February 28, 2020

"Mick Mulvaney... blamed the media for exaggerating the seriousness of coronavirus because 'they think this will bring down the president, that’s what this is all about.'"

The NYT reports on remarks by the acting White House chief of staff at the Conservative Political Action Conference today.
Mr. Mulvaney also criticized the news media for generally not wanting to portray Mr. Trump in a positive light. But he chose a bizarre example, claiming it refuses to cover what he described as Mr. Trump’s loving relationship with his 13-year-old son, Barron.... “[T]he press would never show you that because it doesn’t fit that image of him, the press wants him to be this terrible monster.”

Mr. Mulvaney’s decision to discuss Barron Trump was curious, especially when Melania Trump, the first lady, and senior White House officials have gone to great lengths to make sure he enjoys the privacy afforded to other children of presidents growing up in the uncomfortable spotlight of the White House....

Mr. Mulvaney... also asserted that Mr. Trump did not sleep on the overnight plane trip home from India or during the day before his news conference on coronavirus Wednesday night....

361 comments:

1 – 200 of 361   Newer›   Newest»
Dave Begley said...

Mick is right.

The Fake News will do anything to put Trump in a bad light.

Tom Steyer has already played the Katrina card. That worked on Bush.

The Dems and Fake News hope for dead Americans so they can blame that on Trump.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The press is 99% negative on Trump. But please, don't say the press is biased. and - be fearful that Trump might criticize the delicate leftwing assholes who make up our corrupt-D press.

Freedom of the press!

Temujin said...

Mulvaney is correct, and I think he's being kind about it. Let's also be clear on the Barron talk. The press was unmerciful and showed their true character in regard to Barron before they finally had a light shone on them.

"...Barron Trump was curious, especially when Melania Trump, the first lady, and senior White House officials have gone to great lengths to make sure he enjoys the privacy afforded to other children of presidents..." They've gone to great lengths because at first they were NOT being afforded this privacy.

It's one thing to be an Obama. An entirely other thing to be a Trump. Obama kids= kid gloves. Trump kids= hand grenades.

Chuck said...

Mick you were right back before Trump was elected, and you called him "a terrible person." He hasn't changed one bit. And you know it.

Here's what you do now, Mick. You quarantine President Trump (for national security reasons) until he can stop saying shit-stupid things that epidemiology professionals need to correct in real time.

And that way, you can perhaps contain the spread of criticism of President Dementia J. Trump. Since that is your new job.

eric said...

I see the Coronavirus sorta like global warming.

The politicians are treating it like a hammer with which they can hit Trump.

If they were actually concerned about it, they'd be serious and work with the president to protect us. I stead they say stupid campaign like slogans, "I'll take the money from the wall to fight the virus!"

They're so unserious that it must not be a danger to us at all.

cubanbob said...

Speaking of dementia Ole Chuck is confusing Trump with Biden.

tim maguire said...

Chuck said...
Mick you were right back before Trump was elected, and you called him "a terrible person."


He's a ruthless businessman and if you choose to focus on that rather than on the ample evidence that in his private life he is a very good person, fine. Go ahead. Both are petty and irrelevant in the face of the much bigger fact that he is a good president.

Shame you feel the need to focus on palace intrigue bullshit instead of on anything important. It's worse than a shame that so much of the media is no better.

gilbar said...

{assuming that China's numbers are correct}
It looks like, about 2,500 people (WORLDWIDE) have died from this covfefe virus

That Means
That IF total deaths (WORLDWIDE) end up being 7,600% (7.6 TIMES as many)...
This virus will have killed (WORLDWIDE) NEARLY as many people as the flu did last year: IN THE US, ALONE
Flu Season: Up to 19,000 People Have Died; Vaccine Protecting About Half Who Get It

and WOW! That IS a worry!
AND!
IF instead of being 7,600% higher than so far reported (WORLDWIDE)...
IT ends up be THIRTY-TWO TIMES HIGHER THAN SO FAR REPORTED (WORLDWIDE)

It will end up killing NEARLY! as many people as died from the flu in 2017-218
more than 80,000 people died of the flu and its complications in the United States, the highest death toll for the disease in at least four decades.


Now, THAT WOULD BE SOMETHING!
If total numbers, WORLDWIDE, increase from 2,500 to MORE THAN 80,000
It would be like the flu in 2017

Not 1917, 2017 remember how BAD the flu was two years ago? me neither!

gahrie said...

Mick you were right back before Trump was elected, and you called him "a terrible person." He hasn't changed one bit. And you know it.

Before he was elected, Democrats thought Trump was a wonderful person. They used to invite him to all of their parties and gave him awards. He hasn't changed a bit, and you know it.

Drago said...

LLR-lefty and Sudden-Onset-Socialist Chuck: "Here's what you do now, Mick. You quarantine President Trump (for national security reasons) until he can stop saying shit-stupid things that epidemiology professionals need to correct in real time."

There is no more typical a marxist/socialist move than that.

But then again, LLR-lefty Chuck is a proud supporter of socialist Bernie Sanders and the marxist Lawfare Group, so, you know, no big surprise.

gilbar said...

my 7,600%'s should be 760%'s
call me Jo Biden!

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Chi-Com influenza is being used to influence the election. The media prefers it to Trump, and the Party is pleased.

rcocean said...

I'll have to listen to the speech MYSELF, to see EXACTLY what Mulvaney said. Because you cannot trust the Wapo/NYt/MSM to paraphrase accurately what Trump or any Trump supporter says. Period.

Every single damn MSM article/report is written with this goal in mind: "Make trump and his supporters look bad".

Readering said...

People could watch or listen to (in my case) that presser and judge for themselves.

Nonapod said...

They're so unserious that it must not be a danger to us at all.

Clearly they don't really believe that it's a danger to them, anyway.

But perhaps they should be. Many of Trump's harshest critics in the government are septuagenarians and octogenarians, the demographic that is most vulnerable to death if they were to become infected by Covid-19. If a greater outbreak does occur in the US, I wonder if many of them would suddenly stop being so eristic.

tim maguire said...

Typical of the Times that they would use his (admittedly) odd example to ignore his actual point.

Readering said...

But not sure why Mulvaney wanted to disclose POTUS sleep deprived.

Bay Area Guy said...

"I see the Coronavirus sorta like global warming."

Bingo. The hysteria and hyperbole is something to behold.

My 2 favorite numbers:

1. According to the NOAA, there's about 27 deaths/ year in the US from lightning strikes. Most sane people don't freak out about this paltry number.

2. According to the CDC, there's about 35,000 deaths/year in the US from the flu. Most sane people don't freak out about this rather large number either. 339 Million folks in the US. Nearly everyone gets the flu at one time or another.

So why a freak out over this ChiCom virus in the US, when nobody has died?


Dust Bunny Queen said...

The media and the Democrats (same thing) are breathlessly anticipating, hoping, and wishing for thousands, no...even...hundreds of thousands of Americans to get sick and die so that they can blame Trump. They are also rooting for a collapse of the American economy and even a world wide economy.

I get the sense that they would gladly impede any positive actions that Trump can make and purposely cause a pandemic to occur so they can revel in the deaths just to get their "revenge" on Trump for being President (how DARE he!!!!).

They want to use death and the destruction of people's lives as a political tool, This is sick, counterproductive and maliciously evil.

Imagine their disappointment when (I hope) this turns out to be about the same as SARS, which was also supposed to devastate the world and didn't.

Drat, those people for not dying to show how incompetent Trump is.

Is it evil if hope that they are all the ones who will get sick and die? I guess I'm just a bad bad girl.

Iman said...

Gulag Chuck?

gilbar said...

The new virus is particularly challenging for public-health officials because people who are infected and transmitting to others might have only mild flulike symptoms, or no symptoms at all, making them difficult to identify. That is what makes this virus such a threat: It spreads more easily and is milder for most

THERE YOU HAVE IT!
The TRUE DANGER of Covfefe virus is that it is "MILDER FOR MOST"
You remember what Nietzsche used to say?
"What Doesn't kill you; doesn't kill you"

rcocean said...

Notice that the MSM and the Networks are using this phraseology:

Justice Committee does X. House does Y. Chairman of Intelligence says Z.

No partisanship here. When the R's controlled the house it was:

R's on Justice Committee do X, Republican Ryan does Y, Republican Intelligence says Z.

And of course, D's just do stuff - investigate, pass laws, ask questions. But Republicans "Pounce" and we were constantly told that "R's in the House in an effort to make D's look bad, do xyz". This way of speaking/writing stopped the moment the D's took the House.

purplepenquin said...

the ample evidence that in his private life he is a very good person

I have a hard time understanding how someone who is a "very good person" in their private life would be twice divorced.

