work is a terrible burden and the economic downturn will hurt all of us, but sending people back to work early and skyrocketing the infection and mortality rates would overwhelm hospitals and perhaps even push us into a worse economic position. The sudden deaths of thousands of Americans would have an unimaginable effect on this country, both psychologically and economically. There is simply no sane argument to ease virus restrictions yet.
Protests are starting to heat up, as Americans who clearly don’t take this pandemic seriously enough pressure their state leadership to prematurely end shelter in place laws. Michigan saw a mob of conservatives and Trump supporters descend on the state capitol to protest the Democratic governor and demand an end to virus restrictions. Similar protests against stay at home orders were held at the governor’s mansions in Minnesota and Virginia.
Add your name to reject Trump & Republicans’ vile idea of sacrificing seniors’ lives to save the stock market!
The position the president finds himself in is one of his own making. He rode into the White House on a wave of far-right populism, with all the warts (namely anti-science biases) that come with such politics. Now he must decide between these frankly suicidal calls for an early reopening against his desire to keep his base happy and convinced that he’s on that side.
To that end, Trump tweeted out in all caps that Americans must “LIBERATE” Minnesota, followed up by a similar tweet about Michigan and one about Virginia.
The deranged all caps messages were just vague enough that protestors will be able to read them as unwavering support for their causes and unspecific enough that he has plausible deniability when it’s pointed out that he’s backing an idea that will kill countless Americans.
If there’s one reliable thing about Donald J. Trump it’s that he will always put his own political interests over the common good and health of this nation.
LIBERATE MINNESOTA! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 17, 2020
LIBERATE MICHIGAN! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 17, 2020
LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 17, 2020
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Staff Report This is a staff report from former Occupy Democrats Editor in Chief Colin Taylor or contributor Rob Haffney. Latest Posts


occupydemocrats--2020-04-17--Israeli news: U.S. intel warned Trump team about virus in November but it “wasn’t of interest”

When assessing any kind of crisis response by a government , the two most important questions are always “ what did they know and when did they know it ?
” As the American death toll from the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic pushes past 33,000 lives lost , the answers to those questions are more pressing than ever .
Disturbingly , as the weeks go by it is becoming more and more clear that the Trump administration had all the warnings in the world that it deliberately ignored time and time again .
Israel ’ s Channel 12 news reported @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Israeli government about the threat posed by COVID-19 as early as last November , even before the Chinese publicly revealed the existence of the disease to the rest of the world .
United States intelligence naturally warned the Trump administration as well , “ which did not deem it of interest , ” according to the Times of Israel .
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Just last night , President Trump was publicly complaining about how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sooner about the virus and that “ people knew but didn ’ t want to talk about it.
” It ’ s now clear that he was told sooner about the virus and could have done any number of things to prepare for a pandemic , which the Pentagon has been warning for years was a high threat to the United States .
President Trump was first briefed on the threat posed by the virus on January 18th , just three days after the first COVID-19 case in the United States was discovered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Peter Navarro warned the White House in a memo that the novel coronavirus could kill half a million Americans and cause trillions in economic damage .
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar personally warned Trump about the pandemic on January 30th , the same day that the World Health Organization declared the virus a global pandemic .
In all , Trump ’ s administration would be warned at least ten times in the time between the discovery of the virus and the declaration of a national emergency on March 11th .
His @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the spread of the virus before it was too late places all 33,000 of those deaths on his shoulders .
Not only can we not afford to let him govern this great nation for another four years , justice demands some kind of investigation and trial for what is an open-and-shut case of criminal negligence that has led to tens of thousands of dead Americans .
Original reporting can be found at the Times of Israel .
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When assessing any kind of crisis response by a government, the two most important questions are always “what did they know and when did they know it?”
As the American death toll from the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic pushes past 33,000 lives lost, the answers to those questions are more pressing than ever. Disturbingly, as the weeks go by it is becoming more and more clear that the Trump administration had all the warnings in the world that it deliberately ignored time and time again.
Israel’s Channel 12 news reported last night that U.S. intelligence warned the Israeli government about the threat posed by COVID-19 as early as last November, even before the Chinese publicly revealed the existence of the disease to the rest of the world.
United States intelligence naturally warned the Trump administration as well, “which did not deem it of interest,” according to the Times of Israel.
Add your name to reject Trump & Republicans’ vile idea of sacrificing seniors’ lives to save the stock market!
Just last night, President Trump was publicly complaining about how the international community should have been told sooner about the virus and that “people knew but didn’t want to talk about it.”
Trump says he's angry he wasn't told there was an epidemic: "And I was angry, because this should have been told to us. It should have been told to us early. It should have been told to us a lot sooner. People knew it was happening and people didn't want to talk about it." pic.twitter.com/XgWWaXAWTF — Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) April 16, 2020
It’s now clear that he was told sooner about the virus and could have done any number of things to prepare for a pandemic, which the Pentagon has been warning for years was a high threat to the United States.
President Trump was first briefed on the threat posed by the virus on January 18th, just three days after the first COVID-19 case in the United States was discovered. On January 29th, economic advisor Peter Navarro warned the White House in a memo that the novel coronavirus could kill half a million Americans and cause trillions in economic damage.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar personally warned Trump about the pandemic on January 30th, the same day that the World Health Organization declared the virus a global pandemic. In all, Trump’s administration would be warned at least ten times in the time between the discovery of the virus and the declaration of a national emergency on March 11th.
His failure to take any action to stop the spread of the virus before it was too late places all 33,000 of those deaths on his shoulders. Not only can we not afford to let him govern this great nation for another four years, justice demands some kind of investigation and trial for what is an open-and-shut case of criminal negligence that has led to tens of thousands of dead Americans.
Original reporting can be found at the Times of Israel.
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Colin Taylor Opinion columnist and former editor-in-chief of Occupy Democrats. He graduated from Bennington College with a Bachelor's degree in history and political science. He now focuses on advancing the cause of social justice and equality in America. Latest Posts


occupydemocrats--2020-04-19--Trump’s virus briefing devolves into personal attacks on media amidst excuses, blame, and falsehoods

