occupydemocrats--2020-03-11--Spokeswoman says it’s OK to ignore experts because Trump is “the best authority” on virus

How brain dead do you have to be to buy the lies being peddled by surrogates for Donald Trump on our nation ’ s airwaves ?
The president sent Kayleigh McEnany , the press secretary for his 2020 reelection campaign , to speak on his behalf to Stuart Varney on Fox Business today and inevitably the topic of the coronavirus pandemic that ’ s been roiling the global economy was front and center in their discussion .
Varney asked McEnany about the recommendation made by the federal government ’ s top infectious disease specialist , Dr. Anthony Fauci , that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people , a recommendation that has resulted in the cancelation of conventions and music festivals across the country and the playing of NBA games to completely empty arenas .
It was a particularly pertinent question less than 24 hours after the president announced that he would proceed with another one of his ego-stroking campaign rallies in Milwaukee next week in the midst of a pandemic-induced national hysteria , but the press secretary treated it as just another opportunity to score political points against Trump ’ s leading Democratic opponent , former Vice President @ @ @ @ @ @ @ press secretary ’ s next statement that caused mouthfuls of coffee to be propelled in astonished spit-takes across the nation in reaction to her North Korean-like unmitigated adoration of the “ Dear Leader ” she serves .
“ Look , the president is the best authority on this issue , ” McEnany responded obsequiously .
“ He takes into consult the words of everyone around him.
” “ So , I ’ ll leave it to the president , ” she continued .
“ Joe Biden is looking for an excuse to get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ me just add , the media ’ s best hope is for Donald Trump to suspend his rallies .
They ’ ve been wanting to stop this , his avenue to speak directly to the American people.
” Once the viewing audience picked their jaws up off the floor , they may have realized that Trump ’ s propensity to “ speak directly to the American people ” through the unmediated platforms of social media will , unfortunately , continue unabated whether he puts the health of thousands of his cult members at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crowded arena like cattle with hoof and mouth disease or not .
McEnany ’ s false confidence in the president ’ s command of the science behind the coronavirus pandemic ignores his clear disregard of expert advice in favor of his incessant need for the constant ego-gratification he needs as he feeds his vampire soul with the cheers of thousands of his MAGA-hatted deludables .
You can watch this astonishing display of destructive , dangerous , and thoughtless fealty in the video clip below , but if you sincerely believe that Donald Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ anything other than on P.T .
Barnum style hucksterism and pernicious self-dealing con games , by all means , skip the video and go straight to the next Trump rally to prove your loyalty to the president in a game of viral roulette .
What do you think ?

How brain dead do you have to be to buy the lies being peddled by surrogates for Donald Trump on our nation’s airwaves?
The president sent Kayleigh McEnany, the press secretary for his 2020 reelection campaign, to speak on his behalf to Stuart Varney on Fox Business today and inevitably the topic of the coronavirus pandemic that’s been roiling the global economy was front and center in their discussion.
Varney asked McEnany about the recommendation made by the federal government’s top infectious disease specialist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, that the public should avoid large gatherings of people, a recommendation that has resulted in the cancelation of conventions and music festivals across the country and the playing of NBA games to completely empty arenas.
It was a particularly pertinent question less than 24 hours after the president announced that he would proceed with another one of his ego-stroking campaign rallies in Milwaukee next week in the midst of a pandemic-induced national hysteria, but the press secretary treated it as just another opportunity to score political points against Trump’s leading Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden.
“Look, we have the commander-in-chief, we have the best health experts,” McEnany gaslighted the audience. “We’re taking this day by day. We’re currently proceeding as normal. Joe Biden is suspending his rallies. He’s been dying to get off the campaign trail. He can only speak for seven minutes.”
A skeptical Varney interjected a dose of reality into McEnany’s political attack dog rant.
“You will immediately be accused of chaos in the White House,” Varney astutely pointed out. “The president goes ahead with holding his rallies. His top doctor — top medical guy — says don’t go with big crowds. I mean, you’re immediately going to be hit with this.”
It was the campaign press secretary’s next statement that caused mouthfuls of coffee to be propelled in astonished spit-takes across the nation in reaction to her North Korean-like unmitigated adoration of the “Dear Leader” she serves.
“Look, the president is the best authority on this issue,” McEnany responded obsequiously. “He takes into consult the words of everyone around him.” “So, I’ll leave it to the president,” she continued. “Joe Biden is looking for an excuse to get off the campaign trail. And let me just add, the media’s best hope is for Donald Trump to suspend his rallies. They’ve been wanting to stop this, his avenue to speak directly to the American people.”
Once the viewing audience picked their jaws up off the floor, they may have realized that Trump’s propensity to “speak directly to the American people” through the unmediated platforms of social media will, unfortunately, continue unabated whether he puts the health of thousands of his cult members at risk by herding them together in a crowded arena like cattle with hoof and mouth disease or not.
McEnany’s false confidence in the president’s command of the science behind the coronavirus pandemic ignores his clear disregard of expert advice in favor of his incessant need for the constant ego-gratification he needs as he feeds his vampire soul with the cheers of thousands of his MAGA-hatted deludables.
You can watch this astonishing display of destructive, dangerous, and thoughtless fealty in the video clip below, but if you sincerely believe that Donald Trump is “the best authority” on anything other than on P.T. Barnum style hucksterism and pernicious self-dealing con games, by all means, skip the video and go straight to the next Trump rally to prove your loyalty to the president in a game of viral roulette.
Follow Vinnie Longobardo on Twitter.
Original reporting by David Edwards at Raw Story.
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--2020-03-11--Self-quarantined Republican jokes about deliberately infecting Supreme Justice Ginsberg with virus

The double standards and hypocrisy of the Republican party would be laughable if they weren ’ t so damaging and infuriating .
Just last week , Donald Trump was attacking Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer ( D-NY ) for saying at a pro-choice rally that Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch “ will pay the price ” if they vote to repeal Roe v. Wade .
Schumer later clarified his remarks to indicate that he was referring to the political price that the GOP would pay at the ballot box , not any sort of personal attack on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s hypocritical pearl-clutching over the senator ’ s comments came shortly after he himself went on a tirade against Justice Sonia Sotomayor demanding that she recuse herself from any cases involving his administration , as if the constitutional separation of powers was a mere suggestion rather than a guiding principle of our democracy .
By Donald Trump ’ s standards , however , Congressman Paul Gosar ( R-AZ ) should currently be in irons rather than merely in self-quarantine after exposure to someone infected with the COVID-19 virus at CPAC after he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be interpreted as a threat against a Supreme Court justice .
On Monday evening , Gosar sent a tweet reacting to something he heard on a right-wing talk radio show .
Trump fired America ’ s pandemic response team .
Demand he reassemble it to confront the coronavirus pandemic immediately !
With Senator Cruz also in self-quarantine for the same reason as Representative Gosar , the implication that he would purposely try to infect the 86-year-old liberal Supreme Court Justice with a virus with a particularly high fatality rate among those over 70 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but an offensive partisan jest designed to elicit chuckles among GOP ghouls lusting for another Supreme Court seat to hand Trump to fill from the Federalist Society ’ s list of approved reactionaries .
As Morrissey once sang , that joke isn ’ t funny anymore .
The fact that not a single member of the Republican party has made the rounds of cable news outlets to condemn Congressman Gosar ’ s offensive quip as multiple GOP legislators did to condemn Schumer ’ s words is a telling sign that morals and values @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of political opportunism .
Whatever standards they apply to the words and behavior of Democrats simply don ’ t apply to members of their own political clan who are free to say the most heinous things about those opposed to their cruel agenda .
Perhaps the best way to respond to this type of hypocrisy is to follow the advice of Senator Schumer and make sure that the Republicans “ pay the price ” at the ballot box in November and are swept away by an enormous “ blue wave.
” Original reporting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
What do you think ?