*shrug*

Freeman Hunt said...

Why not put Romney in charge of the coronavirus response?

MadisonMan said...

The only way Trump could please the Media and Democrats re: CoronaVirus would be by resigning.

Imagine the President cured cancer. If it were Trump, the Press would focus on how oncologists are now jobless. If it were Obama, the focus would be on happy now-cancer-free patients (and on Obama's Nobel in Medicine).

Bay Area Guy said...

I bet if we all started calling it the "Corona ChiCom Virus" it would thwart much of the politically-driven mass hysteria.

buwaya said...

Looking at silver linings (of a sort, if it matters to you).
This virus will slow down growth of CO2 emissions very effectively.
Much more so than any deliberate policy.
Its already doing it.

As for the coronavirus and its dangers - the worst is financial panic and the possible fallout of that.

Drago said...

Freeman Hunt: "Why not put Romney in charge of the coronavirus response?"

Because Romney would personally sabotage the effort.

Readering said...

The markets are freaking out about global economic disruption as evidence grows that virus not containable (contrary to POTUS happy talk).

purplepenquin said...

The media and the Democrats (same thing) are breathlessly anticipating, hoping, and wishing for thousands, no...even...hundreds of thousands of Americans to get sick and die so that they can blame Trump.

Are anyone of any significance actually saying such things? Or are you just hoping&wishing that they will?

Fernandinande said...

To be fair, the MSM also didn't say much about Obama's loving relationships with 13 year old boys.

Ray - SoCal said...

Buwaya - What is the status of the Philippines with the CoronaVirus?

I'm assuming no test kits, so don't have any good numbers. Officially it's 3, with 1 death.

gilbar said...

PP said...
I have a hard time understanding how someone who is a "very good person" in their private life would be twice divorced.

You don't think June Carter Cash was a very good person in her private life?
You know who was NEVER divorced? Caligula, that's who
According to Lilac Loon (maybe it was amethyst auk?)...
Caligula was a VERY GOOD PERSON in his private life; after all: he never divorced

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The left want to paint Trump as incompetent--- even though the left are .... wasteful, corrupt, and incompetent.
The "news" media are all in with their Party on this narrative.

Dave Begley said...

I hope everyone knows and appreciates that the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha is where these people are treated.

I drove by UNMC last night. I didn't get sick. Yet.

purplepenquin said...

Why not put Romney in charge of the coronavirus response?

Probably 'cause it is too much for just one man to do.

It was mentioned in a different thread that there are hundreds of teams, all across the nation, in charge of directing & coordinating the national response to pandemics.

Doesn't sound very efficient to me - would think that there should be one team (perhaps in the White House itself?) in charge of coordinating the effort.

Roughcoat said...

When they start bulldozing mass graves in my local park, that's when I'll worry.

As for the stock market: hold and buy! You'll be glad you did.

Drago said...

Unknown: "The markets are freaking out about global economic disruption as evidence grows that virus not containable (contrary to POTUS happy talk)."

False.

The markets know that in the end coronavirus will be contained.

The markets are freaking out because large sectors of tech and travel and supply chains are disrupted, global production will take a hit due to the supply chain disruptions and thus impacting global energy demand. Importantly, the US Fed is STILL completely out of step with actions other industrialized nations Central Banks are doing during a global slowdown.

buwaya said...

There is a potential for mass death. But that apparently will develop relatively slowly if at all. You can discount the Chinese numbers, but watch South Korea and Singapore. Both are starting large scale testing that no-one else seems to be doing yet. Thats why SK is finding so many cases, because they are actually looking for them. Another place to follow is Australia. They have a very large Chinese presence too.

Early days, not enough information. I don't think sufficient information is available, and it will be several months to a year before it is. More immediate worry is financial-economic panic as an overreaction, and official overreactions to that.

Anonymous said...

BAG to eric:

"I see the Coronavirus sorta like global warming."

Bingo. The hysteria and hyperbole is something to behold.


This is not an intelligent response. That pols are using this politically or that media hacks are in their usual (ultra-biased) hysteria mode is neither here nor there. (When are they *not* engaged in the above?)

Hopefully, covid19 will run its course with no more damage than the annual flu season. But *we don't know* that this is how it's going to play out, yet. So don't conflate media hysteria and political grandstanding with rational calls for taking this seriously, and for prudent public health measures.

This is not "just like global warming hysteria". Insisting that it is is just dumb partisanship, every bit as dumb as the lefties here breathlessly posting stock market decline data, as if such declines were in the control of politicians and aren't an inevitable consequence of a disease disrupting global trade and travel.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The stock market is spooked because of the supply chain in China. That is very real. We import unfathomable amounts of goods from China like... Batteries... clothing... gadgets and more.
More reason to bring back manufacturing to US. Problem is environmental. China is happy to make 1st world products and dump the by-products into their rivers and oceans.

hombre said...

Mulvaney is right, of course, about the leftmedia. However, he is no wordsmith.

Drago said...

Mexico is now reporting their first confirmed case so now would be a terrific time to accelerate the dems/LLR's Open Borders plan.

Obviously.

Sebastian said...

"he chose a bizarre example"

Thereby illustrating his point.

Progs can't help themselves.

But I give them credit: they fight 24/7, everywhere, on any issue.

They have for a while, but two things are different now: all of us on the right, except for the half dozen NeverTrumpers, see exactly what they are doing, and by contrast with the Bushes and Romneys and McCains, Trump et al. fight back.

hombre said...

Funny how Chuck is okay with the corruption of the free press, leaking of classified information, creating public panic, corrupting DOJ/FBI, etc., so long as it furthers the TDS cause.

Ad hominem insanity!

purplepenquin said...

You don't think June Carter Cash was a very good person in her private life?

If she cheated on two husbands and married a third, then no - she wasn't "a very good person" in her private life.

Especially if she talked about grabbing guys by the dick and let prostitutes & pornstars raw-dog her while she was still married.

And I never said/implied that not getting a divorce proves a person is "very good". It's kinda interesting & very insightful that you think I did.

tim maguire said...

purplepenquin said...
the ample evidence that in his private life he is a very good person

I have a hard time understanding how someone who is a "very good person" in their private life would be twice divorced.

*shrug*


Not sure why. What does one have to do with the other?

lgv said...

tim maguire said...
Typical of the Times that they would use his (admittedly) odd example to ignore his actual point.


Beat me to it. It's all about the odd example, not that 103% of all Trump references are in a negative light. Dear CNN "jounalist", name one positive thing Trump has done? They would be stumped.

Roost on the Moon said...

Is there a strain of Trump Derangement Syndrome where you are so paranoid about everyone being "out to get" Trump that you cease to believe any real problems exist? Trump himself was patient zero, but it's growing into a raging epidemic.

Believe me, I would trade the cheap political schadenfreude of seeing the president with his head in the sand for some confidence that the president's main concern wasn't covering his own ass.

"The 15 (cases), within a couple of days, is going to be down to close to zero. That’s a pretty good job we’ve done.”

A truly idiotic thing to say.

Ray - SoCal said...

CDC CoronaVirus Testing Debacle:

COVID-19/SARS-CoV2 Update 2-23-2020 — When the “New Versailles Class” Meets Reality Without Privilege
From

>To deal with this spread, the ROK government public health system is capable of 10,000
>COVID-19 tests a day with a six-hour turn around. The price for this level of testing
>has been accepting a test with a high level of false negatives and having to retest
>again and again. This contrasts with the American CDC test which had done 414 such
>tests in a month.

And from Gavin Newsom, CA Governor:
Why Does the U.S. Have So Few Confirmed Coronavirus Cases? WSJ to go to yahoo.

buwaya said...

The Philippines as of three days ago tested 570 people and confirmed three cases, all Chinese nationals who had all been hospitalized. Which do not seem to have passed it to the Filipino medical and hotel staff, who I gather were the majority of those tested. All other detected Filipino cases were @30 crew on that cruise ship in Japan. Like most countries at this point the Philippines has limited access to tests so are unlikely to know the extent of the problem, if it is a problem.

Knowing the Philippines they won't be able to tell if it really is a problem unless it turns out the thing is truly serious and hospitals fill up with anomalous pneumonia cases. And it will be very hot, dry and sunny from now till May-June.

Spain has actually had a larger outbreak (really meaning positive test results), in the Canaries, due to an infected Chinese tourist.

Bay Area Guy said...

Another problem with the Corona ChiCom Virus freak out. Some of my favorite guys on the right are pushing it too. They see it as an effort to further destabilize China (Hong Kong uprising, trade war) and decouple a lotta US business from it. Buy American! Don't get infected by the ChiComs!

Anybody got any predictions to make? I predict by Summer 2020, there will be less than 20 total deaths in the US (pop. 330 Million) from this supposedly deadly disease.

purplepenquin said...

