March 28, 2020

Donald Trump wants you to be appreciative. Could you just be appreciative and stop constantly chirping about what's wrong?

Let's dip into the rhetoric from yesterday's task force press briefing. Donald Trump was full of energy, ready to talk and talk until you just can't stand it anymore. And his word of the day was "appreciative." Why won't people appreciate him?!

From the transcript:
TRUMP: Well, I think we’ve done a great job for the State of Washington and I think the governor, who is a failed presidential candidate as you know, he leveled out at zero in the polls, he’s constantly chirping, and I guess complaining would be a nice way of saying it. We’re building hospitals. We’ve done a great job for the State of Washington. Michigan, she has no idea what’s going on. And all she does is say, “Oh, it’s the federal government’s fault.” And we’ve taken such great care of Michigan. You know the care we’ve taken of New Jersey. I think if you ask Governor Murphy of New Jersey, “How are we doing?” I think he’d say great. I think. He’s a Democrat. Governor Cuomo has really said we’re really doing a great job... and Governor Cuomo has been appreciative. But a couple of people aren’t.
We have done a hell of a job. The federal government has really stepped up.... All I want them to do, very simple, I want them to be appreciative. I don’t want them to say things that aren’t true. I want them to be appreciative. We’ve done a great job, and I’m not talking about me. I’m talking about Mike Pence, the Task Force, I’m talking about FEMA, the Army Corps of Engineers.... When somebody for political reasons wants to blame, I view that as blaming these incredible people.... We have this incredible hospital boat.... It’ll be in New York on Monday, weeks ahead of schedule. I think things, even the media, I think the media and governors should appreciate it. And I have to say, the media has been pretty good and the governors have been really good, except for a couple. And with them, it’s just political. “How’s Trump doing?” “Oh, well, I don’t know.” Because we have done a job the likes of which nobody’s seen.... I think they should be appreciative. Because you know what? When they’re not appreciative to me, they’re not appreciative to the Army Corps, they’re not appreciative to FEMA, it’s not right. These people are incredible. They’re working 24 hours a day. I mean, Mike Pence, I don’t think he sleeps anymore. These are people that should be appreciated. He calls all the governors. I tell him… I mean, I’m a different type of person. I say, “Mike, don’t call the Governor of Washington. You’re wasting your time with him. Don’t call the woman in Michigan.” It doesn’t make any difference what happens-

SPEAKER 5: You don’t want him to call the Governor of Washington?

TRUMP: You know what I’m say [sic]? If they don’t treat you right, I don’t call. He’s a different type of person. He’ll call quietly anyway, okay? But he’s done a great job. He should be appreciated for the job he’s done. 
I got up and walked away. I said out loud at the time: "He needs to stop saying 'appreciative.' He needs to stop talking so much. Make it strong and short. It's like he's trying to win by talking more than anyone has ever thought possible."

He followed up with this tweet about the Governor of Michigan:

Notice the nickname. It takes a second to get the joke — half wit — but once you get it, you never experience her last name the same way again. Or that's the idea.

353 comments:

1 – 200 of 353   Newer›   Newest»
Eleanor said...

When I'm peeved, I think everyone who has said "Trump is not my president" should not get any financial help. I think any city or state that declared itself exempt from federal laws shouldn't be allowed to ask the federal government for anything. But then I realize most of government's function is to protect stupid people from themselves and the rest of us from stupid people.

rhhardin said...

It's meant for the team. They can't role play like Trump. Trump is using his ego as their tool.

tim in vermont said...

It’s easier to support Trump if you don’t listen to him too much. Most of the foundation of my support for Trump comes from his enemies mouths.

stevew said...

People's attention ebbs and flows such that repetition is important to get the message across. I agree though, that Trump speaking at these conferences is too long. Especially last night.

Perhaps different than you I interpret his demands for appreciation as being on behalf of the efforts of the government and all the people working so very hard to understand and deal with the virus epidemic. Sure, he references himself but only in a very minor way.

Wilbur said...

I appreciate it, and good night.

JPS said...

tim in vermont,

"It’s easier to support Trump if you don’t listen to him too much."

Geez, ain't that the truth. My Trump-bashing friends on Facebook are constantly appalled by him, they wonder how any decent person could not be appalled - but it's almost always about something he said. Or their interpretation of what he must have meant, since we all know he's a racist. It's very rarely about a policy or an action.

I don't watch him, I don't listen to him, I watch what he does and ignore the shit-talk, and I think he's doing all in all a pretty good job.