The double standards and hypocrisy of the Republican party would be laughable if they weren’t so damaging and infuriating.
Just last week, Donald Trump was attacking Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for saying at a pro-choice rally that Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch “will pay the price” if they vote to repeal Roe v. Wade.
This is a direct & dangerous threat to the U.S. Supreme Court by Schumer. If a Republican did this, he or she would be arrested, or impeached. Serious action MUST be taken NOW! https://t.co/WqQUbyzaJU — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 5, 2020
Schumer later clarified his remarks to indicate that he was referring to the political price that the GOP would pay at the ballot box, not any sort of personal attack on the SCOTUS members, and the president’s hypocritical pearl-clutching over the senator’s comments came shortly after he himself went on a tirade against Justice Sonia Sotomayor demanding that she recuse herself from any cases involving his administration, as if the constitutional separation of powers was a mere suggestion rather than a guiding principle of our democracy.
By Donald Trump’s standards, however, Congressman Paul Gosar (R-AZ) should currently be in irons rather than merely in self-quarantine after exposure to someone infected with the COVID-19 virus at CPAC after he tweeted a sick joke that could also be interpreted as a threat against a Supreme Court justice.
On Monday evening, Gosar sent a tweet reacting to something he heard on a right-wing talk radio show.
Fact check: there is no truth to the rumor that @SenTedCruz and I asked for a joint meeting with Justice Ginsburg. @ChrisPlanteShow Good one. #thatsnotnice — Paul Gosar (@DrPaulGosar) March 11, 2020
Trump fired America’s pandemic response team. Demand he reassemble it to confront the coronavirus pandemic immediately!
With Senator Cruz also in self-quarantine for the same reason as Representative Gosar, the implication that he would purposely try to infect the 86-year-old liberal Supreme Court Justice with a virus with a particularly high fatality rate among those over 70 is not a “good one” but an offensive partisan jest designed to elicit chuckles among GOP ghouls lusting for another Supreme Court seat to hand Trump to fill from the Federalist Society’s list of approved reactionaries.
As Morrissey once sang, that joke isn’t funny anymore.
The fact that not a single member of the Republican party has made the rounds of cable news outlets to condemn Congressman Gosar’s offensive quip as multiple GOP legislators did to condemn Schumer’s words is a telling sign that morals and values are a one-way street for the party of political opportunism.
Whatever standards they apply to the words and behavior of Democrats simply don’t apply to members of their own political clan who are free to say the most heinous things about those opposed to their cruel agenda.
Perhaps the best way to respond to this type of hypocrisy is to follow the advice of Senator Schumer and make sure that the Republicans “pay the price” at the ballot box in November and are swept away by an enormous “blue wave.”
Follow Vinnie Longobardo on Twitter.
Original reporting by Josh Israel at The American Independent.
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--2020-03-11--Trump is reportedly so mad at Speaker Pelosi he won’t speak with her to plan coronavirus response

With the coronavirus crisis exploding across the world and public anger at the Trump administration ’ s inaction rising by the day , one would think the president would be champing at the bit to take decisive action and show any kind of leadership whatsoever to a panicking nation .
But it appears not even a national epidemic is important enough for him to put aside his pride and his petty feuds .
POLITICO is reporting the Trump is still so angry at House Speaker Pelosi over the impeachment trial that he still “ isn ’ t on speaking terms @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deputized ” Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to lead talks with the speaker on a legislative plan to tackle the economic and social effects of the coronavirus and the disruptive public health measures needed to impede its spread .
On Monday , he refused to attend the Speaker ’ s St. Patrick ’ s Day lunch because “ the speaker has chosen to tear this nation apart with her actions and her rhetoric.
” But given the president ’ s unpredictable and impulsive approach to governance , it ’ s still up in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the House at all .
“ The biggest wild card is the mercurial Trump .
But if a deal gets brought to him with broad bipartisan support and the country is still in crisis mode , it ’ s hard to imagine he doesn ’ t sign off ” reports POLITICO last night in their “ Nightly ” edition .
Trump fired America ’ s pandemic response team .
Demand he reassemble it to confront the coronavirus pandemic immediately !
The two sides are expected to clash right off the bat , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ callously insistent on defining the crisis solely as an economic issue , obsessing over the stock market and weighing bailouts for various industries — some of which the president just so happens to have a personal stake in — while almost entirely ignoring the repercussions that ordinary Americans are feeling due to the instability .
On the other side , Democrats are focused on helping the public , preparing a legislative package that would implement “ paid sick leave for certain workers , extra funding for children ’ s school lunches , expanded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ social safety-net programs.
” They are especially worried about kids who rely on school lunches to be fed if schools close and helping regular people afford coronavirus testing .
The contrast in priorities could not be starker .
With so much at stake , it is extremely disturbing to hear that the president is still refusing to even speak to the leader of the opposition party because his feelings are hurt .
It is yet another compelling reminder that no matter who one might favor in the Democratic primary season , the nation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years of this petulant coward in the White House .
Original reporting by Renuka Rayasam and Ben Weyl at POLITICO .
What do you think ?

With the coronavirus crisis exploding across the world and public anger at the Trump administration’s inaction rising by the day, one would think the president would be champing at the bit to take decisive action and show any kind of leadership whatsoever to a panicking nation.
But it appears not even a national epidemic is important enough for him to put aside his pride and his petty feuds.
POLITICO is reporting the Trump is still so angry at House Speaker Pelosi over the impeachment trial that he still “isn’t on speaking terms with her” and has instead “deputized” Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to lead talks with the speaker on a legislative plan to tackle the economic and social effects of the coronavirus and the disruptive public health measures needed to impede its spread.
On Monday, he refused to attend the Speaker’s St. Patrick’s Day lunch because “the speaker has chosen to tear this nation apart with her actions and her rhetoric.”
But given the president’s unpredictable and impulsive approach to governance, it’s still up in the air if he’ll accept anything from the House at all. “The biggest wild card is the mercurial Trump. But if a deal gets brought to him with broad bipartisan support and the country is still in crisis mode, it’s hard to imagine he doesn’t sign off” reports POLITICO last night in their “Nightly” edition.
Trump fired America’s pandemic response team. Demand he reassemble it to confront the coronavirus pandemic immediately!
The two sides are expected to clash right off the bat, seeing as the Trump administration has been callously insistent on defining the crisis solely as an economic issue, obsessing over the stock market and weighing bailouts for various industries — some of which the president just so happens to have a personal stake in — while almost entirely ignoring the repercussions that ordinary Americans are feeling due to the instability.
On the other side, Democrats are focused on helping the public, preparing a legislative package that would implement “paid sick leave for certain workers, extra funding for children’s school lunches, expanded unemployment insurance, and increased spending on social safety-net programs.” They are especially worried about kids who rely on school lunches to be fed if schools close and helping regular people afford coronavirus testing.
The contrast in priorities could not be starker.
With so much at stake, it is extremely disturbing to hear that the president is still refusing to even speak to the leader of the opposition party because his feelings are hurt. It is yet another compelling reminder that no matter who one might favor in the Democratic primary season, the nation cannot afford to endure another four years of this petulant coward in the White House.
Original reporting by Renuka Rayasam and Ben Weyl 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--2020-03-11--Prince Harry allegedly tells prank caller posing as Greta that “Trump has blood on his hands”

Two Russian internet jokesters have reportedly placed a prank call to Britain ’ s Prince Harry , pretending to be teenaged Swedish climate warrior Greta Thunberg and her father , with the rogue royal engaging in a conversation about the environmental crisis where the prince allegedly said that Donald Trump has “ blood on his hands ” due to his foolhardy advocacy for the increased use of coal for energy production , according to an article in Newsweek .
The rogue royal , whose recent decision — along with his American born Princess , actress Meghan Markle — to “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Royal Family ” shocked the world and gave tabloids copious fodder for weeks of headlines , was back in those headlines after reportedly being fooled by two minor YouTube stars , Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov , popularly known as Vovan and Lexus .
The two Russian impersonators have made a habit of placing prank calls to famous celebrities like Sir Elton John — with whom they pretended to Vladimir Putin and discussed LGBTQ rights in Russia — as well as high-level political leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron and Turkish @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an account originally reported by Britain ’ s Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid The Sun , the mischievous duo allegedly spoke to Prince Harry on two separate occasions , once on New Year ’ s Eve and another in late January , and discussed not only the climate change issues that one would expect Greta Thunberg to be advocating but also the departure of the now not-so-royal couple from the British monarchy .
“ At one point in one of the calls , Harry is alleged to have told the Thunbergs : ‘ The mere @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the coal industry so big in America , he has blood on his hands , because the effect that has on the climate and the island nations far , far away … again , out of sight , out of mind . '
” “ ‘ We ’ ve visited those places and I ’ m sure you have as well .
People ’ s lives have been completely destroyed .
People are dying every single month by some form of natural disaster that has been created by this huge change to in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to have said.
” While Newsweek was unable to “ independently verify the authenticity of the calls ” through the Prince ’ s spokespeople , an excerpt of the alleged call was posted to YouTube with a crude animation accompanying the audio .
Trump fired America ’ s pandemic response team .
Demand he reassemble it to confront the coronavirus pandemic immediately !
Besides the shade thrown towards Donald Trump ’ s lack of concern for environmental issues that could doom humanity as we know it , Prince Harry also spoke to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s departure from the roles as senior working members of the royal family which will officially cease at the end of this month .
“ I can assure you , marrying a prince or princess is not all it ’ s made out to be , ” Harry reportedly said .
“ But sometimes the right decision isn ’ t always the easy one .
And this decision certainly wasn ’ t the easy one but it was the right decision for our family , the right decision to be able to protect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Kuznetsov and Stolyarov might be in the employ of the Kremlin as part of their country ’ s cyber-disinformation campaign , the two YouTube jokesters vigorously deny the charge .
Despite the lack of confirmation about the reality of the Russians ’ claims to have duped the Prince , the essence of the statement attributed to Harry rings resoundingly true .
Donald Trump ’ s policy to reverse all of the environmental regulatory gains made during the Obama administration will lead to more deaths from air and water pollution as Republican greed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the contrarian mind of the president .
While diplomatic concerns may prevent Prince Harry from acknowledging that he was taken in by the Greta Thunberg impersonation and told the truth about Trump , he should be proud to stand by his righteous opinion .
What do you think ?