President says "Stock Market starting to look very good to me!"
Drago says "The markets are freaking out"


Used to be that Drago would never disagree with Trump, and supported everything that came out of the White House...but lately he seems to be going against him more & more. Just the other day he referred to Trump as "literally Hitler".

Has Drago been bought off by the Deep State, and is now doing his post-for-pay gig against Trump rather than for him? Or is this just a simple case of him forgetting which blogger account he is logged in with?

AllenS said...

I could really go for some Chinese take out right about now, but I'm scared to read the Fortune Cookie.

mockturtle said...

As Rahm Emanuel counseled, "Never let a crisis go to waste".

Inga said...

“Before he was elected, Democrats thought Trump was a wonderful person. They used to invite him to all of their parties and gave him awards. He hasn't changed a bit, and you know it.”

Not everyday average Democrats. I don’t know anyone who ever liked Trump, long before he ran for president.

gilbar said...

Dave Begley said...
I hope everyone knows and appreciates that the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha is where these people are treated.
I drove by UNMC last night


So, You ADMIT you're a GONER?
In less than 40-50 years; you're going to be pushing up daisies... ADMIT IT!

Francisco D said...

The media and the Democrats (same thing) are breathlessly anticipating, hoping, and wishing for thousands, no...even...hundreds of thousands of Americans to get sick and die so that they can blame Trump.

Yes. Trump should have:

1. Developed a cure for the coronavirus;

2. Gone to China and intervene in their efforts to control the spread and

3. Innoculate every single person on Earth against the virus.

IMPEACH NOW!

Bruce Hayden said...

"I'll take the money from the wall to fight the virus!"

The absurdity of that is manifest. And idiotic. We have Chinese, along with Middle Eastern terrorists, and violent MS-13 animals, sneaking into our country, at least partially because the wall is not near complete. I can easily envision a single presymptomatic, or even early symptomatic, contagious COVID-19 carrier crossing the border in a confined space with a dozen or so other illegal entrants. Likely the entire group is infected by the time they get to their destination and disburse. They then go underground, to different parts of the country, where they often end up living in crowded, sometimes even squalid, conditions. Dozens and dozens could be infected by the time the authorities discover this group of infected, and would likely have half the Democrats in the country trying to prevent the tracking of the infection, in order to protect their future voters from deportation, or even from prison, if they had previously committed crimes.

Anyone right now trying to slow down building the wall is part of the problem, not part of the solution, when it comes to fighting COVID-19.

Ray - SoCal said...

South Korea seems to be finding more cases, because they are specifically looking for them. And they are doing a lot more tests than the US. 414 in the US vs probably in the 5 to 6 figure range.

South Korea also allowed visitors from China, outside of Wuhan. And even was exporting masks as of 2 weeks ago to China. The leader of S. Korea seem to prize Chinese relations, over dealing with the Virus. My take, is the South Korean President is more of a progressive / liberal.

There seems to be two huge vectors for CoronaVirus in South Korea, that caused the majority of cases:

1. A Cult that has extremely physically close worship, and is very secretive about it's membership.

2. A Psych Hospital that hosted a funeral for the brother of the cult leader. Which then spread to patients.

Drago said...

Inga: "Not everyday average Democrats."

LOL

"everyday average Democrats" don't run organizations and hand out awards, so, uh, yeah, not them.

But something tells me they watched Trump shows and laughed when Trump performed with liberals on air and continued to support the organizations that handed Trump those awards.

But hey, nobody Inga knows personally handed Trump an award so those awards no longer count and.....no longer even exist.

Dude1394 said...

The Katrina card worked on Dubya because he was oh so dignified. This AINT your fathers GOP.

Skeptical Voter said...

Ah Inga and "Chuck"les make my day. They remind me that there are some people who live in a reality very different than mine. That's not a bad thing in itself. Doesn't men that I have to accept the codswallop they are peddling though.

traditionalguy said...

Barron is a problem He is getting older. His Dad built him up for being computer savvy genius. But the more DJT compliments Barron the more his other kids will resent Barron's coat of many colors.

Nonapod said...

Why Hasn’t the U.S. Done More Coronavirus Tests?:

There are combination of factors limiting U.S. testing capacity, including guidelines limiting the surveillance and detection of potential coronavirus cases; an inadequate supply of coronavirus tests, due in part to regulatory hurdles; and ongoing problems at the CDC as it tries to develop and distribute an accurate test to the labs that need it.

I'd be curious to know what those "regulatory hurdles" are. I imagine there's at least defensible reasons for their existence, but given the special circumstances I think there's an argument to be made that they should be bypassed/ignored in this case.

buwaya said...

The US probably has very few confirmed cases because its doing very little testing for them.

My personal suspicion is that there are and have been vastly more infections/exposures worldwide than we have heard of in terms of positive test results, and that the rate of serious illness as a result is actually very low.

But I may of course be mistakenly optimistic.

Inga said...

“They remind me that there are some people who live in a reality very different than mine. That's not a bad thing in itself. Doesn't men that I have to accept the codswallop they are peddling though.”

It’s uncanny, that’s exactly how I feel when reading comments here everyday.

purplepenquin said...

What does one have to do with the other?

It may be a quaint & old-fashioned concept, and am sure someone will sneer that I am "precious" for thinking as such, but I beleive that promises mean something and a vow goes even deeper than a promise.

Breaking a vow that is made to not just friends & family but also to God indicates to me that the person ain't "very good". And that is 10x more-so when they break two separate vows to two separate people. It ain't the worse thing a person can do, but it certainly not how a very good person would conduct themselves.


And before Drago-and-his-sockpuppets start piling on with the usual nonsense: Even tho he remains married I don't think that Bill Clinton was/is a very good person in his private life either...

Ray - SoCal said...

Thanks Buwaya for the PH update!

My guess is lots of sun will reduce the spread of the CoranaVirus.

The canceling of the Hajj by Saudi Arabia is huge.

Iran Deaths may cause the collapse of the Regime. A SWAG - When everything settles down, the two countries that are going to have the most changes due to this are China and Iran.

In the US, because of the CDC incompetence on testing, we don't know, what we don't know.

An unexpected side effect of the CoronaVirus - a shortage of Synthetic Opiates! Lots of precursor Chemicals were being made in China, then shipped to Mexico, made into drugs, and smuggled across the border. I would guess this will also impact Meth and Fentanyl.

Inga said...

“Barron is a problem He is getting older. His Dad built him up for being computer savvy genius. But the more DJT compliments Barron the more his other kids will resent Barron's coat of many colors.”

Wow, I sure hope Barron’s siblings don’t have any murderous aspirations toward their little brother.

Bay Area Guy said...

@Buwaya,

My personal suspicion is that there are and have been vastly more infections/exposures worldwide than we have heard of in terms of positive test results, and that the rate of serious illness as a result is actually very low.

I think that has to be the case. Chinese tourism in the US .

"Last year, about 3 million tourists traveled from China to the U.S., according to Commerce Department data. Barnes said Chinese tourists stay an average of 18 nights and spend an average of almost $7,000 per trip,..

If 3 Million Chinese come to the US each year for 18 nights, that means whatever nasty bugs they have over there are brought over here. And, Yet, still no deaths?

Jack Klompus said...

"But hey, nobody Inga knows personally handed Trump an award so those awards no longer count and.....no longer even exist."

Don't forget Inga's Canadian family members who think Trump is a laughingstock. Very pertinent.

Rick said...

purplepenquin said...
Are anyone of any significance actually saying such things? Or are you just hoping&wishing that they will?


Note the new standard: if people don't say something it can't be happening. I find it revealing when people invent new and absurd standards to exonerate their allies. It demonstrates how unprincipled they are which is helpful to know the next time they pretend to be principled.

mockturtle said...

Tradguy observes: But the more DJT compliments Barron the more his other kids will resent Barron's coat of many colors.

But even though they sell him into slavery, he'll end up Prime Minister of Egypt and will save the Jews from starvation. So there's that.

Drago said...

Inga: "Wow, I sure hope Barron’s siblings don’t have any murderous aspirations toward their little brother."

Worked out pretty well for Joseph.....and his brothers in the end.

Drago said...

Inga: "It’s uncanny, that’s exactly how I feel when reading comments here everyday."

As long as I am safely on the other side from the Russia Collusion hoaxers, hoax dossier fanfolks, hoax Kavanaugh rapist "allegers" and believers in Carter Page:Russian Spy, I know I'm on the right side.

Chuck said...

It will be interesting when Barron is an adult, and is able to talk with interviewers about his White House years, and perhaps write his own memoir of the years.