"Most of the foundation of my support for Trump comes from his enemies mouths."

Again, amen. If those who hate him showed any sign of being willing to criticize in good faith, instead of throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks, I'd be so much more interested in what they had to say. Instead my default reaction is, There you go again. If it weren't this, it'd be something else.

A friend who's highly intelligent in some ways is convinced Trump is going to cancel the November election, citing coronavirus. Now this speculation is spreading. As Scott Adams says, two movies.

Rosa Marie Yoder said...

I'll tell you what I don't appreciate. I don't appreciate Governor Whitmer (D) telling Michiganders from Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties that it's just fine for them to get into their cars and drive up north to their little vacation homes. WHY?! Why would you encourage residents of highly infected areas to go to areas that have very few cases? But you flip that record over to the other side, and she's telling people they can be fined $500 if caught driving to/from somewhere other than for non-essential things. Clearly, she's an idiot. And never in my wildest dreams did I imagine it would come to this; but Blow-Me-Away Jennifer Granholm would be a vast improvement over this catastrophe.

David Begley said...

Trump’s references to the Governors of Washington and Michigan is being spun that if a Governor doesn’t suck up to Trump, then that state doesn’t get federal help. A quid pro quo. Another impeachment. No lie.

Browndog said...

The governors of Michigan and Washington made it personal from the start. So, Trump took it personal.

I'm pretty sure all Trump wants is them not to be an asshole to him on the phone. But, they can't.

#Resist

tim maguire said...

It would have been a great rant if he’d removed himself and kept the rest just the way it is. Then again, talking about himself is how he’ll get the media to report on it. Most normal people will notice how much praise there is for the team.

Shouting Thomas said...

Trump is always fun, always positive, always the cheerleader.

Understands better than any president since Reagan that he occupies the bully pulpit and that his primary job is to exude optimism, confidence and enthusiasm.

The posters on this board who think that the job of the president is to be a micro-manager and policy wonk are simply wrong.

This, in fact, is why Trump haters call him a liar. They don’t understand the principle job of the president. Trump does.

Browndog said...

This is what Trump has to deal with as the nations economy is in complete collapse:

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has requested a major disaster declaration from President Donald Trump’s administration, she announced during a Thursday press conference.

In a letter to Trump and FEMA Regional Administrator James Joseph, Whitmer requested a number of individual and public assistance programs ranging from nutrition, counseling and survivor assistance to emergency assistance for public facilities like roads, bridges, water control and utilities.


JPS said...

Rosa Marie Yoder:

"WHY?! Why would you encourage residents of highly infected areas to go to areas that have very few cases?"

I hear you, but - if I had to defend the recommendation, I think it would come down to the guess that in lower population density, the bug spreads more slowly and dies out more quickly. All the precautions we hope will help, once we go about our business, are going to work better the less crowded we are.

tim maguire said...

JPS said...I don't watch him, I don't listen to him, I watch what he does and ignore the shit-talk, and I think he's doing all in all a pretty good job.

+1

MayBee said...

He can be hard to take. He *did* repeat that he meant appreciate the people working for the Federal government.

Whitmer reminds me of the Governor of Louisiana during Katrina- what was her name? Anything she didn't know how to do became Bush's fault or FEMA's fault.

Whitmer is happy to pass any blame on to the Federal government rather than look for solutions. It's what she does at every press conference, even as she can't explain her own order. It's very weak seeming to me, especially as I see so many others getting along.

Lurker21 said...

Missing from the stories is where the president says it's not about him:

"I don't want them to say things that aren't true. I want them to be appreciative. We have done a great job and I'm not talking about me, I am talking about Mike Pence, the task force, I am talking about FEMA, the Army Corps of engineers."

Elsewhere he does say or imply that it is about him, but stories that leave out this quote are giving a skewed impression. Trump isn't going to be gracious if he can help it ("the woman in Michigan" is an example), but if the government does what it is supposed to do, that's enough.

Shouting Thomas said...

In the 90s, I worked for a great CEO for about 5 years. Fantastic man. He had been a small college basketball star. Grew up in small town Oregon.

My job was to create an internal internet based TV and radio station for him. He took over the job of CEO at a company that was flush with cash and full of executives and workers who had, essentially, ceased working hard because they viewed the company as a cash cow to be milked. Everybody was coasting.

My CEO’s job was to return the company to maximum profitability.