Two Russian internet jokesters have reportedly placed a prank call to Britain’s Prince Harry, pretending to be teenaged Swedish climate warrior Greta Thunberg and her father, with the rogue royal engaging in a conversation about the environmental crisis where the prince allegedly said that Donald Trump has “blood on his hands” due to his foolhardy advocacy for the increased use of coal for energy production, according to an article in Newsweek.
The rogue royal, whose recent decision — along with his American born Princess, actress Meghan Markle — to “step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family” shocked the world and gave tabloids copious fodder for weeks of headlines, was back in those headlines after reportedly being fooled by two minor YouTube stars, Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov, popularly known as Vovan and Lexus.
The two Russian impersonators have made a habit of placing prank calls to famous celebrities like Sir Elton John — with whom they pretended to Vladimir Putin and discussed LGBTQ rights in Russia — as well as high-level political leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
According to an account originally reported by Britain’s Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid The Sun, the mischievous duo allegedly spoke to Prince Harry on two separate occasions, once on New Year’s Eve and another in late January, and discussed not only the climate change issues that one would expect Greta Thunberg to be advocating but also the departure of the now not-so-royal couple from the British monarchy.
According to Newsweek:
“At one point in one of the calls, Harry is alleged to have told the Thunbergs: ‘The mere fact that Donald Trump is the pushing the coal industry so big in America, he has blood on his hands, because the effect that has on the climate and the island nations far, far away … again, out of sight, out of mind.'” “‘We’ve visited those places and I’m sure you have as well. People’s lives have been completely destroyed. People are dying every single month by some form of natural disaster that has been created by this huge change to in our climate,’ Harry is claimed to have said.”
While Newsweek was unable to “independently verify the authenticity of the calls” through the Prince’s spokespeople, an excerpt of the alleged call was posted to YouTube with a crude animation accompanying the audio.
Trump fired America’s pandemic response team. Demand he reassemble it to confront the coronavirus pandemic immediately!
Besides the shade thrown towards Donald Trump’s lack of concern for environmental issues that could doom humanity as we know it, Prince Harry also spoke to the pranksters about his and his wife’s departure from the roles as senior working members of the royal family which will officially cease at the end of this month.
“I can assure you, marrying a prince or princess is not all it’s made out to be,” Harry reportedly said. “But sometimes the right decision isn’t always the easy one. And this decision certainly wasn’t the easy one but it was the right decision for our family, the right decision to be able to protect my son.”
While some have suggested that Kuznetsov and Stolyarov might be in the employ of the Kremlin as part of their country’s cyber-disinformation campaign, the two YouTube jokesters vigorously deny the charge.
“We work for ourselves, for nobody else. People are always offering us to get involved in their dirty games. I was offered $100,000 to secretly prank an MP. But we refuse,” Stolyarov told British newspaper The Guardian in 2016.
Despite the lack of confirmation about the reality of the Russians’ claims to have duped the Prince, the essence of the statement attributed to Harry rings resoundingly true.
Donald Trump’s policy to reverse all of the environmental regulatory gains made during the Obama administration will lead to more deaths from air and water pollution as Republican greed outweighs human rights to a sustainable environment in the contrarian mind of the president.
While diplomatic concerns may prevent Prince Harry from acknowledging that he was taken in by the Greta Thunberg impersonation and told the truth about Trump, he should be proud to stand by his righteous opinion.
Follow Vinnie Longobardo on Twitter.
Original reporting by Tufayel Ahmed at Newsweek.
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--2020-03-11--Nine Republicans join Senate Dems to force a vote nullifying DeVos’ new student debt rules

In a surprising rejection of the Trump administration ’ s outrageous pro-corruption agenda , nine Republican Senators have crossed the aisle to help Democrats roll back one of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos ’ most heinous actions .
With the help of a slew of Republicans , the motion to bring up the Borrower Defense Congressional Review Act , S.J .
Res .
56 , easily passed .
One of DeVos ’ first acts in government was to roll back President Obama ’ s “ borrower defense ” rules for protecting students who had been defrauded by scam for-profit colleges like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
After losing a federal court battle to keep the previous administration ’ s rules from coming into effect , DeVos wrote her own rules instead .
Her new regulations would make it significantly harder for defrauded students to get what she saw as “ free money ” and place a three-year-limit for students to file claims .
Students would now have to prove that they attempted and failed to get employment in their field in order to get debt relief , not just prove that the school lied to them .
Students @ @ @ @ @ @ @ basis , even when it ’ s obvious that the institution was ripping off all its students .
They also revoke the Obama administration ’ s extension of automatic debt cancellation to students whose colleges closed while they were still working on their degree and did not re-enroll in a new institution .
“ We believe this final rule corrects the wrongs of the 2016 rule through common sense and carefully crafted reforms that hold colleges and universities accountable and treat students and taxpayers fairly , ” said DeVos in an entirely meaningless @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 150 million of student debt has been canceled so far by the Obama team ’ s rules — far too much for DeVos , whose personal financial holdings include stakes in jackal companies that collect student loans and invest in for-profit colleges themselves .
But it appears that for once , Republicans are actually listening to their constituents and taking action to help students who didn ’ t do anything except try to educate themselves and improve their lot in life .
The vote is scheduled to be held tomorrow .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ veto the measure if it passes .
What do you think ?

In a surprising rejection of the Trump administration’s outrageous pro-corruption agenda, nine Republican Senators have crossed the aisle to help Democrats roll back one of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ most heinous actions. With the help of a slew of Republicans, the motion to bring up the Borrower Defense Congressional Review Act, S.J. Res. 56, easily passed.
Wow. 9 GOPers Senators vote to knock down Devos rule making it harder to get student debt forgiveness. Murkowski (R-AK), Sullivan (R-AK), McSally (R-AZ), Gardner (R-CO), Young (R-IN), Ernst (R-IA), Collins (R-ME), Hawley (R-MO), Portman (R-OH)…https://t.co/cRvEKG7uzA — Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) March 10, 2020
One of DeVos’ first acts in government was to roll back President Obama’s “borrower defense” rules for protecting students who had been defrauded by scam for-profit colleges like the collapsed 28- campus Corinthian Colleges company.
After losing a federal court battle to keep the previous administration’s rules from coming into effect, DeVos wrote her own rules instead.
Her new regulations would make it significantly harder for defrauded students to get what she saw as “free money” and place a three-year-limit for students to file claims. Students would now have to prove that they attempted and failed to get employment in their field in order to get debt relief, not just prove that the school lied to them. Students also have to file on a case-by-case basis, even when it’s obvious that the institution was ripping off all its students.
They also revoke the Obama administration’s extension of automatic debt cancellation to students whose colleges closed while they were still working on their degree and did not re-enroll in a new institution.
“We believe this final rule corrects the wrongs of the 2016 rule through common sense and carefully crafted reforms that hold colleges and universities accountable and treat students and taxpayers fairly,” said DeVos in an entirely meaningless statement accompanying the new rules.
Over $150 million of student debt has been canceled so far by the Obama team’s rules — far too much for DeVos, whose personal financial holdings include stakes in jackal companies that collect student loans and invest in for-profit colleges themselves.
But it appears that for once, Republicans are actually listening to their constituents and taking action to help students who didn’t do anything except try to educate themselves and improve their lot in life.
The vote is scheduled to be held tomorrow. The White House has already indicated they will veto the measure if it passes.
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--2020-03-13--POLITICO reporter tells NPR that Trump deliberately slow-walked virus testing to ease his re-electio

POLITICO reporter tells NPR that Trump deliberately slow-walked virus testing to ease his re-election

New reporting from NPR appears to show what once would be an unthinkable accusation is terrifyingly true : that the President of the United States personally and deliberately slow-walked the testing of suspected coronavirus victims for his own political goals .
POLITICO ’ s Dan Diamond joined the hosts of NPR ’ s “ Fresh Air ” show and revealed that it was his understanding from numerous off-the-record conversations with at least four senior Trump administration officials that the President did not push to do aggressive testing because it might have led to the discovery of more cases , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the lower the number of cases , the better chance of his re-election this fall .
This matches up with the rest of the Trump administration ’ s behavior since the epidemic began .
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 and played a key role in enabling the spread of the virus .
Instead , reports POLITICO , they decided to go ahead with an American-made test that inevitably was delayed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and logistical problems .
Trump fired America ’ s pandemic response team .
Demand he reassemble it to confront the coronavirus pandemic immediately !
The consequences of the President and his team ’ s monstrously selfish attempts to downplay the seriousness of the virus and hide the true extent of the disease will be fatal for some .
POLITICO reports that “ the government ’ s incapacity to conduct widespread testing slowed diagnoses , creating chains of infection .
It also deprived epidemiologists of a map that could have told them how far @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and where they should concentrate efforts to slow it down.
” This is just the latest evidence that Donald Trump will do anything to ensure he wins re-election and keeps a grip on power , whether it ’ s deliberately enabling an epidemic in a wildly misguided effort to keep himself from getting blamed or abusing the powers of his office to bully our international allies into opening sham investigations into his political rivals .
We can not allow him to keep getting away with it .
What do you think ?