After a blissful Easter weekend in which Donald Trump avoided holding any of his campaign propaganda sessions disguised as press briefings on both Saturday and Sunday last week , the weekend misinformation sessions returned today with a vengeance .
While it is difficult to sit through Trump ’ s transparently self-interested monologues consisting of political grievances , blame-casting , and the distracting spin he uses to excuse his administration ’ s ongoing multiple failures to properly address the pandemic — one that could have had much less severe consequences were it not for the president ’ s slug-like response — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ live-tweeting the president ’ s briefings every day somehow managed to churn out the lowlights of Trump ’ s repulsive rants without throwing their computers out the window and screaming “ I ’ m mad as hell , and I ’ m not going to take it anymore ” ala the news anchor character Howard Beale in the 1975 film classic Network .
While Aaron Rupar of Vox and CNN ‘ s fact-checking specialist Daniel Dale may have been quietly replaying that scene in their minds , no reports of flying electronic equipment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , so we can assume that both made it through today ’ s absurdities without having to place emergency replacement computer orders .
Through both Dale ’ s text-based descriptions of the president ’ s remarks and Rupar ’ s commentary based on video excerpts proving that Trump actually said that thing that made you shake your head in disbelief , one can get a fairly complete picture of the true derangement on display at these bogus campaign rallies that one must sit through in order to hear the latest statistics from the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ factual words in edgewise , when not interrupted or prompted by presidential asides .
The Vox correspondent provides the relevant footage illustrating Dale ’ s descriptions .
Trump continued to ramble on spouting unverified accusations against China before declaring his victory over the ventilators he now claims to be under his soveriegnity .
If the deadly seriousness of the pandemic wasn ’ t weighing so heavily on the entire nation , Trump ’ s attempts to blame Democrats of politicizing his administration ’ s incompetence in dealing with the crisis in the middle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chortle-heavy laughable .
Yes , politicizing testing at this time is reprehensible according to the president , but Trump spends the majority of his free campaign ad attacking Democrats , state governors , and the press .
Well , any number spilling out of Trump ’ s mouth is by definition a number that nobody should have believed .
The president ’ s recollection of dates is equally suspect .
It seems that the “ everybody ” that Trump refers to likely refers to himself , given that he was still golfing and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ told by intelligence agencies AS EARLY AS LAST NOVEMBER that the coronavirus could turn into a life-changing pandemic .
Trump ’ s apparent loathing for the First Amendment became quite clear as he launched into a long rant against the press that refuses to simply accept his constant falsehoods as the truth , singling out particular venom for Maggie Haberman of The New York Times , who we hope has been provided with a security detail to protect her from right-wing lunatics potentially inspired to violence by the president ’ s personal attacks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stopped his monologue to allow the Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx to speak , he still refused to shut up , interrupting the patiently suffering physician ’ s presentation with comments from the sidelines .
Trump ’ s usually contentious question and answer battle with reporters was no less bellicose than usual , although one longs for one brave White House correspondent to replicate the action an Iraqi journalist took with President G.W .
Bush at the 2008 press conference where the then-president was narrowly missed by thrown shoes in the ultimate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are plenty more examples of Trump ’ s outright lies , evasiveness , and both offensive and defensive political posturing at today ’ s press briefing that we could include here , we ’ ll direct you to the full Twitter threads of the esteemed Mr. Rupar and Mr. Dale to read the rest , or , if you have the stomach for it , you can watch the entire press conference at C-Span ’ s website .
Before we go to our own window to shout out our frustrations with this COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ll leave you with a concluding gem from Vox ‘ s Mr. Rupar ’ s video blog of the event .
We did .
We are .
And we ’ re mad as hell and we ’ re not going to take it anymore .
See you at the polls in November , if we can survive this madness until then .
Original reporting by Daniel Dale at CNN and Aaron Rupar at Vox .
We want to hear what YOU have to say .
Scroll down and let us know in @ @ @ @ @