Optimism, confidence and enthusiasm were his primary tools, along with a demand for accountability. He was a far different character than Trump, but his methods were very similar.

And his methods worked. He got everybody on board. He got everybody working hard again. He motivated people and sometimes he struck fear in them.

Trump is a CEO.

Browndog said...

Whitmer reminds me of the Governor of Louisiana during Katrina- what was her name? Anything she didn't know how to do became Bush's fault or FEMA's fault.

You nailed it.

I thought the exact same thing.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

Personally, I'm not big on listening to Trump myself. We had the daily briefing on the other day for a few minutes and my wife commented, "that man sure does love to hear himself talk." I agreed. But, judging from the number of people that were going to his rallies, some people do like to listen to him. I think its the novelty of a major public figure, the US President, telling them that they are great people and not irredeemable or deplorable. Oh and standing up for them to the people that do think that way about them.

Fernandinande said...

Twittering is more better than chirping.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

A better way to run the press conferences.

Temujin said...

Had the same reaction in our house, and I've had this reaction for days now. He needs to shut up. The worst thing Donald Trump does is public speaking. Because when he's up there, he exposes every shortcoming he has as a person. Most of us sent him to Washington to blow things up. Shake the blanket. Get out of the usual way of doing things. And he has done that mostly. Considering he's had to work at it while fighting a faux collusion fiasco, a faux impeachment fiasco, and a non-stop hounding media tells me how dogged a fighter he is. And that's the good part.

But Donald is uniquely narcissistic. Everything in the world comes down to how he's treated, or how he feels he's treated. I've never seen or heard anyone quite like him. But he is also a man of action and has gotten a lot done.

If he could stick to getting action done and allowing the people around him to do the talking, he'd be great. He is his own undoing. The funny thing is, the Dems are so vacant in palatable talent that they have, thus far, been unable to come up with anyone who could beat Trump. I do not want Dems close to any office for a couple of generations. You've seen me write that. But every time Trump starts talking he makes me wish we had other choices.

Interestingly- Obama was the opposite of Trump. He could read the back of a bottle of talcum powder and make it sound stately. Yet his actions were mostly lackluster, and those he did get through were done so through bizarre congressional moves, and mass lying to the American people (with an assist from the media). His actions were akin to Trumps talking.

CStanley said...

I generally don’t like listening to Trump and I didn’t view/hear that press conference, but reading the transcript here I have a much more positive reaction than did Althouse.

I especially liked the way he contrasted his own style with Pence’s style, and showed (yes) genuine appreciation for the VP.

Shouting Thomas said...

At other points in my career I worked for lawyers... the best. So I understand Althouse’s mindset.

Accuracy and directness of language is her obsession. The job product of the lawyers I worked for was paper and, like Althouse, they were absolutely obsessed with accuracy and directness of language.

I think that the prof is (as we all do) assuming that her professional and personal interests and outlook should be reflected in the way other people do their jobs.

So, she’s always hoping that Trump will be more lawyerly, that he will really fret over language, as if he were writing contracts and M&A agreements.

That’s not the job of a president. A president is a CEO. His primary job is to motivate... by whatever means work. And that means working with the emotional, psychological and subconscious drives of people. Very little of this has anything to do with intellect and lawyerly accuracy in writing.

Howard said...

It's all about Trump getting credit and cuddles. Disgusting, but fortunately the Deep State is in charge. However, we fight the pandemic with the leadership we have, not the leaders we wish we had.

Jersey Fled said...

Trump or Whitmer.

Who would you want to be your leader during an emergency?

And by the way, I'm tired of this "if only Trump didn't talk or tweet the way he does" stuff. He is who he is. Look at what he has done. Look at the team that he pulled together on this. And tell me who you would rather have in charge right now. Maybe Eisenhower. Maybe GHWB. But I can't think of any other President during my lifetime. Cetainly not that poser Obama.

wendybar said...

I'd rather listen to Trump who is funny, and knows how to be a leader, than a Joe Biden who doesn't know where he is or what's going on in the world. (I still blame his wife for letting him run for the highest job in the country when there is OBVIOUSLY something very wrong with him)

Browndog said...

Temujin said...

Had the same reaction in our house, and I've had this reaction for days now. He needs to shut up.


Who should speak in his stead?

Ann Althouse said...

"In a letter to Trump and FEMA Regional Administrator James Joseph, Whitmer requested a number of individual and public assistance programs ranging from nutrition, counseling and survivor assistance to emergency assistance for public facilities like roads, bridges, water control and utilities."