New reporting from NPR appears to show what once would be an unthinkable accusation is terrifyingly true: that the President of the United States personally and deliberately slow-walked the testing of suspected coronavirus victims for his own political goals.
POLITICO’s Dan Diamond joined the hosts of NPR’s “Fresh Air” show and revealed that it was his understanding from numerous off-the-record conversations with at least four senior Trump administration officials that the President did not push to do aggressive testing because it might have led to the discovery of more cases, and it was Trump’s belief that the lower the number of cases, the better chance of his re-election this fall.
NPR: “Trump did not push to do aggressive testing because more testing might have led to more cases being discovered of the Coronavirus outbreak, and Trump made it clear the lower the numbers on Coronavirus, the better for the president and his re-election this fall.” https://t.co/4N9PDRmotT — Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) March 12, 2020
This matches up with the rest of the Trump administration’s behavior since the epidemic began. 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 and played a key role in enabling the spread of the virus. 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.
Trump fired America’s pandemic response team. Demand he reassemble it to confront the coronavirus pandemic immediately!
The consequences of the President and his team’s monstrously selfish attempts to downplay the seriousness of the virus and hide the true extent of the disease will be fatal for some. POLITICO reports that “the government’s incapacity to conduct widespread testing slowed diagnoses, creating chains of infection. It also deprived epidemiologists of a map that could have told them how far and how fast the virus was traveling and where they should concentrate efforts to slow it down.”
This is just the latest evidence that Donald Trump will do anything to ensure he wins re-election and keeps a grip on power, whether it’s deliberately enabling an epidemic in a wildly misguided effort to keep himself from getting blamed or abusing the powers of his office to bully our international allies into opening sham investigations into his political rivals. We cannot allow him to keep getting away with it.
Staff Report This is a staff report from former Occupy Democrats Editor in Chief Colin Taylor or contributor Rob Haffney. Latest Posts


occupydemocrats--2020-03-13--FOX guest claims coronavirus fears are just “the next attempt to get Trump” after impeachment

While the executives at FOX News are busy making preparations to protect themselves and their employees from the coronavirus , it appears the general public does not deserve the same thing .
One day after sending a memo to their staff detailing the steps they will be taking to fight the virus ’ spread and demanding that their anchors keep viewers informed with accurate information , FOX & Friends hosts sat back and said nothing as fanatical Trump supporter Jerry Falwell Jr. complaining about the “ overreaction ” to the global pandemic and spread racist conspiracy theories about its origin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s just strange to me how so many are overreacting…The H1N1 virus , in 2009 , killed 17,000 people .
It was the flu , also , I think .
And there was not the same hype .
It was—you just didn ’ t see it on the news 24/7 .
And it makes you wonder if there ’ s a political reason for that… ” wondered evangelist extremist and pool boy enthusiast Jerry Falwell Jr .
He went on to clarify that the political reason was the liberal media and Democrats ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ since impeachment didn ’ t work .
Not content with that , Falwell then insinuated that the coronavirus was created by North Korea and China to deliberately infect the United States .
“ The owner of a restaurant asked me last night , he said , ‘ Do you remember the North Korean leader promised a Christmas present for America , back in December ?
Could it be they got together with China , and this is that present ?
’ I don ’ t know .
But it really is something strange @ @ @ @ @ @ @ days , the right-wing media machine has been working overtime to paint the coronavirus as some sort of nefarious Chinese plot against America while at the same time downplaying the severity of the disease , because media alarm about the virus is some sort of nefarious liberal plot against America and its Great Leader , Donald J. Trump .
It is deeply irresponsible for FOX News to continue promoting these whackadoo cranks and allowing them to spread misinformation when their own executives are taking decisive action to protect themselves and their employees from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Baragona at the Daily Beast .
What do you think ?

While the executives at FOX News are busy making preparations to protect themselves and their employees from the coronavirus, it appears the general public does not deserve the same thing.
One day after sending a memo to their staff detailing the steps they will be taking to fight the virus’ spread and demanding that their anchors keep viewers informed with accurate information, FOX & Friends hosts sat back and said nothing as fanatical Trump supporter Jerry Falwell Jr. complaining about the “overreaction” to the global pandemic and spread racist conspiracy theories about its origin.
“You know, it’s just strange to me how so many are overreacting…The H1N1 virus, in 2009, killed 17,000 people. It was the flu, also, I think. And there was not the same hype. It was—you just didn’t see it on the news 24/7. And it makes you wonder if there’s a political reason for that…” wondered evangelist extremist and pool boy enthusiast Jerry Falwell Jr.
He went on to clarify that the political reason was the liberal media and Democrats’ “next attempt to get Trump” since impeachment didn’t work.
Not content with that, Falwell then insinuated that the coronavirus was created by North Korea and China to deliberately infect the United States.
“The owner of a restaurant asked me last night, he said, ‘Do you remember the North Korean leader promised a Christmas present for America, back in December? Could it be they got together with China, and this is that present?’ I don’t know. But it really is something strange going on.”
Over the past few days, the right-wing media machine has been working overtime to paint the coronavirus as some sort of nefarious Chinese plot against America while at the same time downplaying the severity of the disease, because media alarm about the virus is some sort of nefarious liberal plot against America and its Great Leader, Donald J. Trump.
It is deeply irresponsible for FOX News to continue promoting these whackadoo cranks and allowing them to spread misinformation when their own executives are taking decisive action to protect themselves and their employees from the virus.
Original reporting by Justin Baragona at the Daily Beast.
Staff Report This is a staff report from former Occupy Democrats Editor in Chief Colin Taylor or contributor Rob Haffney. Latest Posts


occupydemocrats--2020-03-14--Kushner allegedly asked his sister-in-law’s dad for help planning virus response, who used a Faceboo

Kushner allegedly asked his sister-in-law’s dad for help planning virus response, who used a Facebook group

The White House of the United States of America has access to trillions of dollars in funding and some of the world ’ s finest experts on every topic , including virology and epidemiology .
But The Spectator appears to have discovered the president ’ s son-in-law relying on the advice of a large , public Facebook Group to help craft policy in response to the coronavirus epidemic .
It has long been a joke that Jared Kushner ’ s job as “ Senior White House advisor ” is to save the world armed with nothing more than generational wealth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no experience doing anything but bungling real estate deals .
So it was inevitable that when the President ’ s strategy of covering up a global health crisis , politicizing the issue and then lying about it failed , he would turn to Kushner in his hour of need — as he seemingly and inexplicably does every time Trump is in trouble .
With the news that Trump delayed his long-awaited national emergency declaration pending Kushner ’ s input , one would hope he did his best to deliver the most accurate information @ @ @ @ @ @ @ turn in his hour of need ?
Faced with a task far beyond his purview , does he ensconce himself with the finest minds our nation has to offer ?
Does he jump into a car and head to the CDC ?
Trump fired America ’ s pandemic response team .
Demand he reassemble it to confront the coronavirus pandemic immediately !
Of course not !
Instead , he goes to the one doctor he does know , his sister-in-law ’ s father Dr. Kurt Kloss , who then naturally submits the question @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the Spectator : The 22,000 person group “ ER Docs ” is screened for medical credentials , according to Politico , who reports “ the Facebook crowd-sourcing exercise showed how Trump ‘ s team is scrambling for solutions to confront the outbreak after weeks of criticism for the administration ’ s sluggish response , a shortage of tests and the president ’ s own rhetoric downplaying the pandemic.
” What ’ s even more frightening is that some of the dozen measures proferred by Kushner ’ s sister-in-law ’ s father would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ during the epidemic , like the suspension of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act of 1986 that requires emergency rooms to treat every patient .
Other suggestions from Dr. Kloss ’ group are the kind of common sense things people have been screaming for Trump to do for weeks , like the drive-through testing South Korea pioneered , field hospitals and getting the Federal Emergency Management Agency ( FEMA ) engaged , which only happened this afternoon because of the emergency declaration .
They also recommended delivering emergency funding to quarantined people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the House is going to pass in the form of expanded sick-leave payments under Speaker Nancy Pelosi ’ s ( D-CA ) leadership anyway .
President Trump agreed to the Speaker ’ s terms , including paid sick leave , over the objection of his own party two hours after his Friday-afternoon press conference declaring a national emergency , However , Senate Majority Leader McConnell recently trashed the House Democrats ’ plan as an “ ideological wishlist , ” so it remains to be seen if anything at all will get passed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ need someone in the highest office in the land that is competent enough to rely on the advice of the globally recognized virologists on staff at the National Institutes of Health , the Centers for Disease Control and the US Army ’ s Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases — not a random group of emergency room doctors distantly related to a nepotistically chosen political advisor .
Instead , we have “ all the best people ” madly scrambling to figure out the best practices to fight a highly-contagious pandemic after it has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out that in desperation , the White House is turning to a Facebook group of random doctors around the world for advice and ignoring the government expert doctors—whom he ’ s muzzled—is a damning indictment of President Trump ’ s entire haphazard response to the coronavirus , which itself is a gross caricature of how a real President like Barack Obama would handle this grave and growing viral outbreak .
Here are screenshots of Jared Kushner ’ s panel of emergency room doctors trying to practice epidemiology : The morning after Trump ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kloss confirmed that Jared Kushner was reading their suggestions : What do you think ?