After a blissful Easter weekend in which Donald Trump avoided holding any of his campaign propaganda sessions disguised as press briefings on both Saturday and Sunday last week, the weekend misinformation sessions returned today with a vengeance.
While it is difficult to sit through Trump’s transparently self-interested monologues consisting of political grievances, blame-casting, and the distracting spin he uses to excuse his administration’s ongoing multiple failures to properly address the pandemic — one that could have had much less severe consequences were it not for the president’s slug-like response — the indefatigable reporters who’ve been live-tweeting the president’s briefings every day somehow managed to churn out the lowlights of Trump’s repulsive rants without throwing their computers out the window and screaming “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore” ala the news anchor character Howard Beale in the 1975 film classic Network.
While Aaron Rupar of Vox and CNN‘s fact-checking specialist Daniel Dale may have been quietly replaying that scene in their minds, no reports of flying electronic equipment crashing through glass have made the news, so we can assume that both made it through today’s absurdities without having to place emergency replacement computer orders.
Through both Dale’s text-based descriptions of the president’s remarks and Rupar’s commentary based on video excerpts proving that Trump actually said that thing that made you shake your head in disbelief, one can get a fairly complete picture of the true derangement on display at these bogus campaign rallies that one must sit through in order to hear the latest statistics from the few scientific voices allowed to get any factual words in edgewise, when not interrupted or prompted by presidential asides.
Here’s a taste of today’s extravaganza:
Trump begins at the briefing by touting "very positive trends, for winning." He says we are mourning the loss of life, and "you can't mourn it any stronger than we're mourning it." He bashes "fake news." — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 18, 2020
Trump is repeating his vague claims that the US testing system is great and better than those of other countries, that the US system used to be somehow obsolete, and that other leaders, whom he's never named, are asking him what to do about testing. — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 18, 2020
The Vox correspondent provides the relevant footage illustrating Dale’s descriptions.
Trump attacks media for reporting stats indicating US has more coronavirus deaths than China: "China's number 1. Just so you understand. China is number 1 by a lot. They are way ahead of us in terms of death. It is not even close. You know it, I know it, they know it." pic.twitter.com/X06QJvfimH — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 18, 2020
Trump continued to ramble on spouting unverified accusations against China before declaring his victory over the ventilators he now claims to be under his soveriegnity.
Trump: "We're the king of ventilators." — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 18, 2020
Trump on testing: "I inherited broken junk." There was no inherited test for the novel coronavirus. — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 18, 2020
TRUMP: "You have all been reading about the disproportionate numbers on African-American." pic.twitter.com/0Mjv7WsCbE — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 18, 2020
"Good job out there" — Trump throws shade at his staff because of an alleged typo in his remarks pic.twitter.com/ooNe4xlHLM — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 18, 2020
If the deadly seriousness of the pandemic wasn’t weighing so heavily on the entire nation, Trump’s attempts to blame Democrats of politicizing his administration’s incompetence in dealing with the crisis in the middle of his finger-pointing blame-game would be truly chortle-heavy laughable.
"We started off with a broken system. We inherited a broken, terrible system. And I always say it — our cupboards were bare. We had very little in our stockpile": Trump tries to blame Obama, who left office in 2017, for a virus that reached the US in 2020 pic.twitter.com/YwMSPkjmw8 — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 18, 2020
Trump on testing: "I inherited broken junk." There was no inherited test for the novel coronavirus. — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 18, 2020
Trump talks about governors' early requests in this kind of tone: "Oh, 'Hospital beds, hospital beds.'" — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 18, 2020
"We loaded up hospitals…we weren't worried about payment at that time. We said, 'You'll take care of it at the right time.'" …Goods and medicines and equipment…and we'll work it out with them…" — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 18, 2020
Trump criticizes the "phony deal" that was the "Russia witch hunt." — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 18, 2020
Yes, politicizing testing at this time is reprehensible according to the president, but Trump spends the majority of his free campaign ad attacking Democrats, state governors, and the press.
TRUMP: "The big V for victory, or V for ventilator. Take a look at it. Everybody said they had us on that. But we got 'em done at numbers nobody would've believed." pic.twitter.com/9ZamblP4dN — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 18, 2020
Well, any number spilling out of Trump’s mouth is by definition a number that nobody should have believed. The president’s recollection of dates is equally suspect.
Trump: "We're only talking about a few weeks since everybody knew this was such a big problem." "Everybody" is vague, but it is very much untrue that it wasn't widely known until late March that the coronavirus was a big problem. — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 18, 2020
It seems that the “everybody” that Trump refers to likely refers to himself, given that he was still golfing and holding rallies in February despite having been told by intelligence agencies AS EARLY AS LAST NOVEMBER that the coronavirus could turn into a life-changing pandemic.
Trump’s apparent loathing for the First Amendment became quite clear as he launched into a long rant against the press that refuses to simply accept his constant falsehoods as the truth, singling out particular venom for Maggie Haberman of The New York Times, who we hope has been provided with a security detail to protect her from right-wing lunatics potentially inspired to violence by the president’s personal attacks on her character.
Trump: Some of the media has been very honest but some very dishonest. He says Maggie Haberman and others should give back their Pulitzer prizes for their Russia coverage. — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 18, 2020
Here is the conclusion of one of the most unhinged and bizarre rants I have ever heard Trump go on. Keep in mind this is a press briefing about a pandemic that is killing over 1,000 Americans each day right now. pic.twitter.com/3PGe9MsOQb — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 18, 2020
Here is the conclusion of one of the most unhinged and bizarre rants I have ever heard Trump go on. Keep in mind this is a press briefing about a pandemic that is killing over 1,000 Americans each day right now. pic.twitter.com/3PGe9MsOQb — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 18, 2020
The president has a complicated relationship with crying. https://t.co/UWCcGETAqX — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 18, 2020
When Trump finally stopped his monologue to allow the Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx to speak, he still refused to shut up, interrupting the patiently suffering physician’s presentation with comments from the sidelines.
"We saw more bags [i.e. bodybags] on television than that" — Trump interrupts Birx to question the number of coronavirus deaths reported by a number of countries (his implication is that the US hasn't really been hit as hard relatively speaking as the numbers indicate) pic.twitter.com/DLaTm3S6fI — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 18, 2020
Trump’s usually contentious question and answer battle with reporters was no less bellicose than usual, although one longs for one brave White House correspondent to replicate the action an Iraqi journalist took with President G.W. Bush at the 2008 press conference where the then-president was narrowly missed by thrown shoes in the ultimate sign of middle-eastern disrespect.
Trump attacks the media for not reporting what he thinks are the correct number of coronavirus deaths in China, even though his own government health agencies are citing the same number. pic.twitter.com/ykS1ucDFZY — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 18, 2020
"Keeping reading your question" — Trump tries to humiliate a reporter from Talk Media News because he didn't like his question pic.twitter.com/AsnOLv4DRN — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 18, 2020
The reporter is noting that Trump himself has issued distancing guidelines and asking Trump whether Moore and company aren't actually protesting Trump's own advice. He is not engaging directly. — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 18, 2020
While there are plenty more examples of Trump’s outright lies, evasiveness, and both offensive and defensive political posturing at today’s press briefing that we could include here, we’ll direct you to the full Twitter threads of the esteemed Mr. Rupar and Mr. Dale to read the rest, or, if you have the stomach for it, you can watch the entire press conference at C-Span’s website.
Before we go to our own window to shout out our frustrations with this COVID-19 fever-induced nightmare of a president, we’ll leave you with a concluding gem from Vox‘s Mr. Rupar’s video blog of the event.
I don't know how anybody can watch what I just saw and not be profoundly disturbed by the mental state of the President of the United States — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 18, 2020
We did. We are. And we’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore.
See you at the polls in November, if we can survive this madness until then.
Follow Vinnie Longobardo on Twitter.
Original reporting by Daniel Dale at CNN and Aaron Rupar at Vox.
We want to hear what YOU have to say. Scroll down and let us know in our NEW comment section!
Vinnie Longobardo Managing Editor Vinnie Longobardo is the Managing Editor of Occupy Democrats. He's a 35-year veteran of the TV, mobile & internet industries, specializing in start-ups and the international media business. His passions are politics, music, and art. Latest Posts


occupydemocrats--2020-04-18--Trump retweets poll saying 49% better off than 4 years ago, but ignores its other brutal findings

Donald Trump ’ s Twitter feed is like a ruptured high-pressure sewage pipe spewing infectious lies and self-serving misinformation faster than the emergency workers — in the form of the fact-checkers in the free press — can stem the flood of disease-instigating verbal defecation spreading across the landscape of the internet .
One gets the sense that Trump doesn ’ t even bother to read beyond the headlines of the posts that he retweets as a large portion of his feed these days .
Take this post which futilely tries to revive a campaign slogan successfully used by Ronald Reagan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 1980 to Trump ’ s benefit by asking the same question that the GOP parlayed into a resounding defeat for the Democratic incumbent after the steep rise in gas prices during the oil crisis and the Iranian hostage situation damaged Carter ’ s standing in the public eye .
That Trump retweeted this in the midst of a pandemic that has killed thousands after his initial downplaying of the seriousness of the threat despite being warned by intelligence agencies of its potential for disastrous consequences only demonstrates that on a scale of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ still is higher than his IQ .
While the results of this assessment of personal satisfaction may be difficult to believe in the current environment , the selective cherry-picking of poll results ignores the much more negative results that the same poll finds in regards to Trump ’ s own performance .
For instance , 56 % of the respondents were “ not very satisfied ” or “ not satisfied at all ” with the U.S. government ’ s current response to the coronavirus outbreak .
The poll also finds that 53 % @ @ @ @ @ @ @ handling his job as president , 54 % disapprove of the president ’ s own response to the coronavirus outbreak .
While his retweet boasts that the four-year comparison of the respondents ’ attitudes towards being “ better off ” bodes well for his reelection chances , Trump ignores the fact that only 44 % of those polled would vote for him while 48 % indicated that they ’ d be voting for former Vice President Joe Biden .
Perhaps that ’ s because while 55 % of the people are either “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” that they will become sick after a COVID-19 infection , 60 % of them “ not very confident ” or “ not confident at all ” that they could get a coronavirus test if they wanted one .
Moreover , when asked : “ Have you recently experienced grocery shortages or had difficulty buying household items like toilet paper ?
” , 83 % responded yes , something that no one would have even imagined having to ask four years ago .
59 % of the respondents support a national quarantine with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at least the end of June before things return to normal .
14 % believe that things will never be the same .
That ’ s not surprising when 43 % say that the pandemic outbreak has reduced their household income .
And things are better than before Trump took office ?
Then again 32 % of the respondents in this particular survey were already unemployed before the coronavirus outbreak .
Perhaps they ’ re either just enjoying their retirement or the fact that their unemployment benefits have been extended .
Overall , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ makes it seem a lot less like something Trump should be retweeting to support his popularity and a lot more like an indictment of the most widely acknowledged failed presidency in American history .
Given that the president ’ s attention span compares unfavorably to that of a gnat , it ’ s not a revelation that he doesn ’ t even bother to read the underlying material in the tweets that he forwards .
When you consider that he likely didn ’ t read — or even worse , read and chose @ @ @ @ @ @ @ warned him of the potential pandemic as early as last November , one realizes just how dangerous it is having this completely unqualified person in the highest office in the land .
Let ’ s show him what we really think at the ultimate poll , the one in November .
We want to hear what YOU have to say .
Scroll down and let us know in our NEW comment section !