Like Chelsea Clinton. Like Jenna Bush Hagar. Like Barbara Pierce Bush. Like David and Julie Nixon Eisenhower. Like Margaret Truman Daniel. Like John and Carloline Kennedy. Like the Ford children.

buwaya said...

The cultural push - very aggressive, very universal - since the 1960's has been that "traditional values" were irrelevant or actually evil. Such as avoiding illicit sex or divorce or avoiding marriage, etc. The explosion of divorce since the 1960s has been driven deliberately by the cultural elite, which are still in that business today.

So it is a bit rich that Trump is now denounced as a bad person because of his personal life.

Its one of those whiplash things. One must denounce your entire leadership class and cultural elite (of the last five decades at least) as depraved monsters, in order to be consistent re Trump.

Anonymous said...

BAG: Anybody got any predictions to make?

No. I don't have enough information to make a prediction useful for anything but betting purposes. If it were just a matter of a small wager, I'd say "yeah, I bet it will peter out long before it reaches any kind of Spanish flu status", because that's what usually happens.

However, I certainly hope nobody in charge thinks this kind of prediction is useful for public health purposes.

"I predict by Summer 2020, there will be less than 20 total deaths in the US (pop. 330 Million) from this supposedly deadly disease."

And hopefully you'd win that wager. But sneering about "this supposedly deadly disease", as if you know something about it that people cautioning prudence don't know, is just stupid.

To repeat myself, that the usual suspects are conducting their usual click-bait hysterics is utterly irrelevant to anything. Nobody should be basing anything on their behavior, one way or the other.

Inga said...

If you folks think Democrats loved Trump after he took out an ad in the NYT saying the Central Park Five should be put to death even after the DNA tests determined it wasn’t them and if you think Democrats loved Trump after his stupid Birther nonsense, you really do live in an alternate reality.

Chuck said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Greg the class traitor said...

Mr. Mulvaney’s decision to discuss Barron Trump was curious, especially when Melania Trump, the first lady, and senior White House officials have gone to great lengths to make sure he enjoys the privacy afforded to other children of presidents growing up in the uncomfortable spotlight of the White House....


Yeah, because we all know the press never talked abotu what a great paraent Barack was!

/sarc

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

shorter Inga: We all hate Trump , so lying about him is OK.

purplepenquin said...

Note the new standard: if people don't say something it can't be happening.

Am pretty sure that ain't a new standard - at least, I have always known that you shouldn't accuse people of saying/doing stuff unless they actually did say/do it.

Is that really a totally new concept for you?

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

"We import unfathomable amounts of goods from China like... Batteries... clothing... gadgets and more.
More reason to bring back manufacturing to US."

Maybe ChiCom flu is the Party's latest salvo in the trade war.

William said...

Limbaugh made a shrewd comment. Why would any sane person think that Bernie Sanders could manage the coronavirus crisis better than Trump. What is there about Bernie's calm presence that you find reassuring?.....I think next week there will be even more bargains on the stock market to those who think now is a good time for buying. I would wait until the market stabilizes for a few days before going back in......The media is hysterical in their coverage of Trump, but such hysteria has nothing to do with the spread or curtailment of the disease. There's been a worldwide sell off. It has nothing to do with Trump or with the media's coverage of him.

tim in vermont said...

Turned on cable news for a couple of minutes. One side is trying to govern, and one side is trying to #RESIST.

This is why Hillary was such a huge fucking error for the country. She had no idea how to lose gracefully and preferred ,not to fight another day, but. to burn the system down. Had she not gone batshit crazy, she woud be well positioned to run again. Now everybody hates her except for Warren voters, who are a distinct minority.

Sydney said...

The press thrives on panic, that's what they do. They're like gossip mongers, really. It is their nature to make everything seem as dramatic as possible. It's better for their sales. But our press also likes to criticize this president, so that goes in there, too. I don't believe the press at all when it comes to coronavirus news. Every story I have read conflates figures to give the highest possible number of cases - such as mixing up people under surveillance with people who have actually tested positive. Or conflating the cruise ship passenger with cases within the US. They are horrible and irresponsible.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

TDDS, it’s catching, everyone in the WH has it.

Greg the class traitor said...

Unknown said...
The markets are freaking out about global economic disruption as evidence grows that virus not containable (contrary to POTUS happy talk).

No, Unknown, the markets are freaking out because there's a lot of businesses, all over the world, that are dependent upon China for their products

COVID-19 is hammering China hard, which means it's hammering China's economic output, which means it's hammering all the companies that are dependent upon China's economic output.

Fortunately, thanks to President Trump and his trade war with China (remember how all the "experts" told us that was a really bad idea?), there are fewer US companies dependent upon China's economic output than there were a year ago, so the US is less exposed than it would have been

Thus ends your economic lesson for today. There will be a test later

Big Mike said...

Flu Season: Up to 19,000 People Have Died; Vaccine Protecting About Half Who Get It

Is this the second year in a row that the CDC failed to correctly predict which strain or flu to prepare for? Or is it just two out the last three? It’s a tough job, but they’re supposed to be the best of the best.

Back before I retired from government contracting I saw plenty of signs that competent senior government workers were being eased aside for less qualified but more politically reliable people during the Obama administration. In his press conference Donald Trump claimed that we had “the best doctors in the world” behind him. Let’s see if that’s still true, or did the hack Chicago politician screw up what had been one of the premier health agencies on the planet earth? Note that the Obamacare rollout debacle was due in large part to a refusal to nail down requirements until way too late, purely for political considerations.

Limited blogger said...

On CNBC: GM just announced they are hiring additional 1200 workers, by spring, in Michigan.

To build Cadillacs!!


Bay Area Guy said...

Let's look at the recent list of Hoaxes, just to give us context:

1. Russian Collusion Hoax - #Fail
2. Kavanaugh High School Rape Hoax - #Fail
3. Ukraine Impeachment Farce - #Fail

4. In 2016, there was a general viral freak out over Zika virus that was gonna shrink our heads and kills us. But, magically, by 2017, it never came to the US and was over.

5. Many of us believe that global warming hysteria is worse than global warming. .

On a smaller political level, we have the (6) Jussie Smollet mugging hoax and the (7) Covington kid racist hoax. .

Allright, so does this mean that every threat we face is a hoax? No, of course not.

But, given this sorry track record, whenever we see hyper political activities and breathless media stories, well, I tend to discount them.

Drago said...

Inga: "If you folks think Democrats loved Trump after he took out an ad in the NYT saying the Central Park Five should be put to death even after the DNA tests determined it wasn’t them and if you think Democrats loved Trump after his stupid Birther nonsense, you really do live in an alternate reality."

LOLOLOLOL

The mayors running New York at the time of Central Park five were democrats Koch and then Dinkins (with longtime NY democrat Robert Morganthau running the Prosecutors office).

Everyone in NY was saying the same thing due to what the democrat controlled mayors office and prosecutors office was saying but its nice that Inga is attempting to transfer actions of the dems onto Trump as if he had any power back then. Similar to the dems attempting to transfer slavery, Jim Crow and segregation onto republicans.

As for the "birther" nonsense, it was literally Hillary and Bill who launched that one. Similar to how Algore launched the Willie Horton stories.

But hey, if a lefty like Inga isn't forgetting history every 15 minutes then she is quite busy rewriting it.

Howard said...

Yellow journalism is a new thing? Who is it now who refuses to acknowledge history tradition continuity? If it bleeds it leads. You can substitute in dozens and dozens of horrifics synonymous with "bleeds."

Sydney said...

I agree with the comment above re: the virus probably being more widespread in populations than we realize and for most a mild illness. There is no way to test everyone who has cold symptoms. The CDC has defined very specific groups as people to investigate. Fever and cough, AND known exposure to COVID-19, OR Travel from an infected area in past 14 days. OR a severe lower respiratory infection requiring hospitalization for which no cause can be identified. But, as contagious as this is, I suspect that most people have mild cases that don't meet any of that criteria. We do seem to be having a severe cold season this year- more cases in my practice, but they don't meet the above criteria. Coincidence? At any rate, if it is more widespread then we as a population will have better immunity and it won't be such a threat in the future.
What is going to hurt is all of these quarantines. For economic reasons.

Drago said...

Limited blogger: "On CNBC: GM just announced they are hiring additional 1200 workers, by spring, in Michigan.

To build Cadillacs!!"

Somebody forgot to tell GM that according to Inga and LLR-lefty and Sudden-Onset-Socialist Chuck the US is dystopian hellscape.

narciso said...

well there's a whistleblower at hhs, quelle surprise, of course we can't find out who this person is, because reasons, Obama installed Bloomberg's soda ban expert with a #metoo problem, as it turned out, he was the one who allowed ebola infected persons into the country, and one of the top experts being cited now,

Chuck said...