The White House of the United States of America has access to trillions of dollars in funding and some of the world’s finest experts on every topic, including virology and epidemiology.
But The Spectator appears to have discovered the president’s son-in-law relying on the advice of a large, public Facebook Group to help craft policy in response to the coronavirus epidemic.
It has long been a joke that Jared Kushner’s job as “Senior White House advisor” is to save the world armed with nothing more than generational wealth and nepotism, seeing as he has no experience doing anything but bungling real estate deals.
So it was inevitable that when the President’s strategy of covering up a global health crisis, politicizing the issue and then lying about it failed, he would turn to Kushner in his hour of need — as he seemingly and inexplicably does every time Trump is in trouble. With the news that Trump delayed his long-awaited national emergency declaration pending Kushner’s input, one would hope he did his best to deliver the most accurate information possible.
Where might an enterprising scion turn in his hour of need? Faced with a task far beyond his purview, does he ensconce himself with the finest minds our nation has to offer? Does he jump into a car and head to the CDC?
Trump fired America’s pandemic response team. Demand he reassemble it to confront the coronavirus pandemic immediately!
Of course not! Instead, he goes to the one doctor he does know, his sister-in-law’s father Dr. Kurt Kloss, who then naturally submits the question to a public Facebook group, according to the Spectator:
‘If you were in charge of Federal response to the Pandemic what would your recommendation be,’ Kloss wrote in the private group Wednesday, according to screenshots… ‘Please only serious responses. I have direct channel to person now in charge at White House and have been asked for recommendations. I have already expressed concern for need for ventilators and more PPE (personal protective equipment) for frontline and test kits.’
The 22,000 person group “ER Docs” is screened for medical credentials, according to Politico, who reports “the Facebook crowd-sourcing exercise showed how Trump‘s team is scrambling for solutions to confront the outbreak after weeks of criticism for the administration’s sluggish response, a shortage of tests and the president’s own rhetoric downplaying the pandemic.”
What’s even more frightening is that some of the dozen measures proferred by Kushner’s sister-in-law’s father would literally leave Americans dying in the streets during the epidemic, like the suspension of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act of 1986 that requires emergency rooms to treat every patient.
Other suggestions from Dr. Kloss’ group are the kind of common sense things people have been screaming for Trump to do for weeks, like the drive-through testing South Korea pioneered, field hospitals and getting the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) engaged, which only happened this afternoon because of the emergency declaration.
They also recommended delivering emergency funding to quarantined people, which Senate Republicans object to doing and the House is going to pass in the form of expanded sick-leave payments under Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) leadership anyway.
President Trump agreed to the Speaker’s terms, including paid sick leave, over the objection of his own party two hours after his Friday-afternoon press conference declaring a national emergency, However, Senate Majority Leader McConnell recently trashed the House Democrats’ plan as an “ideological wishlist,” so it remains to be seen if anything at all will get passed.
However, the American people still need someone in the highest office in the land that is competent enough to rely on the advice of the globally recognized virologists on staff at the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and the US Army’s Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases — not a random group of emergency room doctors distantly related to a nepotistically chosen political advisor.
Instead, we have “all the best people” madly scrambling to figure out the best practices to fight a highly-contagious pandemic after it has already spun out of control.
Finding out that in desperation, the White House is turning to a Facebook group of random doctors around the world for advice and ignoring the government expert doctors—whom he’s muzzled—is a damning indictment of President Trump’s entire haphazard response to the coronavirus, which itself is a gross caricature of how a real President like Barack Obama would handle this grave and growing viral outbreak.
Here are screenshots of Jared Kushner’s panel of emergency room doctors trying to practice epidemiology:
First post:
After
The morning after Trump’s hideous Oval Office address, Dr. Kloss confirmed that Jared Kushner was reading their suggestions:
Here’s the complete list of Facebook groups generated suggestions:


occupydemocrats--2020-03-14--Trump: “I don’t take any responsibility at all” for critical delay in coronvirus testing

On Friday afternoon , President Trump uttered what will likely be the defining words of his presidency : “ I don ’ t take any responsibility at all.
” During a press conference this afternoon , a reporter challenged the president about the serious delays in coronavirus testing that have crippled the nation ’ s ability to respond to the rapidly expanding epidemic .
Desperately struggling to bury the mismanagement and deliberate negligence that allowed the coronavirus crisis to spiral out of control in the first place , the president literally refused to take any responsibility and instead complained about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to deal with the crisis at all !
Later in the press conference , a reporter asked him about why the Trump administration dismantled President Obama ’ s pandemic response team and never bothered to replace it .
The leader of the free world dismissed it as a “ nasty question.
” Trump fired America ’ s pandemic response team .
Demand he reassemble it to confront the coronavirus pandemic immediately !
The president ’ s response to the coronavirus has been appalling from the start , which saw him deliberately slow-walk the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was worried too many cases would affect his re-election .
Then 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 and played a key role in enabling the spread of the virus .
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 .
Now that it ’ s become clear that the virus is spreading throughout @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he ’ s going out of his way to appear like he ’ s doing everything he possibly can while downplaying the crisis at the same time — for instance , this afternoon , he told reporters this afternoon that there would be five million tests available within a month but added that “ I doubt we ’ ll need that.
” If the virus continues to spread at the rate that it has in other countries , five million might not even be enough .
The latest worst-case projections from the CDC @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , believe that “ between 160 million and 214 million people in the United States could be infected over the course of the epidemic… as many as 200,000 to 1.7 million people could die.
” While we remind you that these are worst-case scenario numbers , anything close to even the lowest end of that spectrum would still be a national disaster whose fault lies squarely with the President , who has done everything in his power to ensure we are as unprepared as we possibly could be to stop the spread .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ responsibility at all for the lives that will be lost is a watershed moment in his presidency — and it ’ s not even the first time .
We saw him do this in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria , as thousands of Puerto Ricans died in part thanks to , once again , the deliberate negligence of the Trump administration .
Unfortunately , too many Americans refuse to treat Puerto Ricans with the same importance that they do other continental Americans .
But we all should have seen this coming — and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wake-up call to his millions of supporters .
No matter how many Americans die , he will not take responsibility , and justice demands we do not allow him to neglect this nation for another four years .
What do you think ?