Donald Trump’s Twitter feed is like a ruptured high-pressure sewage pipe spewing infectious lies and self-serving misinformation faster than the emergency workers — in the form of the fact-checkers in the free press — can stem the flood of disease-instigating verbal defecation spreading across the landscape of the internet.
One gets the sense that Trump doesn’t even bother to read beyond the headlines of the posts that he retweets as a large portion of his feed these days.
Take this post which futilely tries to revive a campaign slogan successfully used by Ronald Reagan in his campaign against President Jimmy Carter in 1980 to Trump’s benefit by asking the same question that the GOP parlayed into a resounding defeat for the Democratic incumbent after the steep rise in gas prices during the oil crisis and the Iranian hostage situation damaged Carter’s standing in the public eye.
That Trump retweeted this in the midst of a pandemic that has killed thousands after his initial downplaying of the seriousness of the threat despite being warned by intelligence agencies of its potential for disastrous consequences only demonstrates that on a scale of one to a hundred, his arrogance still is higher than his IQ.
Biden has a problem if he runs on “Things Were Better Under Obama.” https://t.co/Le1AOHNBkx — BDW (@BryanDeanWright) April 17, 2020
While the results of this assessment of personal satisfaction may be difficult to believe in the current environment, the selective cherry-picking of poll results ignores the much more negative results that the same poll finds in regards to Trump’s own performance.
For instance, 56% of the respondents were “not very satisfied” or “not satisfied at all” with the U.S. government’s current response to the coronavirus outbreak.
The poll also finds that 53% disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president, 54% disapprove of the president’s own response to the coronavirus outbreak.
While his retweet boasts that the four-year comparison of the respondents’ attitudes towards being “better off” bodes well for his reelection chances, Trump ignores the fact that only 44% of those polled would vote for him while 48% indicated that they’d be voting for former Vice President Joe Biden.
Perhaps that’s because while 55% of the people are either “extremely worried” or “somewhat worried” that they will become sick after a COVID-19 infection, 60% of them are “not very confident” or “not confident at all” that they could get a coronavirus test if they wanted one.
Moreover, when asked: “Have you recently experienced grocery shortages or had difficulty buying household items like toilet paper?”, 83% responded yes, something that no one would have even imagined having to ask four years ago.
59% of the respondents support a national quarantine with 52% saying that it will be at least the end of June before things return to normal.
14% believe that things will never be the same.
That’s not surprising when 43% say that the pandemic outbreak has reduced their household income.
And things are better than before Trump took office?
Then again 32% of the respondents in this particular survey were already unemployed before the coronavirus outbreak. Perhaps they’re either just enjoying their retirement or the fact that their unemployment benefits have been extended.
Overall, a close examination of the polling data makes it seem a lot less like something Trump should be retweeting to support his popularity and a lot more like an indictment of the most widely acknowledged failed presidency in American history.
Given that the president’s attention span compares unfavorably to that of a gnat, it’s not a revelation that he doesn’t even bother to read the underlying material in the tweets that he forwards.
When you consider that he likely didn’t read — or even worse, read and chose to ignore — the intelligence reports that warned him of the potential pandemic as early as last November, one realizes just how dangerous it is having this completely unqualified person in the highest office in the land.
Let’s show him what we really think at the ultimate poll, the one in November.
Follow Vinnie Longobardo on Twitter.
We want to hear what YOU have to say. Scroll down and let us know in our NEW comment section!
Vinnie Longobardo Managing Editor Vinnie Longobardo is the Managing Editor of Occupy Democrats. He's a 35-year veteran of the TV, mobile & internet industries, specializing in start-ups and the international media business. His passions are politics, music, and art. Latest Posts


occupydemocrats--2020-04-18--Trump explodes at “RUDE” and “NASTY” Democrats for demanding answers from Pence

Donald Trump continues to live in a fantasy land that exists only in his own mind .
In this fictional alternative universe , everything that the president says is “ perfect , ” every job he does is “ GREAT , ” and his presidential responsibilities consist only of fighting those who try to convince him that reality is greatly contradicting his rosy views of his own imagined successes .
As his latest Twitter tantrum demonstrates , our current executive-in-chief may as well be a five-year-old sitting in bed in his pajamas imagining vanquishing his eternal foes — the “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the ones in the House of Representatives who have passed hundreds of bills that the Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell simply refuses to even consider for a vote ) and the “ Lamestream Media ” who commit the mortal sin of publishing facts rather than his stream of lies .
To put Trump ’ s high dudgeon in perspective , it helps to know that Senate Democrats response to the pandering conference call conducted by Vice President Pence yesterday was described as “ livid ” after the administration failed to offer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plans for large scale COVID-19 virus testing , with one anonymous Democrat saying that the Trump team “ was vague on the details and was overly optimistic in its thinking ” on the reopening of the economy .
Even the normally even-tempered Senator Angus King ( I-ME ) who caucuses with the Democrats charged the administration with leaving states “ adrift , ” that it was a “ dereliction of duty ” , and that he had “ never been so mad about a phone call in my life.
” If even a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the point of extreme agitation by the Trump administration ’ s desperate gaslighting of the nation to coverup their massive incompetence and even Republican governors are finding it impossible to confirm the president ’ s lies about the availability of testing and personal protective equipment like masks and gowns , then the media is sure to report on their reactions .
Having his protective bubble of lies punctured by a free press during a presidential campaign is Trump ’ s worst nightmare , so it forces him to double down on his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tweets are a mirror of his own “ RUDE and NASTY ” behavior that insults the intelligence of the American people who can see their relatives and friends dying needlessly from a disease that could have been contained much earlier had the president not abdicated his executive responsibilities to play golf and hold campaign rallies when he should have heeded the multiple warnings he was given about the seriousness of the pandemic .
His political playbook consists of denying responsibility , placing blame on others , and pretending that whatever he does is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Come November , Trump will be right about at least one thing : “ America will not be fooled !
!
!
” We want to hear what YOU have to say .
Scroll down and let us know in our NEW comment section !