“Barron is a problem He is getting older. His Dad built him up for being computer savvy genius. But the more DJT compliments Barron the more his other kids will resent Barron's coat of many colors.”

This is an interesting comment. Yes, Barron is getting older. His father's comments about Barron being a computer savvy genius are interesting comments. I wonder where and how Barron will continue his education.

It really does seem that the Trumps are doing an almost unbelievably effective job of maintaining privacy for Barron. I really do agree that Mulvaney's mention of Barron seems almost weirdly exceptional.

Narr said...

Good thing we have high-minded folks here to keep us reprobates mindful of the importance of wedding vows, and how people who get divorced must be presumed to be bad people in the absence of evidence to the contrary.

Is this the new standard? I just want to know--I have divorced friends and family and need to calibrate my meter.

Just an aside from a historian's POV: most of the time we don't have any real idea who people fuck, and should stop pretending we do.

Narr
Media accusations don't count

Rick said...

purplepenquin said...
Is that really a totally new concept for you?


OK Dean Martin. We play people who pretend to believe this for laughs. But even idiots are heroes in their own minds.


Dean Martin: [begins questioning] Mr. Melon, I'm only going to ask you once:

[beat]

Dean Martin: ...Is this your work?

Thornton Melon: I can't lie to you, Dean Martin

[beat]

Thornton Melon: ...Yes, it is.

Dean Martin: I'm satisfied.

Dr. Phillip Barbay: I'm outraged.

Sydney said...

Is this the second year in a row that the CDC failed to correctly predict which strain or flu to prepare for?

It's the WHO that makes that decision. It's determined by an international collaboration of virology labs.

Inga said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
AllenS said...

The best time to invest deeply in the stock market, would be the day that the Democrats tell Crazy Bernie to take a hike. Also, invest in American companies that manufacture goods here.

tim in vermont said...

Politicization of the NSC, CDC (Look at all of the hooey about “sexual coercion”) as well as the rest of the government is on Obama.

The CDC has a pamphlet out defining “sexual coercion” as , among other odd stuff, “telling stuff that isn’t true.” Another one is noting that if she isn’t into sex with you, "perhaps this isn’t the kind of relationship you want to be in.” That’s sexual coercion too. That’s your CDC at work, and those definitions then go into statistics that are used by Democrats to bully the rest of us.

Drago said...

LLR-lefty and Sudden-Onset-Socialist Chuck: "I wonder where and how Barron will continue his education."

I hope the Secret Service is monitoring Chuck's creepy obsession with Barron.

Yancey Ward said...

I wrote in the overnight thread that pneumonia kills 50,000/yr in the United States. In China, it is probably at least 200,000/year, and likely far more given the prevalence of smoking and pollution. Since just December in China, at least 20-30,000 people would have died of pneumonia in the absence of COVID-19- 10 times the number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 so far.

The tests being conducted to detect the virus in throat swabs gives large numbers of false negatives according all the reports I have seen, and it is very likely that the test also gives large numbers of false positives. I think it all but obvious that cases of COVID-19 in China are being diagnosed based on chest CTs which just confirm pneumonia and are being assigned as COVID-19 if the throat cultures don't show the normal bacterial results, but it isn't even clear how good the Chinese are at diagnosing purely bacteria-linked pneumonia. We are panicking based on China that probably isn't even capable of giving solid data on the outbreak.

AllenS said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dust Bunny Queen said...

BAG: Anybody got any predictions to make?

I predict that this flu/cold virus may be more than previous annual flu instances, but won't be an extinction level pandemic. I hope it will be just another flu season and all the breathless hoopla is for nothing.

Cities with dense urban populations and third world countries with sketchy or non existent hygiene will get the brunt and see more cases and worse cases. Our many thousands of homeless "campers" and illegal aliens in our urban cesspools will be the most affected. More cases and worse cases because of squalid conditions of living, conditions of the health of those populations, density of population and untraceable people.

Rural areas and smaller towns may not be as affected. Although some of the rural areas do not have access to large hospitals. That may be a curse or a blessing. Curse in that supplies and services are limited. Blessing in that you may not be around so many ill people.

The ability to self quarantine, and ride out the wave of infections, in a rural area or small town is much easier.

Personally, we can stay isolated for many many months if we were to feel the need. We don't feel that need. I'm not going to purposely go to areas where there are many people, like a concert or take a subway....but I'm not changing my life. Just taking normal precautions. Like...don't be around people who you KNOW are sick. Wash hands. Wash vegetables. Sanitize the handles of shopping carts (I always do this anyway). Etc.

Drago said...

Inga: "Limbaugh is driving the outrage in the right against anyone who questions Trump’s ability to handle this heath emergency."

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

Another insane comment from lefty Inga.

Hey Inga, do you mean "this health emergency": "Trumpvirus", as your team is calling it?

Yes, Russian Collusion Truther Inga is very upset about people "driving" outrage.....

Too funny.

Inga said...

“Limbaugh made a shrewd comment. Why would any sane person think that Bernie Sanders could manage the coronavirus crisis better than Trump.”

Limbaugh is driving the outrage on the right against anyone who questions Trump’s ability to handle this health emergency. Average Americans who aren’t Trumpists are concerned, based on his misstatements alone at his Coronavirus press conference.The experts who spoke after him had to correct him in real time before millions of people

Greg the class traitor said...

Blogger Char Char Binks said...
"We import unfathomable amounts of goods from China like... Batteries... clothing... gadgets and more.
More reason to bring back manufacturing to US."

Maybe ChiCom flu is the Party's latest salvo in the trade war.



Nope. ChiCom flu is seriously screwing the Party over. It makes them look bad, cuts the economic output, and cuts the amount of grift each of the high ranking Party members can steal.

It's pretty much teh last think the Party wants, on any front.

William said...

Hunter Biden is the son that Dems wish Trump had had....Ivanka Trump is better looking and more engaging than Chelsea. Still Chelsea is not a mess like Hunter so you can say the Clintons were better parents than Bidens....Dems can take solace in the fact that Reagan was a bit problematic as a parent.

Yancey Ward said...

And the media and the Democrats trying to turn this into an attack on Trump is probably just another case of them not thinking ahead. What is Trump likely to do 5 months from now when this has passed and the deaths in the US from confirmed COVID-19 end up being in the dozens or less? Declare victory for his effort to contain the pandemic is what Trump will end up doing in such a circumstance.

narciso said...

trump virus, t 4 zombie plague next week, they should pace themselves,

Chuck said...

"As for the 'birther' nonsense, it was literally Hillary and Bill who launched that one."

What horse shit! What screaming, mind-boggling bullshit!

If it was "nonsense," why did Trump run with it? Why did Trump tell a CBS interviewer that he had sent his own team of investigators to Hawaii and that they were finding out things that they "cannot believe"?

Why did Trump repeatedly, repetitively make his own claims doubting Obama's birth history? Why did Trump keep doing that long after Hillary Clinton said definitively that Barack Obama was born in the United States and that she deplore anyone's doubting that?

As you answer these questions, Drago, I want you to picture me backing you into a corner, screaming in your face, and repeatedly jabbing my fist into your sternum for emphasis.

narciso said...

the press will bury it with stories of Mongolian collusion, wile coyote supergeniuses all,

Drago said...

YW: "And the media and the Democrats trying to turn this into an attack on Trump is probably just another case of them not thinking ahead."

We will know the dems/LLR's have completely lost their minds when they attempt to impeach over this right after nominating commie-boy Fidel-acolyte Sanders.

Big Mike said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Big Mike said...

The only way Trump could please the Media and Democrats re: CoronaVirus would be by resigning.

This. Today’s Democrats and TDS suffers sound very like the Southern Democrats of 1860. The only way Abraham Lincoln and the Republicans elected to the House and Senate In that year could have ever mollified the Southern Democrats would have been to say something along the lines of “just joking, guys” and resigning en masse. Not happening people. Deal with it.

purplepenquin said...

*sigh*

I didn't say divorce means someone is a "bad" person, rather it indicates they aren't a "very good" person.

And no - it ain't "new" at all to claim that people who break promises & vows aren't "very good"...at least according to the way I was raised. Obviously you were raised to beleive differently and thus you treat that concept with scorn and contempt.

Reckon we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one...


(And if anyone can explain that Dean Martin routine I'd appricate it. Must be some sort of inside joke, 'cause it don't make no sense to me)

Yancey Ward said...

Chuck, don't forget the pecan pie scandal. We haven't gotten answers about that one, too.

gilbar said...

Chuck; this is supposed to be about the covfefe virus
Quit yapping about birther nonsense;
And TELL US AGAIN,
how it was that when President Trump EXPLICITLY EXCLUDED nazi's that meant he was Including them

We want you (No, NEED YOU) to explain your take on the Charlottesville Hoax Hoax Hoax Hoax
One More Time!