On Friday afternoon, President Trump uttered what will likely be the defining words of his presidency: “I don’t take any responsibility at all.”
During a press conference this afternoon, a reporter challenged the president about the serious delays in coronavirus testing that have crippled the nation’s ability to respond to the rapidly expanding epidemic. Desperately struggling to bury the mismanagement and deliberate negligence that allowed the coronavirus crisis to spiral out of control in the first place, the president literally refused to take any responsibility and instead complained about how unfair it was that he had to deal with the crisis at all!
Asked if he takes responsibility for lag in testing, Pres. Trump says, "No, I don't take responsibility at all." "We were given a set of circumstances…it wasn't meant for this kind of an event with the kind of numbers that we're talking about." https://t.co/KRAabMVMhN pic.twitter.com/FXwbrRrUoS — ABC News (@ABC) March 13, 2020
Later in the press conference, a reporter asked him about why the Trump administration dismantled President Obama’s pandemic response team and never bothered to replace it. The leader of the free world dismissed it as a “nasty question.”
Trump fired America’s pandemic response team. Demand he reassemble it to confront the coronavirus pandemic immediately!
The president’s response to the coronavirus has been appalling from the start, which saw him deliberately slow-walk the testing of potential virus carriers because he was worried too many cases would affect his re-election. Then 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 and played a key role in enabling the spread of the virus. 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.
Now that it’s become clear that the virus is spreading throughout the nation at a terrifying pace, he’s going out of his way to appear like he’s doing everything he possibly can while downplaying the crisis at the same time — for instance, this afternoon, he told reporters this afternoon that there would be five million tests available within a month but added that “I doubt we’ll need that.”
If the virus continues to spread at the rate that it has in other countries, five million might not even be enough. The latest worst-case projections from the CDC, obtained by the New York Times, believe that “between 160 million and 214 million people in the United States could be infected over the course of the epidemic… as many as 200,000 to 1.7 million people could die.”
While we remind you that these are worst-case scenario numbers, anything close to even the lowest end of that spectrum would still be a national disaster whose fault lies squarely with the President, who has done everything in his power to ensure we are as unprepared as we possibly could be to stop the spread.
For him to refuse to take any responsibility at all for the lives that will be lost is a watershed moment in his presidency — and it’s not even the first time. We saw him do this in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, as thousands of Puerto Ricans died in part thanks to, once again, the deliberate negligence of the Trump administration.
Unfortunately, too many Americans refuse to treat Puerto Ricans with the same importance that they do other continental Americans. But we all should have seen this coming — and hopefully, this will finally be a wake-up call to his millions of supporters. No matter how many Americans die, he will not take responsibility, and justice demands we do not allow him to neglect this nation for another four years.
Staff Report This is a staff report from former Occupy Democrats Editor in Chief Colin Taylor or contributor Rob Haffney. Latest Posts


occupydemocrats--2020-03-14--Ocasio-Cortez calls for emergency Universal Basic Income in response to COVID-19

While the House of Representatives passed a watered-down version of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act in the wee hours of Friday night/Saturday morning , the bill contained many compromises to corporate interests that were pushed by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on behalf of the Trump administration to ensure that Republicans would support the legislation .
With The New York Times estimating that the paid sick leave protections in the bill would only cover around 20 % of Americans , Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ( D-NY ) demanded that Congress do better to protect ordinary citizens rather than kowtow to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ companies who refuse to cover sufficient sick leave for their employees , particularly part-time and gig economy workers , and may face economic pressures to go to work while sick , further exacerbating the spread of the disease .
In a post on Twitter , Representative Ocasio-Cortez offered a solution that would actually help the people who would be most affected by the lack of worker protections included in the less-than-comprehensive bill passed this morning and which still needs to be approved by a Senate in recess due to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health emergency and its effects on the average working-class American .
Trump fired America ’ s pandemic response team .
Demand he reassemble it to confront the coronavirus pandemic immediately !
UBI , or Universal Basic Income , was a significant attraction of the unlikely candidacy of former Democratic hopeful Andrew Yang , who floated the idea of a no-strings-attached monthly government payment of $ 1000 to every person in the country to reduce the anxiety over meeting the costs of the most basic needs of human existence .
Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez rightly pointed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Americans at the time of a public health crisis requires extraordinary measures , especially in a country without the free basic universal health care available in every other civilized nation .
The Bronx-born representative reiterated her stance with a second tweet later in the day .
Unfortunately , the virus won ’ t wait until the November elections when we can elect a president and a Senate majority who will support such needed reforms .
Let ’ s hope that when the virus begins to subside that the Merican people still remember which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and which was too beholden to their own corporate donors to act to pass the needed reforms that benefit the common people rather than the wealthy elites .
What do you think ?

While the House of Representatives passed a watered-down version of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act in the wee hours of Friday night/Saturday morning, the bill contained many compromises to corporate interests that were pushed by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on behalf of the Trump administration to ensure that Republicans would support the legislation.
With The New York Times estimating that the paid sick leave protections in the bill would only cover around 20% of Americans, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) demanded that Congress do better to protect ordinary citizens rather than kowtow to the wishes of the wealthy and the exploitative companies who refuse to cover sufficient sick leave for their employees, particularly part-time and gig economy workers, and may face economic pressures to go to work while sick, further exacerbating the spread of the disease.
In a post on Twitter, Representative Ocasio-Cortez offered a solution that would actually help the people who would be most affected by the lack of worker protections included in the less-than-comprehensive bill passed this morning and which still needs to be approved by a Senate in recess due to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s lack of urgency surrounding the health emergency and its effects on the average working-class American.
The need for social distancing from restaurants only underscores the need for relief for tipped workers, freelancers, shift workers, etc. Tax credits & unemployment insurance does not help many of these workers – that’s a huge segment of our economy. We need emergency UBI, now. — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 14, 2020
Trump fired America’s pandemic response team. Demand he reassemble it to confront the coronavirus pandemic immediately!
UBI, or Universal Basic Income, was a significant attraction of the unlikely candidacy of former Democratic hopeful Andrew Yang, who floated the idea of a no-strings-attached monthly government payment of $1000 to every person in the country to reduce the anxiety over meeting the costs of the most basic needs of human existence.
Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez rightly pointed out that the vulnerability of so many Americans at the time of a public health crisis requires extraordinary measures, especially in a country without the free basic universal health care available in every other civilized nation.
The Bronx-born representative reiterated her stance with a second tweet later in the day.
We need real paid sick leave,
right now,
for every worker,
no exceptions. — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 14, 2020
Unfortunately, the virus won’t wait until the November elections when we can elect a president and a Senate majority who will support such needed reforms.
Let’s hope that when the virus begins to subside that the American people still remember which party had their best interests at heart and which was too beholden to their own corporate donors to act to pass the needed reforms that benefit the common people rather than the wealthy elites.
Follow Vinnie Longobardo on Twitter.
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--2020-03-14--RNC Chairwoman falls ill with “flu-like” symptoms, awaits COVID-19 test results after Trump meeting

Ronna McDaniel , the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee , is in self-quarantine at her home in Michigan after visiting a local hospital yesterday while experiencing a fever and other “ flu-like ” symptoms and testing negative for the standard flu and a strep infection .
Based on her physical indicators and the lack of other possible explanations , her physician determined that she should be tested for coronavirus since she had potentially been exposed to the disease at the Conservative Political Action Conference ( CPAC ) where a known carrier of the virus interacted with many attendees .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the tests to see if she tests positive for COVID-19 .
The RNC chairwoman and niece of Senator Mitt Romney ( R-UT ) met with Donald Trump on Monday in Orlando , her spokesperson told CNN .
Since both Trump and Vice President Pence had just been in contact with a Brazilian official at a Mar-a-Lago meeting , it is unclear if that meeting was a potential exposure point for the transmission of the virus in either direction .
The Republican National Committee is now in the process of contacting everyone that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to inform them of the potential exposure should her test come back positive for the coronavirus .
RNC Communications Director Michael Ahrens posted a tweet informing the public of the new development in McDaniels ’ medical condition .
Earlier today , President Trump announced at a White House press briefing that he too had been tested for the virus last night .
Trump said the test results would be back in a day or two , although some medical professionals questioned why the test , which only takes a few hours to complete @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the case of the president .
Vice President Pence who is nominally spearheading the administration ’ s response to the virus has been similarly exposed to the same infected people that Trump has at both Mar-a-Lago and at CPAC , but has yet to undergo testing , according to media reports .
What do you think ?

Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, is in self-quarantine at her home in Michigan after visiting a local hospital yesterday while experiencing a fever and other “flu-like” symptoms and testing negative for the standard flu and a strep infection.
Based on her physical indicators and the lack of other possible explanations, her physician determined that she should be tested for coronavirus since she had potentially been exposed to the disease at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) where a known carrier of the virus interacted with many attendees.
McDaniel is currently waiting for the results of the tests to see if she tests positive for COVID-19.
The RNC chairwoman and niece of Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) met with Donald Trump on Monday in Orlando, her spokesperson told CNN. Since both Trump and Vice President Pence had just been in contact with a Brazilian official at a Mar-a-Lago meeting, it is unclear if that meeting was a potential exposure point for the transmission of the virus in either direction.
The Republican National Committee is now in the process of contacting everyone that had contact with McDaniel in recent days to inform them of the potential exposure should her test come back positive for the coronavirus.
RNC Communications Director Michael Ahrens posted a tweet informing the public of the new development in McDaniels’ medical condition.
Earlier today, President Trump announced at a White House press briefing that he too had been tested for the virus last night.
“I also took the test last night,” Trump said during the briefing. “And I decided I should, based on the press conference yesterday. People were asking, ‘Did I take the test?'”
Trump said the test results would be back in a day or two, although some medical professionals questioned why the test, which only takes a few hours to complete, wouldn’t be expedited in the case of the president.
Vice President Pence who is nominally spearheading the administration’s response to the virus has been similarly exposed to the same infected people that Trump has at both Mar-a-Lago and at CPAC, but has yet to undergo testing, according to media reports.
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Original reporting by Jeff Zeleny at CNN.
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--2020-03-14--How Trump and the GOP neutered the coronavirus relief bill passed last night to help corporations