Donald Trump continues to live in a fantasy land that exists only in his own mind.
In this fictional alternative universe, everything that the president says is “perfect,” every job he does is “GREAT,” and his presidential responsibilities consist only of fighting those who try to convince him that reality is greatly contradicting his rosy views of his own imagined successes.
As his latest Twitter tantrum demonstrates, our current executive-in-chief may as well be a five-year-old sitting in bed in his pajamas imagining vanquishing his eternal foes — the “Do Nothing Democrats” (you know, the ones in the House of Representatives who have passed hundreds of bills that the Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell simply refuses to even consider for a vote) and the “Lamestream Media” who commit the mortal sin of publishing facts rather than his stream of lies.
No matter what you do for the Do Nothing Democrats, no matter how GREAT a job you are doing, they will only respond to their Fake partners in the Lamestream Media in the negative, even in a time of crisis. I thought it would be different, but it’s not. In fact, it’s even worse… — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 18, 2020
Add your name to reject Trump & Republicans’ vile idea of sacrificing seniors’ lives to save the stock market!
….them happy, or even a little bit satisfied. They were RUDE and NASTY. This is their political playbook, and they will use it right up to the election on November 3rd. They will not change because they feel that this is the only way they can win. America will not be fooled!!! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 18, 2020
To put Trump’s high dudgeon in perspective, it helps to know that Senate Democrats response to the pandering conference call conducted by Vice President Pence yesterday was described as “livid” after the administration failed to offer any concrete details about the progress on plans for large scale COVID-19 virus testing, with one anonymous Democrat saying that the Trump team “was vague on the details and was overly optimistic in its thinking” on the reopening of the economy.
Even the normally even-tempered Senator Angus King (I-ME) who caucuses with the Democrats charged the administration with leaving states “adrift,” that it was a “dereliction of duty”, and that he had “never been so mad about a phone call in my life.”
If even a political independent like Senator King is disturbed to the point of extreme agitation by the Trump administration’s desperate gaslighting of the nation to coverup their massive incompetence and even Republican governors are finding it impossible to confirm the president’s lies about the availability of testing and personal protective equipment like masks and gowns, then the media is sure to report on their reactions.
Having his protective bubble of lies punctured by a free press during a presidential campaign is Trump’s worst nightmare, so it forces him to double down on his lies and gaslighting.
Trump’s tweets are a mirror of his own “RUDE and NASTY” behavior that insults the intelligence of the American people who can see their relatives and friends dying needlessly from a disease that could have been contained much earlier had the president not abdicated his executive responsibilities to play golf and hold campaign rallies when he should have heeded the multiple warnings he was given about the seriousness of the pandemic.
His political playbook consists of denying responsibility, placing blame on others, and pretending that whatever he does is the best that anyone could do.
Come November, Trump will be right about at least one thing: “America will not be fooled!!!”
Follow Vinnie Longobardo on Twitter.
We want to hear what YOU have to say. Scroll down and let us know in our NEW comment section!
Vinnie Longobardo Managing Editor Vinnie Longobardo is the Managing Editor of Occupy Democrats. He's a 35-year veteran of the TV, mobile & internet industries, specializing in start-ups and the international media business. His passions are politics, music, and art. Latest Posts


occupydemocrats--2020-04-18--VA officials force virus-exposed staff to go back to work or face AWOL penalties despite lack of PPE

The conservatives loves them their veterans !
It seems , however , that they ’ d rather run around protesting public health and safety measures instituted by their states ’ governors than demanding better treatment of the Veterans Affairs Department employees who are tasked with treating those former armed forces members who ’ ve contracted COVID-19 .
Otherwise , the people who foolishly risk their own lives and those in their communities would be out in the streets demanding action against the administration that is pressuring workers at the VA to return to work even after they ’ ve been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is exactly what the senior officials at the VA are doing even now at the height of the pandemic , according to a report on the website of Government Executive , that says : Government Executive spoke to workers at half a dozen VA facilities and found that they universally complained that “ management was providing inconsistent guidance and creating unsafe working conditions.
” The VA employees are fearful that some of their colleagues may be concealing their symptoms at a point where personal protective gear is in short supply and the chance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ high .
According to the report : The tales being told by frightened and angry VA workers demonstrate the complete lack of preparedness with which the Trump administration has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in the healthcare system dedicated to the nation ’ s veterans .
“ At some facilities , VA officials have instituted policies under which employees who worked with COVID-19 positive patients before their status was known—and therefore were not wearing the proper equipment—should continue to work until they develop symptoms , after which they could be tested for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ employees included nurses and doctors who subsequently tested positive for the virus but returned after seven days when their symptoms were no longer evident , employees said .
One memorandum sent by a top official at a medical center in Indianapolis saidVA facilities should consider enabling employees ‘ who have had an exposure to a COVID-19 patient to continue to work after options to improve staffing have been exhausted.
’ ” Any employee who follows the guidelines from leading health experts to self-isolate after potentially being exposed to an infected patient faces the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leave , ” having their paychecks cut off , and affecting their opportunities for future promotions and raises .
Even if they have available sick days , supervisors can reject their requests to utilize it .
VA administrators are telling workers who have actually tested positive for the virus but are not experiencing symptoms to simply wear a mask and return to work according to the article .
That would be bad enough but with shortages of PPE , rationing of masks at the VA had one worker in a high-risk unit complaining @ @ @ @ @ @ @ keep reusing their masks “ until they are falling from our faces.
” The Government Executive article is rife with detailed accounts from VA facilities across the country , including this chilling story from a clinic in Anniston , Alabama where five employees tested positive for the COVID-19 virus yet the VA kept the clinic open and required all employees to keep reporting for duty .
You can read the entire Government Executive article with its multiplicity of similarly harrowing accounts of the Veterans Affairs Administration ’ s failures to care for its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ need to use its facilities — at this link .
It ’ s well worth the time to read the lengthy , well-researched story in full .
Let ’ s hope that one of the increasingly brave reporters who dare question Donald Trump about the enormity of his administration ’ s failures in confronting the pandemic crisis at the daily propaganda sessions masquerading as press briefings confronts him with the details in this article .
Whoever does so is sure to be called “ nasty ” or “ fake ” by a president @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the coronavirus crisis — right before Trump figures out who to use as a scapegoat for this particular screwup .
We want to hear what YOU have to say .
Scroll down and let us know in our NEW comment section !