Drago said...

LLR-lefty and Sudden-Onset-Socialist Chuck: "What horse shit! What screaming, mind-boggling bullshit!"

LOLOLOLOLOLOL

Hook baited and line cast.....and look what it reels in!

Unexpectedly!

Note the passion in defending Bill and Hill. The denial of the obvious. The willingness to throw himself on that grenade for his lefty/dem heroes!!

Even MORE passionate than his passionate defense and obvious lying in support of Stolen Valor liar hack Blumenthal!

Thanks Banned Commenter Chuck! You've made my day again!!

Rick said...

Inga said...
Average Americans who aren’t Trumpists are concerned, based on his misstatements alone at his Coronavirus press conference.


Average Americans are not concerned about Trump because they understand the medical institutions respond to medical crises. Left wingers are trying to turn this into a political issue because their priority is politics rather than health.

Drago said...

LLR-lefty and Sudden-Onset-Socialist Chuck: "As you answer these questions, Drago, I want you to picture me backing you into a corner, screaming in your face, and repeatedly jabbing my fist into your sternum for emphasis."

LLR-lefty Chuck mistakes me for his usual target: underage children.

gilbar said...

Yancey Ward said...
Chuck, don't forget the pecan pie scandal

Ahh, but the pecans that's... that's where I had them. They laughed at me and made jokes but I proved beyond the shadow of a doubt and with... geometric logic... that a duplicate key to the wardroom icebox DID exist, and I'd have produced that key if they hadn't of pulled the Caine out of action.

Hubert the Infant said...

The CDC website is presenting alarming information about this virus, when nobody has a clue about how it spreads, let alone how dangerous it really is. My guess is that infected people are being significantly under-counted, so the death rate is lower than being reported. In addition, rather than fighting the spread, perhaps governments should be encouraging it so that people get the virus, recover, and build immunity before it mutates to a more deadly virus.

In any case, both the CDC and the media have an incentive to make this pandemic seem as serious as they can. The media's incentive is obvious: disasters get people watching and reading the news. As far as the CDC, this is when its officials get to appear on TV and Congress raises funding. Like scientists in general these days, those at the CDC most likely are highly politicized. Moreover, so called experts seem to have lost the ability to say "We do not really know."

narciso said...

previously they were Ukraine experts

narciso said...

https://twitter.com/EliLake/status/1233023170606698496?s=20

gilbar said...

Chuck said...
I want you to picture me backing you into a corner, screaming in your face, and repeatedly jabbing my fist into your sternum for emphasis.


Chuck has (REPEATEDLY) bragged and boasted of his desires to sexually assault female journalists
He usually then, excuses himself, by saying that he is: "on the spectrum"

Now, Our Poor Chuck is (both) threatening (and Fantasizing) (REPEATED) assaults on another commenter

Chuck, you PRETEND to be a lawyer; do YOU think your actions are legal?

Drago said...

Birtherism was the brainchild of Hillary confidant Sidney Blumenthal.

Whom LLR-lefty Chuck absolutely adores.

Sidney also played key roles in every russia collusion hoax and Clinton foundation scandal.

Simply participating in any single one of these endeavors would be more than enough to endear one to LLR-lefty Chuck, in the same way Chuck is as big a fan of the marxist Lawfare crew as there exists anywhere.

Ken B said...

PurplePenguin has tired of “Trump = Hitler” and has a new equation ...

“Trump = Henry VIII”

TreeJoe said...

I'm surprised by the comments on here about COVID-19/Coronavirus. Let me inject my own dose of reality from someone who works in the healthcare sphere...

CV is brand new to humankind. We don't broad swaths of people with immunity. It spreads easily and has an incredibly long incubation period. Despite a quarantine of 400 million people in China, it spread. It's nearly impossible to contain.

IF the data is anywhere near correct (a huge if) there is a death rate of 1.5-3% of people infected including otherwise healthy adults. This compares to .06% for flu, for example.

There is so much unknown here but the reality is, as a minimum , this is a novel disease spreading like wildfire across the globe and with a very substantial amounts of deaths tied to it and has overwhelmed local health centers in a number of places. If a "worst case" scenario plays out, huge swaths of humankind will be infected and millions will die. And in the process world economies will slow down in order to slow/halt the spread of the disease into companies and communities.

It ain't good. And we can call it a ChiCom thing....but it's now in 48 countries and has exploded in Italy, South Korea, and Iran with over 3000 confirmed cases among those countries (confirmed, not suspected) in a few days since their outbreaks emerged.

Panic is not warranted. Preparedness is.

alanc709 said...

"Chuck said...
I want you to picture me backing you into a corner, screaming in your face, and repeatedly jabbing my fist into your sternum for emphasis."

Why not a sock filled with ball bearings, or a bicycle lock? You realize you just admitted you're fantasy, Chuck, is to become an Antifa member?

Drago said...

gilbar: "Now, Our Poor Chuck is (both) threatening (and Fantasizing) (REPEATED) assaults on another commenter"

LLR-lefty Chuck only lashes out like that because he knows, deep down, he is a coward.

It's why he reflexively and repeatedly defends Stolen Valor hack liar democrats and democrats who attack our military.

You will note that Chuck saves some of his most vicious attacks for conservative politicians who have distinguished military records.

There is a deep, deep, Freudian reason for all of that. It's no accident.

Drago said...

alanc709: "You realize you just admitted you're fantasy, Chuck, is to become an Antifa member?"

There is a significant chance LLR-lefty Chuck is already just that.

purplepenquin said...

PurplePenguin has tired of “Trump = Hitler”

I never said nor implied that, and you're an asshole for claiming I did.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

TreeJoe,

Agree completely. The adults who have to deal with this would literally not be doing their jobs if they did not prepare for worst case scenarios.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I'm sure super-hero democrats would find a way to stop the spread of a virus. Open borders is the first step. Throwing money around in congress that somehow mysteriously ends up making their insider cronies rich would be step two.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

purplepenquin said...

I never said nor implied that, and you're an asshole for claiming I did.


No one thinks you did, just ignore Drago, he has no credibility, he is just trying to get a rise out of you. This being said, I do not think he is an asshole - he does have ... issues.

Nichevo said...

purplepenquin said...
the ample evidence that in his private life he is a very good person

I have a hard time understanding how someone who is a "very good person" in their private life would be twice divorced.

*shrug*


What a whore you are, purplepenquin (and what's the significance of the mis- or alternate spelling?), to say such a thing. Why would you even say it? It exposes not the President, but you, as the not such a "very good person."

I suppose one divorce is finey-winey? That's good for Althouse. But she better cling on to Meade, or she won't make the grade with you any more!

William said...

I wonder who will achieve martyrdom status as the first American to die from the coronavirus. If that first American turns out be an undocumented immigrant, you will never hear about their death...I'm in the class that hardest hit by the virus, but there's not much fun in mourning the deaths of old white men.

Drago said...

ARM: "No one thinks you did, just ignore Drago, he has no credibility, he is just trying to get a rise out of you."

LOLOLOLOLOLOL

See if you can figure out why I'm laughing at you again. Perhaps you require a "Great Awakening" of some sort....

Nichevo said...

alanc709 said...
"Chuck said...
I want you to picture me backing you into a corner, screaming in your face, and repeatedly jabbing my fist into your sternum for emphasis."

Why not a sock filled with ball bearings, or a bicycle lock? You realize you just admitted you're fantasy, Chuck, is to become an Antifa member?

2/28/20, 12:07 PM


Chuck, I want you to picture yourself doing that to me, then go watch some films of shark attacks. Hint: you're not the shark.

Greg the class traitor said...

Blogger TreeJoe said...
I'm surprised by the comments on here about COVID-19/Coronavirus. Let me inject my own dose of reality from someone who works in the healthcare sphere...

CV is brand new to humankind. We don't broad swaths of people with immunity. It spreads easily and has an incredibly long incubation period. Despite a quarantine of 400 million people in China, it spread. It's nearly impossible to contain.


China is an utterly corrupt country with not the slightest shred of social trust and cohesion, starting at the top with the people who run the show.

There is not the slightest chance that their "quarantines" were actually effective. Any high ranking Party member, and child of a high ranking Party member, those people were not going to be trapped.

Neither were smugglers who were paying off the local police chiefs, or the locally high ranking Party members.

Your starting point for claims coming from China is "nothing the Chinese gov't says can be trusted. Even when they're trying to tell the truth, there's no reason to believe that the truth made it up to them in the first place."