The House of Representatives scrambled to pass a bipartisan coronavirus relief bill late last evening to expand access to free virus testing , provide $ 1 billion in food aid and extend paid sick leave benefits to vulnerable Americans .
While the bill was passed by an overwhelming majority of both parties , the only no votes came from 40 members of the GOP caucus , and the negotiations over the details of the bill — largely hammered out between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ( D-CA ) and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin ( R-Wall Street ) — was stalled at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ White House since House Republicans would not commit to passing the bill without the support of Donald Trump .
The final bill that was passed , however , was much weaker than it would have otherwise been due to compromises made by Democrats to ensure that it would not just languish on Mitch McConnell ’ s desk unconsidered by the Senate , despite the grudging support of the measure by Donald Trump .
As passed , the bill inspired the editorial board of The New York Times to write an editorial lamenting the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sick leave to any American affected by the pandemic outbreak .
Analyzing the final version of the bill , The Times notes that it only covers about 20 % of American workers and exempts large employers like Amazon and McDonald ’ s from having to provide paid leave when their employees are exposed to the virus and could potentially infect their coworkers , as well as allowing hardship exemptions to small companies with fewer than 50 employees .
The editorial board of the newspaper lays the blame on this sad shortcoming of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the Republican party — “ who insisted on the exemptions as the price of bipartisan support for the legislation “ — because of their inexplicable intent to protect the profits of corporations before protecting the lives of their constituents .
The paper also questions Pelosi ’ s political strategy of agreeing to the watering down of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act to ensure quick passage in the house rather than simply passing the strongest possible protections for the average Americans and then daring the Republicans to publically declare the reasoning behind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the editorial demonstrates that in times of crisis , moves that would be condemned by the GOP as creeping socialism seem much more like basic common sense when the threat of death of thousands is lingering over the nation .
The sad irony of the accomodating retreat of Speaker Pelosi and the Democrats from the stronger measures that they intended to pass before encountering pushback from the White House for economic reasons that primarily affect the wealthy and corporate interests is the fact that — despite their rush to pass the legislation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the early hours of Saturday morning , acting as quickly as possible to help stop the spread of the coronavirus from getting worse — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sent the entire Senate home for a weekend recess , ignoring the urgent need to move quickly when every day of inaction could cost additional lives , and won ’ t be able to vote on the bill and send it to Trump for his signature until Monday at the earliest .
This sort of professional malpractice not only demonstrates the lack of concern @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but it also provides an additional reason to ensure that Democrats take back the Senate as well as the White House in November .
Moscow Mitch and Typhoid Trump must go !
Original reporting by The Editorial Board at The New York Times .
What do you think ?

The House of Representatives scrambled to pass a bipartisan coronavirus relief bill late last evening to expand access to free virus testing, provide $1 billion in food aid and extend paid sick leave benefits to vulnerable Americans.
While the bill was passed by an overwhelming majority of both parties, the only no votes came from 40 members of the GOP caucus, and the negotiations over the details of the bill — largely hammered out between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin (R-Wall Street) — was stalled at various points over inconsistent signals from the White House since House Republicans would not commit to passing the bill without the support of Donald Trump.
The final bill that was passed, however, was much weaker than it would have otherwise been due to compromises made by Democrats to ensure that it would not just languish on Mitch McConnell’s desk unconsidered by the Senate, despite the grudging support of the measure by Donald Trump.
As passed, the bill inspired the editorial board of The New York Times to write an editorial lamenting the failure of the legislation to guarantee paid sick leave to any American affected by the pandemic outbreak. Analyzing the final version of the bill, The Times notes that it only covers about 20% of American workers and exempts large employers like Amazon and McDonald’s from having to provide paid leave when their employees are exposed to the virus and could potentially infect their coworkers, as well as allowing hardship exemptions to small companies with fewer than 50 employees.
“’If you are sick, stay home,’ Vice President Mike Pence said at a news conference on Saturday afternoon. ‘You’re not going to miss a pay check,'” the editorial reports. “But that’s simply not true. Sick workers should stay home, but there is no guarantee in the emergency legislation that most of them will get paid,” it candidly notes.
The editorial board of the newspaper lays the blame on this sad shortcoming of the legislation squarely at the feet of Trump and the Republican party — “who insisted on the exemptions as the price of bipartisan support for the legislation“— because of their inexplicable intent to protect the profits of corporations before protecting the lives of their constituents.
The paper also questions Pelosi’s political strategy of agreeing to the watering down of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act to ensure quick passage in the house rather than simply passing the strongest possible protections for the average Americans and then daring the Republicans to publically declare the reasoning behind their objections to them.
“Why not pass a bill that required all employers to provide paid sick leave and then force Republicans to explain their objections to the public?” The Times‘ editorial board asks.
The conclusion of the editorial demonstrates that in times of crisis, moves that would be condemned by the GOP as creeping socialism seem much more like basic common sense when the threat of death of thousands is lingering over the nation.
“Companies should be required provide paid sick leave to every worker as a standard cost of doing business, and they certainly should be required to do so in the midst of a pandemic,” the writers rationally state. “The House’s failure to require universal paid sick leave is an embarrassment that endangers the health of workers, consumers and the broader American public.”
The sad irony of the accomodating retreat of Speaker Pelosi and the Democrats from the stronger measures that they intended to pass before encountering pushback from the White House for economic reasons that primarily affect the wealthy and corporate interests is the fact that — despite their rush to pass the legislation in a late-night session that extended into the early hours of Saturday morning, acting as quickly as possible to help stop the spread of the coronavirus from getting worse — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sent the entire Senate home for a weekend recess, ignoring the urgent need to move quickly when every day of inaction could cost additional lives, and won’t be able to vote on the bill and send it to Trump for his signature until Monday at the earliest.
This sort of professional malpractice not only demonstrates the lack of concern that the GOP has for ordinary Americans, but it also provides an additional reason to ensure that Democrats take back the Senate as well as the White House in November.
Moscow Mitch and Typhoid Trump must go!
Follow Vinnie Longobardo on Twitter.
Original reporting by The Editorial Board at The New York Times.
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--2020-03-14--“SOCIAL DISTANCING!”: Trump tweets a day after shaking hands with healthcare execs

Despite being exposed to the coronavirus during a meeting at Mar-a-Lago with Brazillian officials last weekend , Donald Trump spent yesterday shaking hands , patting backs and touching the microphone at the White House lectern at least 31 times , according to The Washington Post .
All of that made the tweet that he sent this morning all the more…ironic ?
Hypocritical ?
Inexplicable ?
All of the above ?
It was apparently a phrase that he finally picked up on after attending a meeting at the White House on the virus with officials from state and local governments on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a meeting that he was careful to twice remind people that he was attending after false reports that he would spend yet another weekend playing golf at one of his resorts circulated on social media earlier in the day .
Trump fired America ’ s pandemic response team .
Demand he reassemble it to confront the coronavirus pandemic immediately !
While the suspicions that Trump would be golfing yet again proved to be unfounded , the worsening spread of the pandemic and the ensuing economic travails and panic hoarding of essential goods seemed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the morning when he attempted a spin that would have surely earned him high marks from Olympic scorers had he been able to stick the landing .
In the face of a week of stock market gyrations that brought the major indexes into bear territory and largely erased most of the gains made during the course of his administration , Trump — seeing his boasts of a strong economy that he was counting on using as his primary ticket to reelection slowly circling the drain — bragged about the market ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mind , history began in October of 2008 when the market last rebounded by a larger percentage .
Oddly , he fails to mention that the markets had to halt trading twice this week because of failsafe mechanisms that click in when the panicked selling begins a freefall and that the indices are all still well below where they were last week .
The all-caps tweet displays the empathy-free president ’ s true concerns about the coronavirus epidemic that the world is waiting to see whether he himself would fall victim to after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
After weeks of downplaying concerns about a virus that he said would go away as the weather got warmer and that he had done everything necessary to combat the spread of in the United States , Trump was forced to confront the rude intrusion of reality into his carefully constructed fantasy world as his performance as chief executive was found sorely lacking and markets responded accordingly .
Naturally , Trump would jump on the market rebound — which financial analysts largely attribute to stimulus efforts by nations around the world who slashed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as well as the congressional efforts to pass a coronavirus relief bill yesterday — as a positive result of his efforts .
Yet in truth , it only demonstrates his single-minded focus on the political fallout from his administration ’ s inept response to the health emergency and its effect on his campaign .
America deserves so much better .
As we await the results of the COVID-19 test that the president finally agreed to last night , America finally has had a chance to see how the president performs when he ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can ’ t bully or sue into submission .
Hopefully , the glimpse of his total inability to deal with the crisis will finally open the eyes of some of his true believers and lead to a resounding defeat at the polls in November , if irony doesn ’ t overtake him before then .
What do you think ?