The conservatives loves them their veterans!
It seems, however, that they’d rather run around protesting public health and safety measures instituted by their states’ governors than demanding better treatment of the Veterans Affairs Department employees who are tasked with treating those former armed forces members who’ve contracted COVID-19.
Otherwise, the people who foolishly risk their own lives and those in their communities would be out in the streets demanding action against the administration that is pressuring workers at the VA to return to work even after they’ve been exposed to the deadly coronavirus.
That is exactly what the senior officials at the VA are doing even now at the height of the pandemic, according to a report on the website of Government Executive, that says:
“Employees at the Veterans Affairs Department are feeling pressured to return to work even after they’ve been exposed to the novel coronavirus—a new VA policy requires them to continue showing up, and threatens discipline along with the possibility of losing pay for those who stay home.”
Government Executive spoke to workers at half a dozen VA facilities and found that they universally complained that “management was providing inconsistent guidance and creating unsafe working conditions.”
The VA employees are fearful that some of their colleagues may be concealing their symptoms at a point where personal protective gear is in short supply and the chance of further spreading the virus is unreasonably high.
According to the report:
“To date, more than 5,000 patients and 1,600 staff at VA facilities have tested positive for COVID-19; more than 300 patients and more than a dozen staff have died from the disease. Until recently at some facilities, staff told Government Executive, some administrative staff were not even allowed to wear masks, either because there weren’t enough to go around and they were being reserved for medical personnel with more sustained patient contact, or because supervisors were worried about alarming patients and visitors.”
The tales being told by frightened and angry VA workers demonstrate the complete lack of preparedness with which the Trump administration has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in the healthcare system dedicated to the nation’s veterans.
“At some facilities, VA officials have instituted policies under which employees who worked with COVID-19 positive patients before their status was known—and therefore were not wearing the proper equipment—should continue to work until they develop symptoms, after which they could be tested for the virus. In some cases, those employees included nurses and doctors who subsequently tested positive for the virus but returned after seven days when their symptoms were no longer evident, employees said. One memorandum sent by a top official at a medical center in Indianapolis saidVA facilities should consider enabling employees ‘who have had an exposure to a COVID-19 patient to continue to work after options to improve staffing have been exhausted.’”
Any employee who follows the guidelines from leading health experts to self-isolate after potentially being exposed to an infected patient faces the risk of being labeled “absent without leave,” having their paychecks cut off, and affecting their opportunities for future promotions and raises. Even if they have available sick days, supervisors can reject their requests to utilize it.
VA administrators are telling workers who have actually tested positive for the virus but are not experiencing symptoms to simply wear a mask and return to work according to the article. That would be bad enough but with shortages of PPE, rationing of masks at the VA had one worker in a high-risk unit complaining that she and her colleagues had to keep reusing their masks “until they are falling from our faces.”
The Government Executive article is rife with detailed accounts from VA facilities across the country, including this chilling story from a clinic in Anniston, Alabama where five employees tested positive for the COVID-19 virus yet the VA kept the clinic open and required all employees to keep reporting for duty.
“’This clinic is a petri dish,’ the employee said. Staff there is ‘panicked,’ she said, because one of those who tested positive was a supervisor who ‘has come in contact with everyone in the clinic.’ It is also an outlier, as VA employees around the country said their facility was not authorizing tests for any employees who were asymptomatic.” the story reports.
You can read the entire Government Executive article with its multiplicity of similarly harrowing accounts of the Veterans Affairs Administration’s failures to care for its employees — and subsequently the veterans who need to use its facilities — at this link. It’s well worth the time to read the lengthy, well-researched story in full.
Let’s hope that one of the increasingly brave reporters who dare question Donald Trump about the enormity of his administration’s failures in confronting the pandemic crisis at the daily propaganda sessions masquerading as press briefings confronts him with the details in this article.
Whoever does so is sure to be called “nasty” or “fake” by a president who only sees perfection in his response to the coronavirus crisis — right before Trump figures out who to use as a scapegoat for this particular screwup.
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Original reporting by Erik Katz at Government Executive.
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Vinnie Longobardo Managing Editor Vinnie Longobardo is the Managing Editor of Occupy Democrats. He's a 35-year veteran of the TV, mobile & internet industries, specializing in start-ups and the international media business. His passions are politics, music, and art. Latest Posts


occupydemocrats--2020-04-20--Trump Sunday press briefing: Exposing grudges, insulting reporters, and self-indulgent back-patting

With all of the misleading ads that the Donald Trump campaign has made accusing former Vice President Joe Biden of being beyond his salad days in terms of mental acuity , listening to Trump ramble extemporaneously in a stream of consciousness reverie about whatever boast or grievance happens to cross his addled mind augers a future of dueling political videos touting their favored candidate as less senile than their opponent .
Whatever your opinion of Biden ’ s vitality , the former Vice President ’ s sanity , capabilities , and intelligence are not in question by any but the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , to be honest , a few die-hard Bernie Bros. ) After today ’ s coronavirus press briefing — like most of the other glorified campaign ads that these press conferences have devolved into — one can ’ t say the same about Donald Trump .
It didn ’ t help that one of the first things the president spoke about — after announcing that a deal with Democrats to provide additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program was imminent — was a Wall Street Journal op-ed praising his performance that Trump managed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Add your name to reject Trump & Republicans ’ vile idea of sacrificing seniors ’ lives to save the stock market !
Trump ’ s penchant for ignoring his past statements was apparent as he discussed the moving targets of COVID-19 death projections in the United States .
News networks were on high alert when the president announced that he was going to play a video since he had previously used the free airtime to broadcast what amounted to reelection campaign propaganda .
This time Trump played a tape of New York Governor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ federal government in helping the state fight the worst outbreak in the United States .
When it didn ’ t contain all of the positive comments that Trump was expecting to see , he berated an aide for failing to include what he wanted .
Don ’ t worry though , Trump later interrupted the rest of his briefing to play the part of Cuomo ’ s positive comments that he wanted to hear .
Trump has done so many of these briefings now that very little new is revealed except the provision @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sugar-coating the serious lapses in the federal response and attacking his critics .
The only excitement now comes when he opens the floor to questions and spars with reporters while insulting them if he doesn ’ t like the coverage he receives from the outlet for which they work .
That and the sudden appearance of a stray mosquito which apparently ranks even below dogs as the least favorite living creature in Trump ’ s estimation .
Providing other reportorial fireworks today was the president ’ s hostile exchange with a reporter from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cable news networks , CNN .
Trump spent time defending the right-wing lunatics protesting state-mandated business shutdowns across the country — a trend that The Washington Post revealed today was being masterminded by “ a trio of far-right , pro-gun provocateurs ” — before reverting to his impeachment-era paranoid attack mode and denouncing former FBI officials who investigated his and his associates ’ misdeeds as “ human scum.
” Sparing you the usual repeated lies and self-praise that you ’ ve heard at every one of these briefings , the only other noteworthy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ minute-delayed press conference came in a moment of rare honesty from the president when he admitted when asked why he didn ’ t include Senator Mitt Romney ( R-UT ) in his Congressional Task Force for Reopening — which includes every other GOP Senator — that it ’ s simply because he doesn ’ t like him because he was the lone Republican who voted to impeach him .
That last statement was a disingenuous end to what are now becoming rote exercises in self-promotion , denial , and political attacks .
Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fever ” from their prolonged seclusions at home .
For the president , these briefings are his break from the boredom of monitoring his coverage on cable news and retweeting any social media post that strokes his ego .
His cabin fever must now be so high that he would be barred from entering any establishment able to reopen their doors solely based on his thermometer readings .
If only his IQ would reach into the triple digits so easily .
Original reporting by Aaron Rupar at Vox and by Daniel Dale at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ YOU have to say .
Scroll down and let us know in our NEW comment section !