When it comes to China:
We don't know how many people were infected, we don't know how many have died of it, neither do they, and we know high Chinese officials have been infected (see: Iran catching COVID-19. Given the high level officials who are sick, they probably caught it from Chinese gov't officials)

gilbar said...

BleachBit-and-Hammers said...
I'm sure super-hero democrats would find a way to stop the spread of a virus. Open borders is the first step.


and the OBVIOUS next step, is to just infect EVERYONE on the planet. This will have 2 advantages
1) we will quickly be DONE with covfefe virus; 'cause everyone left will be resistant
2) there are TOO MANY DAMN PEOPLE AS IT IS


of course, on the other hand:
https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/prevention-cures/484942-japan-confirms-first-case-of-person-reinfected

Nichevo said...

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...
purplepenquin said...

This being said, I do not think he is an asshole - he does have ... issues.


purplepenquin, BCAWB (Bitch Commenter Aristotle Wanna Be) is an excellent reference for you on this. Since he is an asshole of the first water. A connoisseur.

Nonapod said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Greg the class traitor said...

This is old, but true

https://funnyshit.com.au/the_plan.html

And the information "drop off" at each level in Communist China, where you can be killed for telling your superiors something they don't want to hear, if far worse than in the environment for which this was written:

In the beginning was the Plan.

And then came the Assumptions.

And the Assumptions were without form.

And darkness was upon the face of the Workers.

And they spoke among themselves, saying, "It is a crock of shit, and it stinketh."

And the workers went unto their Supervisors and said, "It is a pail of dung, and none may abide the odour thereof."

And the Supervisors went unto their Managers, saying, "It is a container of excrement, and it is very strong, such that none may abide by it."

And the Managers went unto their Directors, saying, "It is a vessel of fertiliser, and none may abide its strength."

And the Directors spoke amongst themselves, saying one to another, "It contains that which aids plant growth, and it is very strong."

And the Directors then went onto the Vice Presidents, saying unto them, "It promotes growth and is very powerful."

And the Vice Presidents went unto the President, saying unto him, "This new plan will actively promote the growth and vigour of the company; with powerful effects."

And the President looked upon the Plan, and saw that it was good.

And the Plan became Policy.

This is How Shit Happens.

Nonapod said...

buwaya said...My personal suspicion is that there are and have been vastly more infections/exposures worldwide than we have heard of in terms of positive test results, and that the rate of serious illness as a result is actually very low.

This has been my thinking as well. I also suspect that the real Covid-19 fatality rate is much lower than what it has appeared to be due to selection bias.

For the uninitiated, selection bias occurs when your sample rate doesn't reflect a broader population. The current Covid-19 fatality rate has been determined from a sample of people who have been tested and confirmed to be infected, and most of those are in China. It is highly likely (even almost certain) that there are a lot of people who are currently infected or have been currently infected by the virus who have not been tested.

Think about it. Who gets tested for the virus? Generally it's going to be people who show up to hospitals and clinics with symptoms that are severe enough that they need treatment. It's possible, and probably likely, that there's been a large population of people in China whose symptoms were either pretty mild or just not severe enough to justify a vist to a hospital or health clinic. They may even have suspected that they have or had the virus and just stayed home, self quarantining.

On the flip side, the people who died from Covid-19 were all people who went to a hospital because their symptoms were very severe of course. And they were tested there.

So the (likely) net effect is an oversampling of the fatalities and an undersampling of the milder cases.

In conclusion, my guess is that this virus is both far more widespread but far less dangerous than we're being led to believe.

Drago said...

Nonapod: "This has been my thinking as well. I also suspect that the real Covid-19 fatality rate is much lower than what it has appeared to be due to selection bias."

People exposed to the virus spent months milling about and traveling from place to place so there is no way that there isn't a much much larger set of people who have been exposed to the virus.

effinayright said...

Chuck said...
"As for the 'birther' nonsense, it was literally Hillary and Bill who launched that one."

What horse shit! What screaming, mind-boggling bullshit!
******************************

OK, not Bill and Hillary, but supporters of their presidential campaign, who brought it up before Trump did:

"According to the article, the theory that Obama was born in Kenya “first emerged in the spring of 2008, as Clinton supporters circulated an anonymous email questioning Obama’s citizenship.”

The second article, which ran several days after the Politico piece, was published by the Telegraph, a British paper, which stated: “An anonymous email circulated by supporters of Mrs Clinton, Mr Obama’s main rival for the party’s nomination, thrust a new allegation into the national spotlight — that he had not been born in Hawaii.”

Both of those stories comport with what we here at FactCheck.org wrote two-and-a-half years earlier, on Nov. 8, 2008: “This claim was first advanced by diehard Hillary Clinton supporters as her campaign for the party’s nomination faded, and has enjoyed a revival among John McCain’s partisans as he fell substantially behind Obama in public opinion polls.”

Claims about Obama’s birthplace appeared in chain emails bouncing around the Web, and one of the first lawsuits over Obama’s birth certificate was filed by Philip Berg, a former deputy Pennsylvania attorney general and a self-described “moderate to liberal” who supported Clinton."

https://www.factcheck.org/2015/07/was-hillary-clinton-the-original-birther/

So....semi-true, or semi-horseshit?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I will agree all day long that the "birther" nonsense was just that - nonsense. But it's not a crime. Besides, compared to all the left's non-stop lies, the birther schitt pales in comparison.

Drago said...

wholelottasplainin: "So....semi-true, or semi-horseshit?"

There is no point in asking a dem apologist like Chuck to admit to anything.

That would be like asking Inga to admit her 4 year Russia Collusion hoax obsession was false.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

ARMThe adults who have to deal with this would literally not be doing their jobs if they did not prepare for worst case scenarios.

Exactly. Being prepared, just in case, is not being in a panic. Simple precautions. Common sense measures. Awareness of your surroundings.

Some people are already more prepared for worse case scenarios.

I've never had "the flu" that I know of, and have never had a flu shot....knock wood....and sincerely hope that trend will continue. But...just in case. Be prepared.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The camp Hillary-deep-state spawned "Russia Russia Russia stole the election from poor Hillary and handed it to Trump by tricking voters into not loving Hillary like they should!" is far worse than birther nonsense.

Rusty said...

Blogger Ken B said...
"PurplePenguin has tired of “Trump = Hitler” and has a new equation ...

“Trump = Henry VIII”"
The irony. A lrftist as a moral scold.

gilbar said...

9 feet (i think; maybe, Not feet) said...
So the (likely) net effect is an oversampling of the fatalities and an undersampling of the milder cases.

In conclusion, my guess is that this virus is both far more widespread but far less dangerous than we're being led to believe.


That's Sure how i'm seeing it.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Nichevo, an asshole of the first water

Nichevo is another with ... issues. It is difficult for regular people to understand how grown, and not young, men think that insulting people on the internet who hold opinions different to their own is a valuable way to spend time. Yet here we are.

Drago said...

Why doesn't Trump just appoint Biden to lead the Coronavirus task force? After all, he worked directly with Jonas Salk in developing the Polio vaccine.

Drago said...

ARM, have you figured out where you went wrong a few minutes back?

I'm going to guess you have but your....uh...."issues"..probably prevents you from....uh, admitting it.

purplepenquin said...

what's the significance of the mis- or alternate spelling?

Kinda rude to tell someone their own name is mis-spelled, no? :D

And yes - it is an actual name rather than just a handle used online. Friends and co-workers really do call me that, tho usually it is just "Penquin" for short.

That said, the tale of how my name came to be is better told in person rather than typed out...if you really wanna know about it, ask me again if we see each other in person.

Why would you even say it?

Because someone else up-thread was saying that there is "ample evidence that in his private life he is a very good person". I simply provided some evidence which I beleive suggests otherwise.

I didn't say he was terrible. Didn't say he was evil. Didn't say he was bad. Nor did I say everyone/anyone who is divorced is automatically any of those things. Rather, just respectfully expressed my own opinion and explained why I felt as such, in the hope that those who can't wrap their head around the idea that others may honestly disagree with their opinion may have a better understanding of other peoples' viewpoints.

The responses has been very insightful, to say the least.

Anonymous said...

BAG: "But, given this sorry track record, whenever we see hyper political activities and breathless media stories, well, I tend to discount them."

Because the media freak-out switch being on or off is the only piece of information we have about something like coronavirus? Now that's what I want our public health muckety-mucks basing their decisions on!

I can think of a lot of ways in which coronavirus, and potentially serious epidemic diseases in general, aren't *just like* Jussie Smollet's shenanigans. You can't?

"4. In 2016, there was a general viral freak out over Zika virus that was gonna shrink our heads and kills us. But, magically, by 2017, it never came to the US and was over."