The big ask.

Maybe she read "The Art of the Deal."

narciso said...

As opposed to these peyote crazed reporters and pundits.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

I mean, when a lot of so called conservatives in the Republican chatter class are calling for their extinction and replacement, and they know that if they state common sense things such as men should not be competing in women's sports, no matter what sex they think they are, will get them ostracized at best because it goes against the ruling classes current obsession, having someone powerful be willing to stand up for you will tend to engender loyalty.

clint said...

Is Governor Whitmer still threatening to yank the medical licenses of any doctor who prescribes Hydroxycholorquine for COVID?

rhhardin said...

The governors are where the authority lies, as to social distancing and closings. It's still a federal system there. The worst two of 50 are going to be pretty bad.

Browndog said...

Maybe she read "The Art of the Deal."

Maybe her campaign slogan was "Fix the damn roads!" and now wants Trump to "Do her damn job!"

AllenS said...

Whether you like the way Trump talks or not, he represents the blue collar workers of America as The Big Middle Finger pointed at the MSM, pin-headed college professors, the dimwit Democrats, and let us not forget about those who hate America.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Browndog said...
Who should speak in his stead?


The response to the virus is primarily a technical/analytical problem, much like the response to the Great Recession crash. Obama let people who had spent much of their life preparing for such a moment take the lead. This is what Trump should do. Trot the 'leader' out once every few days at most to give an 'inspirational' speech.

Shouting Thomas said...

Trump’s masterful CEO methods of always conveying optimism and confidence and his relentless cheerleading led us to a boom economy, record low unemployment and a super bull stock market.

I don’t think he brought this virus on us. The Chinese did.

So, I’m inclined to think that we’ve got the right leader for this crisis.

Howard said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Howard said...

All you people that make excuses for Trump remind me of the guys in the olden days that would follow the parade and sweep up the road apples. You do that job completely voluntarily with no recompense.

exhelodrvr1 said...

It's becoming increasingly obvious that a LOT of people, the great majority of them on the left, are so dense that they can't get out of their own way when necessary. Probably because they have grown so used to the government taking care of them.

exhelodrvr1 said...

Howard - it's all about results. But we're smart enough to realize that. You're obviously not.

Shouting Thomas said...

The response to the virus is primarily a technical/analytical problem....

No, it isn’t. As usual, ARM, you’re completely wrong.

You don’t understand the job of the president. This policy wonking you want Trump to do is bullshit.

Thank God, a brain dead moron like you isn’t president. This shit you love doing on an internet BS board entertains you and flatters your belief in your intellectual superiority, which is clearly very important to you.

You would be a complete and utter disaster as a CEO. You don’t have a clue about what motivates people or how they work on an emotional and subconscious level.

The proper response to this crisis, which has been vastly over-exaggerated, is to convince people that good things are going to happen and that they should pitch in enthusiastically and discount the negative.

paminwi said...

You are, this morning, like CNN and their pathetic headline/chyron writers. “ Why won't people appreciate him?!”
What you are saying is really not the true context of what he was saying.
This is your bias and your own clickbait needs evident in full force.
The people he REALLY wanted to be appreciated were Mike Pence, Army Corps of Engineers, FEMA, the Task Force members. The people who worked to get the hospital ship up and running in record time. And we all know there are more people who he did not mention.

If you had not included the transcript the total context would be gone.
So....I guess...I’ll give one clap for that.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

I wonder how many people end up as shut-ins after this episode. At least where I live the system is set-up so that, if I wanted, I could never the house, except for urgent medical care.

Browndog said...


The response to the virus is primarily a technical/analytical problem, much like the response to the Great Recession crash. Obama let people who had spent much of their life preparing for such a moment take the lead. This is what Trump should do. Trot the 'leader' out once every few days at most to give an 'inspirational' speech.

Great point.

I'm still mad FDR didn't shut up and let accredited economists talk us through the great depression.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Shouting Thomas said...
which has been vastly over-exaggerated


This is the analytical part, determining the level of threat. If you don't get that right then everything else is, at best, less than optimal and possibly disastrous. Trump has neither the training nor mindset to make that call. He is in sales.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Trump is no FDR.

Wince said...

Democrat politicians who opposed enforcement of international borders are now in favor of limiting inter- and intra-state travel by citizens?

Tank said...

Shouting Thomas said...

The response to the virus is primarily a technical/analytical problem....