With all of the misleading ads that the Donald Trump campaign has made accusing former Vice President Joe Biden of being beyond his salad days in terms of mental acuity, listening to Trump ramble extemporaneously in a stream of consciousness reverie about whatever boast or grievance happens to cross his addled mind augers a future of dueling political videos touting their favored candidate as less senile than their opponent.
Whatever your opinion of Biden’s vitality, the former Vice President’s sanity, capabilities, and intelligence are not in question by any but the most partisan Republican Trump advocates (and, to be honest, a few die-hard Bernie Bros.)
After today’s coronavirus press briefing — like most of the other glorified campaign ads that these press conferences have devolved into — one can’t say the same about Donald Trump.
It didn’t help that one of the first things the president spoke about — after announcing that a deal with Democrats to provide additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program was imminent — was a Wall Street Journal op-ed praising his performance that Trump managed to imbue with juvenile sexual innuendo.
"It was hard to get it aroused. And it is hard to get it aroused. But we got it aroused." — Trump is now reading a Wall Street Journal op-ed that said nice things about him pic.twitter.com/Syrxttjm3v — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 19, 2020
Add your name to reject Trump & Republicans’ vile idea of sacrificing seniors’ lives to save the stock market!
Trump’s penchant for ignoring his past statements was apparent as he discussed the moving targets of COVID-19 death projections in the United States.
"We woulda had millions of deaths. It looks like we'll be about a 60,000 mark, which is 40,000 less than the lowest number thought of" — Trump was saying in late February that the coronavirus would go away on its own without any Americans dying pic.twitter.com/u17nnfaZ9z — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 19, 2020
News networks were on high alert when the president announced that he was going to play a video since he had previously used the free airtime to broadcast what amounted to reelection campaign propaganda. This time Trump played a tape of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo praising the efforts of the federal government in helping the state fight the worst outbreak in the United States.
When it didn’t contain all of the positive comments that Trump was expecting to see, he berated an aide for failing to include what he wanted.
"I did a ton of work on getting the first part of that" — one of Trump's staffers gets defensive after the president gets somewhat perturbed over the video of Cuomo saying nice things about him getting cut off before Cuomo *really* starts praising him pic.twitter.com/W4EhJcexrm — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 19, 2020
Don’t worry though, Trump later interrupted the rest of his briefing to play the part of Cuomo’s positive comments that he wanted to hear.
"Who are you with? … nice and easy. Just relax … keep your voice down, please. Keep your voice down" — Trump tries to bully @weijia after she asks him a question about his statements downplaying the virus in February and his decisions to hold rallies that month pic.twitter.com/SCicdLN8Hv — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 19, 2020
Trump has done so many of these briefings now that very little new is revealed except the provision of further examples of his habits of sugar-coating the serious lapses in the federal response and attacking his critics.
The only excitement now comes when he opens the floor to questions and spars with reporters while insulting them if he doesn’t like the coverage he receives from the outlet for which they work.
That and the sudden appearance of a stray mosquito which apparently ranks even below dogs as the least favorite living creature in Trump’s estimation.
"That's a mosquito. I don't like mosquitoes. I don't like mosquitoes at all." — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 19, 2020
Providing other reportorial fireworks today was the president’s hostile exchange with a reporter from what he likely considers the mosquito of cable news networks, CNN.
"Oh, more than [40,000] … good … you just don't have the sense to understand what's going on" — a sarcastic Trump isn't happy with @JDiamond1 after he corrects his incorrect statements about the number of Americans who have died from coronavirus pic.twitter.com/qsoe6yroUL — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 19, 2020
Trump spent time defending the right-wing lunatics protesting state-mandated business shutdowns across the country — a trend that The Washington Post revealed today was being masterminded by “a trio of far-right, pro-gun provocateurs” — before reverting to his impeachment-era paranoid attack mode and denouncing former FBI officials who investigated his and his associates’ misdeeds as “human scum.”
"The top of the FBI was scum … human scum" — Trump is still rubbing his own sores about the Russia investigation pic.twitter.com/324x55lAXF — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 19, 2020
Sparing you the usual repeated lies and self-praise that you’ve heard at every one of these briefings, the only other noteworthy moment at this afternoon’s 45 minute-delayed press conference came in a moment of rare honesty from the president when he admitted when asked why he didn’t include Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) in his Congressional Task Force for Reopening — which includes every other GOP Senator — that it’s simply because he doesn’t like him because he was the lone Republican who voted to impeach him.
"I really don't know about that" — Trump claims (absurdly) that he's unaware of @SenatorLoeffler's coronavirus stock trading scandal pic.twitter.com/DKfDG24v9y — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 20, 2020
That last statement was a disingenuous end to what are now becoming rote exercises in self-promotion, denial, and political attacks.
Trump spoke about people suffering from “cabin fever” from their prolonged seclusions at home. For the president, these briefings are his break from the boredom of monitoring his coverage on cable news and retweeting any social media post that strokes his ego.
His cabin fever must now be so high that he would be barred from entering any establishment able to reopen their doors solely based on his thermometer readings. If only his IQ would reach into the triple digits so easily.
Follow Vinnie Longobardo on Twitter.
Original reporting by Aaron Rupar at Vox and by Daniel Dale at CNN.
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Vinnie Longobardo Managing Editor Vinnie Longobardo is the Managing Editor of Occupy Democrats. He's a 35-year veteran of the TV, mobile & internet industries, specializing in start-ups and the international media business. His passions are politics, music, and art. Latest Posts


occupydemocrats--2020-04-19--“That’s just delusional”: Virginia Governor calls out Trump’s coronavirus testing con game