As an aside, there was no "general viral freak-out" over Zika, just as there is no freak-out right now in this country about coronavirus. It's tiresome being told by the media that OMG EVERYBODY'S FREAKING OUT, when the only people freaking out are the media and their cretinous social media marks on the one side, and the people freaking-out about their freaking-out, on the other.

To your point, "magically" isn't a synonym for "in hindsight". Regarding disease control in general, when worst case scenarios don't pan out, do you take that as evidence that the officials who ordered quarantines or other public health restrictions that turned out to be unnecessary were thereby incompetent dumbasses?

narciso said...

he may actually believe that, drago, biden's advice during the avian flu, 'don't travel' I recall that far back,

narciso said...

fox is banning mention of Rasmussen polling, because reasons, it's not shooting the messenger, but it is putting it in a glass case, so he every piece of trash astroturf gets out there,

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Drago said...
your....uh...."issues"


I like the use of punctuation here. Superior to my own effort. Good job.

Freeman Hunt said...

China and Italy didn't shut down entire cities over a disease similar in severity to seasonal flu. This is serious. Americans need to prepare.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Dust Bunny Queen said...
Being prepared, just in case, is not being in a panic.


I have in laws in Italy so I have a little idea how this may play out. I have been resisting doing anything because the most likely outcome still seems reasonably mild, but to prepare I am going to buy a bunch of pasta. Unfortunately not interacting with people is not an option for me at the moment. One day I will have a big boat and leave it all behind.

Drago said...

ARM: "I like the use of punctuation here. Superior to my own effort. Good job."

Retreating under duress is never a good look, though I suspect you are not unfamiliar with it.

purplepenquin said...

No one thinks you did

Given how the lil' coward ducks&runs every time I ask him to back up his bullshit lies, it is pretty obvious that he himself doesn't beleive the nonsense he constantly spewing.

traditionalguy said...

After watching dozens of experts being asked for their advice on taking precautions, half mentioned washing hands and NONE told us how to do that sole weapon. 90% of people think that is rising for a few seconds, but the hand washing needed is a 4 minute scrub with warm/hot water and soap going over the hands and fingers several times. That works. Hand sanitizers half work. Rinsing has no effect.

Anonymous said...

ARM to TreeJoe: "Agree completely. The adults who have to deal with this would literally not be doing their jobs if they did not prepare for worst case scenarios."

I, too, agree with TreeJoe's post. Thanks, TreeJoe; good post.

I hope I don't get ARM cooties from this exposure.

narciso said...

remember when he ran for president

Jim at said...

Well, if the media wasn't trying to create a crisis in order to bring down Trump, (again) just what would they be doing differently?

Bay Area Guy said...

HI Angel Dyne,

I haven't been directly addressing you or your points, just making general observations. And, I actually enjoy it when sensible people disagree with me, so keep at it!

You write: "To your point, "magically" isn't a synonym for "in hindsight". Regarding disease control in general, when worst case scenarios don't pan out, do you take that as evidence that the officials who ordered quarantines or other public health restrictions that turned out to be unnecessary were thereby incompetent dumbasses?"

Let's take a step back, shall we?

China has a population of 1 Billion people. So, during the winter months, how many Chinese get the flu and/or die from the flu? Without googling it, it has to be hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Chinese.

The US has a population of 330 Million. According to the CDC (via this right-wing news site), we have the following stats for 2017-2018 in the US:

1. 45 Million flu cases
2. 810,000 hospitalizations for the flu
3. 61,000 deaths from the flu

Well, I remember the years 2017-2018. I was working, taking BART, raising teenagers, going to football games, and making impertinent comments on this blog. I don't remember a giant "freak-out" over these LARGE NUMBERS of flu cases and flu deaths.

So I reckon my question is this: if we already have LARGE NUMBERS of flu cases (45 Million) and flu deaths (61,000) in the US, why the freak-out over SMALL NUMBERS of flu cases and flu deaths from the Corona ChiCom Virus, that apparently hasn't yet shown up here?

I don't have a strong opinion on this, but in general I oppose "freak-outs, disinformation, hysteria, and propaganda"

Curious George said...

"purplepenquin said...
Am pretty sure that ain't a new standard - at least, I have always known that you shouldn't accuse people of saying/doing stuff unless they actually did say/do it."

Talk about cognitive dissonance. Do you believe this fucktard said this? Wow.

And this:

purplepenquin said...
No one thinks you did

Given how the lil' coward ducks&runs every time I ask him to back up his bullshit lies, it is pretty obvious that he himself doesn't beleive the nonsense he constantly spewing.

Inga said...

Hear hear TreeJoe@12:05 PM.

narciso said...

these are the democrats

narciso said...

why aren't they writing a funding bill or do anything productive?

narciso said...

oh that can't go wrong

Drago said...

It is nice to see all of the lefts/LLR-left's Kremlinology experts are also experts on global pandemics.

Its very comforting.

But that Pence, he's no Ron Klain, political operative, lawyer and Obama Ebola Czar.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

narciso said...
these are the democrats


I used to hate menthol fucking cigarettes. Glad to see someone has finally done something about it.

purplepenquin said...

@CuriousGeorge

I thought you admitted that you did post the video of union workers dying & getting hurt on the job, so why do I need to go back almost a decade and link to the post where you did it? Or are you now back to saying that you never-ever posted any video like that at all?

Either way - Fuck off, you're a sick lil' man.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Angle-Dyne, Samurai Buzzard said...
ARM cooties


It's not as bad as they make it sound.

Roost on the Moon said...

Hope for the best, prepare for the moderately bad:

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/preparing-for-coronavirus-to-strike-the-u-s/

Michael K said...

Shame you feel the need to focus on palace intrigue bullshit instead of on anything important. It's worse than a shame that so much of the media is no better.

Chuck shame ? You're kidding, right ?

As for TreeJoe,. I agree with preparedness. The MERS version of a corona virus was much worse with 42% mortality, I have read.

This is probably far less dangerous but we don't know yet. Vaccine is unlikely to be of much help unless it becomes chronic and has a higher mortality than flu. The Remdisivir drug is more likely to be the chief therapy since those in ICU with pneumonia are going to be the most important. Gilead Health Science might be the stock to buy.

On Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese officials had reached an agreement with Gilead (ticker: GILD) to test remdesivir in patients with coronavirus. The same day, the New England Journal of Medicine published a case report on a man sickened with the coronavirus in Washington state who was given remdesivir, and whose condition began to improve the following day.

“Gilead seems to be now among the front-runners in developing a treatment for Coronavirus,” Citi analyst Mohit Bansal wrote in a note out Monday.


If the virus turns out to be a mild threat, this might not be the big one.

narciso said...

brain slug infection is terminal,


http://patterico.com/2020/02/28/trump-administration-coronavirus-is-contained-so-relax-and-turn-off-your-televisions/#comments

Amadeus 48 said...

The NYT coverage speaks for itself, demonstrating exactly what Mulvaney was saying. The NYT won’t begin to retrieve credibility until it provides fair coverage. They are not even close.

Michael said...

Have a look at the most recent graphs showing the growth of the infections. Flattening.

Y2K

Drago said...

BTW, hat tip to Eli Lake for the Kremlinologist/pandemic disease experts comment.

narciso said...

he was one of the sane ones at the daily beast(where he covered the Benghazi story fairly) and now at Bloomberg

Michael said...

ARM;

"I used to hate menthol fucking cigarettes. Glad to see someone has finally done something about it."
Next it will be the Jews, eh? Excellent when the Govt steps in and stops something you don't like.

Big Mike said...

@TreeJoe, @Michael K., I posted a health-related question at 10:51 over in the thread from the Althouse “Frozen Lake Sunrise” post today. I’d be obliged if either of you would answer it. Thanks.

BTW, I have a Symbicort inhaler from a nasty RTI I had last summer trip in the Alaska back country. Would using it to control my coughing and sneezing be a good idea, given the runny nose?

FullMoon said...

CNN blasted by critics for ‘Trump-derangement’ coronavirus coverage on air and online

Bay Area Guy said...

Music to my ears. Here's Breitbart -- Five Reasons to stop freaking out about Coronavirus

dreams said...

Mick Mulvaney is right on.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"The media and the Democrats (same thing) are breathlessly anticipating, hoping, and wishing for thousands, no...even...hundreds of thousands of Americans to get sick and die so that they can blame Trump.

Are anyone of any significance actually saying such things? Or are you just hoping&wishing that they will?"

Inga's desire for American coronavirus deaths is palpable. She displays it in this very thread.

Jim at said...

Inga's desire for American coronavirus deaths is palpable. She displays it in this very thread.

To be fair, he asked for anyone of any significance. Snarling leftist bints on a comment board don't count.

BUMBLE BEE said...

"The only things that have gotten worse since Trump was elected are the Democrats"

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