Despite being exposed to the coronavirus during a meeting at Mar-a-Lago with Brazillian officials last weekend, Donald Trump spent yesterday shaking hands, patting backs and touching the microphone at the White House lectern at least 31 times, according to The Washington Post.
All of that made the tweet that he sent this morning all the more…ironic? Hypocritical? Inexplicable? All of the above?
SOCIAL DISTANCING! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 14, 2020
It was apparently a phrase that he finally picked up on after attending a meeting at the White House on the virus with officials from state and local governments on the frontlines of the health crisis — a meeting that he was careful to twice remind people that he was attending after false reports that he would spend yet another weekend playing golf at one of his resorts circulated on social media earlier in the day.
Attending meetings on Covid-19 in the White House. Working with States and local governments, many of whom have done a great job. Full report latter! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 14, 2020
Just finished a meeting on Covid-19 in the Situation Room, news conference coming up shortly. https://t.co/JaNDpyMWjL pic.twitter.com/x9lSEXjnea — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 14, 2020
Trump fired America’s pandemic response team. Demand he reassemble it to confront the coronavirus pandemic immediately!
While the suspicions that Trump would be golfing yet again proved to be unfounded, the worsening spread of the pandemic and the ensuing economic travails and panic hoarding of essential goods seemed to be far from his mind earlier in the morning when he attempted a spin that would have surely earned him high marks from Olympic scorers had he been able to stick the landing.
In the face of a week of stock market gyrations that brought the major indexes into bear territory and largely erased most of the gains made during the course of his administration, Trump — seeing his boasts of a strong economy that he was counting on using as his primary ticket to reelection slowly circling the drain — bragged about the market’s rebound yesterday.
BIGGEST STOCK MARKET RISE IN HISTORY YESTERDAY! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 14, 2020
In Trump’s mind, history began in October of 2008 when the market last rebounded by a larger percentage.
Oddly, he fails to mention that the markets had to halt trading twice this week because of failsafe mechanisms that click in when the panicked selling begins a freefall and that the indices are all still well below where they were last week.
The all-caps tweet displays the empathy-free president’s true concerns about the coronavirus epidemic that the world is waiting to see whether he himself would fall victim to after his documented exposure to an infected contact.
After weeks of downplaying concerns about a virus that he said would go away as the weather got warmer and that he had done everything necessary to combat the spread of in the United States, Trump was forced to confront the rude intrusion of reality into his carefully constructed fantasy world as his performance as chief executive was found sorely lacking and markets responded accordingly.
Naturally, Trump would jump on the market rebound — which financial analysts largely attribute to stimulus efforts by nations around the world who slashed interest rates and bought up government bonds as well as the congressional efforts to pass a coronavirus relief bill yesterday — as a positive result of his efforts. Yet in truth, it only demonstrates his single-minded focus on the political fallout from his administration’s inept response to the health emergency and its effect on his campaign.
America deserves so much better.
As we await the results of the COVID-19 test that the president finally agreed to last night, America finally has had a chance to see how the president performs when he’s faced with a crisis that he can’t bully or sue into submission. Hopefully, the glimpse of his total inability to deal with the crisis will finally open the eyes of some of his true believers and lead to a resounding defeat at the polls in November, if irony doesn’t overtake him before then.
Follow Vinnie Longobardo on Twitter.
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--2020-03-15--Trump threatens to pardon national security advisor who pled guilty of lying to FBI in Russia probe

For once Donald Trump has used quotation marks properly in one of his tweets .
Unfortunately , the context of that he used them in was in highlighting the flimsiness of his excuse for “ strongly considering a Full Pardon ” for General Michael Flynn , his first National Security Advisor who has been trying to reverse his guilty plea after confessing to making false statements to the FBI about his contacts with Russian diplomats during the transition to the Trump presidency .
Yes , the quotation marks around “ lost ” indicate that the supposedly missing records connected to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the legal dispute over FBI notes made while interviewing Flynn and compiling a report on his activities initiated by Flynn ’ s new legal team and that the president likely sourced from Fox News who have been pushing this deep state conspiracy theory .
Besides being another example of Trump focusing on politics and interfering in the normal course of justice to try to exonerate his 2016 campaign from the taint of Russian assistance in his election —interference that has been confirmed by every major US intelligence agency — Trump ’ s foreshadowing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ associate after a spew of controversial pardons that include a NAVY Seal accused of war crimes and politically connected figures who have been convicted of many of the same types of crimes that the president himself has been accused of — former Arizona Sherrif Joe Arpaio ( obstruction of justice ) , former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik ( tax evasion ) , former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich ( abuse of power and corruption ) , among others — adds insult to injury at a time when the nation expects the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the government response to the coronavirus pandemic .
Trump fired America ’ s pandemic response team .
Demand he reassemble it to confront the coronavirus pandemic immediately !
Twitter denizens responded to his tweet with amazement and derision .
Now that Trump is at least using quotation marks to correctly delineate his weasel words , it ’ s time to start using those same quotes when using the title of “ president ” before his name to emphasize the ersatz nature of the job that he is doing in the role .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the quotes around “ president ” and append the prefix “ ex ” in front of the title as soon as humanly possible .
What do you think ?

For once Donald Trump has used quotation marks properly in one of his tweets.
Unfortunately, the context of that he used them in was in highlighting the flimsiness of his excuse for “strongly considering a Full Pardon” for General Michael Flynn, his first National Security Advisor who has been trying to reverse his guilty plea after confessing to making false statements to the FBI about his contacts with Russian diplomats during the transition to the Trump presidency.
So now it is reported that, after destroying his life & the life of his wonderful family (and many others also), the FBI, working in conjunction with the Justice Department, has “lost” the records of General Michael Flynn. How convenient. I am strongly considering a Full Pardon! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 15, 2020
Yes, the quotation marks around “lost” indicate that the supposedly missing records connected to the case are a complete mischaracterization of the legal dispute over FBI notes made while interviewing Flynn and compiling a report on his activities initiated by Flynn’s new legal team and that the president likely sourced from Fox News who have been pushing this deep state conspiracy theory.
Besides being another example of Trump focusing on politics and interfering in the normal course of justice to try to exonerate his 2016 campaign from the taint of Russian assistance in his election —interference that has been confirmed by every major US intelligence agency — Trump’s foreshadowing of yet another pardon of a corrupt associate after a spew of controversial pardons that include a NAVY Seal accused of war crimes and politically connected figures who have been convicted of many of the same types of crimes that the president himself has been accused of — former Arizona Sherrif Joe Arpaio (obstruction of justice), former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik (tax evasion), former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (abuse of power and corruption), among others — adds insult to injury at a time when the nation expects the president’s full attention to be on the government response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump fired America’s pandemic response team. Demand he reassemble it to confront the coronavirus pandemic immediately!
Twitter denizens responded to his tweet with amazement and derision.
#TrumpResignNOW and let someone competent take over. — Grant Stern (@grantstern) March 15, 2020
His timing could not be worse. There are people dying and he's thinking about this? But sure, let's see the president pardon yet another criminal associate by making out he's been unfairly treated and has no other option. — Mike P Williams (@Mike_P_Williams) March 15, 2020
Did you get your doggie a good treat for getting rid of those records for you? pic.twitter.com/e0Th93YmE9 — Cheryl Gage (@dancer39532) March 15, 2020
Childish Gambino literally predicted this! https://t.co/S2WcDg3XDM — Jack Jones (@JackJonesxtra) March 15, 2020
Still, to this day, Trump has never apologized for the role he played in their immense suffering. Even after they were exonerated with DNA evidence, he still called them punks and criminals. Meanwhile, he pardons war criminals and traitors as President. — Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) March 15, 2020
Using your disastrous response to a
global pandemic as cover to keep members of your criminal syndicate out of prison is incredibly not surprising. — Chidi® (@ChidiNwatu) March 15, 2020
Cool story, cool cool … hey, where are the coronavirus tests? — Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) March 15, 2020
This is exactly what the 52 Republican senators voted for when President Trump declared that if senate cut his impeachment trial short he will be even more incompetent, cruel, corrupt, disloyal, authoritarian. — David Rothschild (@DavMicRot) March 15, 2020
Now that Trump is at least using quotation marks to correctly delineate his weasel words, it’s time to start using those same quotes when using the title of “president” before his name to emphasize the ersatz nature of the job that he is doing in the role.
Even better, let’s remove the quotes around “president” and append the prefix “ex” in front of the title as soon as humanly possible.
Follow Vinnie Longobardo on Twitter.
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