No, it isn’t. As usual, ARM, you’re completely wrong.

You don’t understand the job of the president. This policy wonking you want Trump to do is bullshit.

Thank God, a brain dead moron like you isn’t president. This shit you love doing on an internet BS board entertains you and flatters your belief in your intellectual superiority, which is clearly very important to you.

You would be a complete and utter disaster as a CEO. You don’t have a clue about what motivates people or how they work on an emotional and subconscious level.

The proper response to this crisis, which has been vastly over-exaggerated, is to convince people that good things are going to happen and that they should pitch in enthusiastically and discount the negative.


This here nails it.

Shouting Thomas said...

I wonder how many people end up as shut-ins after this episode.

God, but you're a dreary pessimist, negative thinker and intellectual sob sister.

I'm going to spend the day doing something very optimistic. I'm preparing preludes, hymns and postludes for my congregation to be delivered streaming online.

I'm 70 years old and I'm still making a living as a professional musician, ARM. Remember that stupid shit you had to say about that?

You didn't learn a thing from that episode. I think you're virtually incapable of learning anything.

My mother lost her job as a factory work at the age of 60. She went to nursing school, earned her LPN and passed her boards at the age of 63. She worked full time in a nursing home while she kept my dad at home and nursed him thru Alzheimer's for a decade. She retired involuntarily at the age of 83.

Get off your ass. Get off this board. Find something optimistic and useful to do with your life.

Wince said...

Democrat governors are "coming between patients and their doctors" by threatening doctors who prescribe hydroxycholorquine for Wuhan Flu?

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

You are an excitable little man ST. I was not referring to myself.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

@ Tim
It’s easier to support Trump if you don’t listen to him too much. Most of the foundation of my support for Trump comes from his enemies mouths.

Indeed

narciso said...

hes otto from wanda

Ignatius Acton Chesterton OCD said...

Narcissism is the realm of politicians. Endless ego. It’s the core of what motivates them to run in the first place.

Why people think this is unique to Trump is a mystery. The difference I see is that Trump is ingenuous in his communication. And the other “hidden” thing he does that few seem to understand us that he negotiates out in the open. This is transparent, and makes him trustworthy. Even if you wince.

How quickly we forget “No Drama” Obama, who said I, I, I, I, ad infinitum. He was a corrupt Chicago thug whose choices/actions as a politician were the diametrical opposite of what he said in his soaring oratory. And the BoBo intelligentsia swooned and got tingly feelings.

Trump does what he says he’s going to do. It’s not shiny.

He gets stuff done. He’s patriotic. He’s optimistic. He’s a true executive.

I know which approach I prefer.

Ignatius Acton Chesterton OCD said...

In other news, Tom Hanks’ quarantine is over and he’s flying home in a private jet. How nice.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I'm appreciative this corrupt private server for Putin cash /regular American hating government whore isn't president.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Well...I do think (wish) that Trump could have expressed it more elegantly....BUT HE IS RIGHT. He is frustrated, tired, carrying heavy burden, but he is right. Show some G-Damned appreciation.

Trump and everyone on his team, all of the people at the various agencies that are responding to the Corona spread, trying to stem the spread, trying not to damage the entire country are working their asses off. Working day and night to get supplies, develop cures, vaccines. It is a nightmare and they know that they must not fail.

A little appreciation of the effort being spent AND of the millions of dollars that are being spent on your State and on YOUR behalf would seem like the normal human response. Even if you don't like the hand that is giving it out, you should at least appreciate the help. Whining that it isn't enough or isn't perfect just makes you look like what you are a whining partisan worm. Beggars can't be choosers. Choosing Beggars

Money, BTW that is being spent in Washington State and everywhere that is paid into YOUR State(addressing my remarks to the Governor and other officials) by the American People everywhere.....show some gratitude to others who are funding you and trying to save YOUR people.

SomeoneHasToSayIt said...


Complex problems resist simple solutions, but America would come back a long long way if there were rather more gratitude. Everywhere.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

JPS, you sum up my feelings and situation perfectly.

"I don't watch him, I don't listen to him, I watch what he does and ignore the shit-talk, and I think he's doing all in all a pretty good job."

Exactly. I have always found and continue to find, his style grating. Unlike Ann, I don't even find him funny. But when you defend his policies at all, you are immediately accused of being a MAGA cultist by the same people who treated Obama like groupies treated Mick Jagger.