Donald Trump has used the bully pulpit of the presidency to hold daily command performances to disseminate his own revisionist version of reality during the coronavirus pandemic .
Rather than use that unpaid free media to unite the country and urge the nation to adhere to the recommendations of medical experts to stay at home until yet-to-be-developed treatments or vaccines for the COVID-19 virus are widely available , Trump has instead treated these so-called press briefings as occasions to try to erase the memory of his early inactions against the pandemic – when swift measures could have lessened its severity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and bolster his campaign for a second term in office .
He ’ s also used his semi-coherent rants to spread misinformation about unproven drugs that he claims “ could ” help treat infected patients at substantial risk and to inflate his claims of the scope of the current federal response to the pandemic , particularly when it comes to the availability of testing .
“ Anybody that wants a test can get a test , ” Trump said as early as March 6th , clearly contradicting the reality that doctors and patients @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and are still facing to this day .
At the same time that the president has bragged about his achievements in fighting the pandemic , he has also denied any real responsibility for the gritty details of the actual containment of the disease , preferring instead to lament the loss of the thriving economy that the virus sent into a sudden tailspin and to focus on reopening businesses , human safety and scientific consensus be damned .
Trump has tried to off-load testing responsibility to state governors while continuing to indulge his fantasy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ available to administer to everyone who needs one while claiming that those who say otherwise are “ partisan voices are trying to politicize the issue of testing.
” Add your name to reject Trump & Republicans ’ vile idea of sacrificing seniors ’ lives to save the stock market !
Now Virginia Governor Ralph Northam ( D ) has thrown Trump ’ s falsities back in his face , bluntly stating during an appearance on CNN ‘ s State of the Union this morning that his state , like so many others , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that it needs and that the president ’ s comments to the contrary border on psychological impairment .
Northam told CNN host Jake Tapper that Virginia ’ s state authorities have been fighting and scrounging “ every day ” for personal protective equipment and for testing .
The Democratic Virginia governor has been a convenient foil for the president to use to distract his right-wing base from the failures of his own coronavirus response failures as a target for wild accusations of attempting to limit 2nd Amendment gun rights because of the governor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into law recently .
Trump ’ s response to the increased background checks , handgun limits , and “ red-flag ” alerts the state passed ?
An unprecedented call for insurrection by a sitting president to the citizens of a state .
Northam reacted strongly against what he accurately described as the president ’ s deplorable “ divisiveness.
” “ Our president has been unable to deliver on tests , now he has chosen to focus on protests , and this is not the time for protests , ” Northam told Tapper .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ divisiveness .
This is time for leadership that will stand up and provide empathy , that will understand what ’ s going on in this country of ours with this pandemic , it ’ s the time of truth , and it ’ s time to bring people together.
” Unfortunately , we are saddled with a president for whom truth and unity are like garlic and silver bullets to a vampire and for whom empathy is seen as a pitiful weakness of personality .
You can watch a clip of Virginia Governor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Union in the video excerpt below .
Original reporting by Rebecca Klar at The Hill .
We want to hear what YOU have to say .
Scroll down and let us know in our NEW comment section !

Donald Trump has used the bully pulpit of the presidency to hold daily command performances to disseminate his own revisionist version of reality during the coronavirus pandemic.
Rather than use that unpaid free media to unite the country and urge the nation to adhere to the recommendations of medical experts to stay at home until yet-to-be-developed treatments or vaccines for the COVID-19 virus are widely available, Trump has instead treated these so-called press briefings as occasions to try to erase the memory of his early inactions against the pandemic – when swift measures could have lessened its severity and reduced the mounting death toll — and bolster his campaign for a second term in office.
He’s also used his semi-coherent rants to spread misinformation about unproven drugs that he claims “could” help treat infected patients at substantial risk and to inflate his claims of the scope of the current federal response to the pandemic, particularly when it comes to the availability of testing.
“Anybody that wants a test can get a test,” Trump said as early as March 6th, clearly contradicting the reality that doctors and patients on the ground were actually facing then and are still facing to this day.
At the same time that the president has bragged about his achievements in fighting the pandemic, he has also denied any real responsibility for the gritty details of the actual containment of the disease, preferring instead to lament the loss of the thriving economy that the virus sent into a sudden tailspin and to focus on reopening businesses, human safety and scientific consensus be damned.
Trump has tried to off-load testing responsibility to state governors while continuing to indulge his fantasy that a sufficient number of tests are available to administer to everyone who needs one while claiming that those who say otherwise are “partisan voices are trying to politicize the issue of testing.”
Add your name to reject Trump & Republicans’ vile idea of sacrificing seniors’ lives to save the stock market!
Now Virginia Governor Ralph Northam (D) has thrown Trump’s falsities back in his face, bluntly stating during an appearance on CNN‘s State of the Union this morning that his state, like so many others, does not have the COVID-19 testing capabilities that it needs and that the president’s comments to the contrary border on psychological impairment.
“That’s just delusional to be making statements like that,” Governor Northam aptly interpreted the president’s statement from his Saturday press conference.
Northam told CNN host Jake Tapper that Virginia’s state authorities have been fighting and scrounging “every day” for personal protective equipment and for testing.
It’s not a straightforward test. We don’t even have enough swabs believe it or not,” Northam said incredulously.
The Democratic Virginia governor has been a convenient foil for the president to use to distract his right-wing base from the failures of his own coronavirus response failures as a target for wild accusations of attempting to limit 2nd Amendment gun rights because of the governor’s signing popular common-sense gun regulations into law recently.
Trump’s response to the increased background checks, handgun limits, and “red-flag” alerts the state passed? An unprecedented call for insurrection by a sitting president to the citizens of a state.
“I would say liberate Virginia when that kind of thing happens,” Trump said at his briefing.
Northam reacted strongly against what he accurately described as the president’s deplorable “divisiveness.”
“Our president has been unable to deliver on tests, now he has chosen to focus on protests, and this is not the time for protests,” Northam told Tapper. “This is not the time for divisiveness. This is time for leadership that will stand up and provide empathy, that will understand what’s going on in this country of ours with this pandemic, it’s the time of truth, and it’s time to bring people together.”
Unfortunately, we are saddled with a president for whom truth and unity are like garlic and silver bullets to a vampire and for whom empathy is seen as a pitiful weakness of personality.
You can watch a clip of Virginia Governor Ralph Northam on CNN‘s State of the Union in the video excerpt below.
Gov. Ralph Northam on President Trump's call to "liberate" Virginia: "This is not the time for protests, this is not the time for divisiveness. This is time for leadership that will stand up and provide empathy … it's the time for truth" #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/jMhewJFVwH — State of the Union (@CNNSotu) April 19, 2020
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Original reporting by Rebecca Klar at The Hill.
We want to hear what YOU have to say. Scroll down and let us know in our NEW comment section!
Vinnie Longobardo Managing Editor Vinnie Longobardo is the Managing Editor of Occupy Democrats. He's a 35-year veteran of the TV, mobile & internet industries, specializing in start-ups and the international media business. His passions are politics, music, and art. Latest Posts