So many people really can't understand that it is possible to support a pol without worshiping him, or even liking him that much. They in turn, make it harder, not easier for people like us to criticize Trump's actions. When I do, I immediately feel like I'm handing deranged people a gun and ammo. It's simply impossible to have a reasoned debate with them.

But Trump at his worst is far better than Pelosi and Clinton and Schiff on their best days.

MayBee said...

Browndog said...
Maybe she read "The Art of the Deal."

Maybe her campaign slogan was "Fix the damn roads!" and now wants Trump to "Do her damn job!"


Genius.

Shouting Thomas said...

You are an excitable little man ST. I was not referring to myself.

For Christ's sake, you dumb shit. I'm your superior in every way.

Pull your head out of your ass, dummy, and learn from me.

If you have the ability.

Now, I'm going to get busy. I was up at 5 a.m. and I already recorded four songs this morning. I'll be laying down vocals and converting the whole thing into movies, then uploading the whole thing by this evening.

And yes, I'm excitable. And exciting. I know how to excite and move people. Another thing you might want to learn from me. These are good qualities, dummy. I'm not the boring, drudging, godawful pessimist and wonk you are.

Find something to do with your life, you dreary, boring, depressing oaf. Get off this board and find something to do.

Take my advice. Don't spend another 15 hours here today bullshitting. This is what is feeding your depression and boredom.

Ignatius Acton Chesterton OCD said...

Howard: “Disgusting, but fortunately the Deep State is in charge.“

No, Howard. What YOU just said is disgusting. Shame.

I would never wish upon Trump’s successor the Deep State sedition Trump has had to deal with. It is the greatest threat to American principles and ideals of republican representative government we’ve ever seen. That unelected bureaucrats are encouraged and empowered to resist, obfuscate and block the orders and wishes of elected officials. It is a disgrace!

We may not like the Presidents, Congressional Representatives and Senators we have. But at least we had a say in choosing them.

I guess that’s why people like you love the Federal judiciary so much, with its penumbra rulings based on supernatural rationalizations around subjects like human sacrifice. Appointed for life and confirmed. O, how sacred the law is! Yet who passeth the law? Congress. Impeaching and removing judges should be much easier, but that’s the system we have.

Browndog said...

Complex problems typically start out as simple problems, compounded by complex solutions.

Howard said...

ARM. Trump is deferring to the Deep State then puts his spin on the situation. I don't like his spin, but there you are. You can see how Trump deeply connects to his mass of marks who keeps him afloat. He's in a classic double bind.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Dust Bunny Queen said...
A little appreciation of the effort being spent AND of the millions of dollars that are being spent on your State


Those trillions of dollars came from or, more accurately, will come from, the people, and they will still be paying long after Trump is gone. Trump is a public servant, the people pay. Us people don't necessarily have to be appreciative of an enormous oncoming debt crisis that will cripple the country's ability to provide basic services in the future.

Third Coast said...

As a Michigander, I can tell you that as governor, Whitmer is a half-Whit. Her theme when she ran for governor was "Fix the Damn Roads". Her "fix" was to try to raise gas taxes $0.43/gal. which went over like a lead balloon and had no support in the legislature. She then botched her first proposed budget so badly that we are now paying less for road repairs than when she came into office. She's in over her head.
And yes, she's threatening the license of doctors who go off label on drugs they might prescribe to fight the Wuhan Flu.

Howard said...

Ignatz projecting his insecurities. 10 hail Mary Magdalene and 7 Our Father's should dissolve your sins

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Not to worry ARM, Nancy has more debt spending coming.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Shouting Thomas said...
I'm your superior in every way.


You are. Now take an aspirin, a cup of tea and a nice long walk to settle down. Think of your cardiovascular system. The ole' ticker is not what it once was.

tcrosse said...

Advice from Bing.

Owen said...

rhhardin: “ It's meant for the team. They can't role play like Trump. Trump is using his ego as their tool.”

Word. He is a leader and he is framing this as a complaint about complainers in order to point out how his team, the whole Federal effort, does not complain, deserves great praise and thanks, but from some —the complainers— they get less than nothing. And by being so crass as to complain, he will draw the fire. He will face more rounds of complainers who dislike his sloppy, noisy, self-centered style. And the good work will go on getting done.

Yes, he is a strange blend and as one obsessed with words and interested in accurate and organized and succinct reports and advice, I too squirm when he goes on and on at the briefings. But his team then delivers the substance and detail. Pence impresses me as the ideal COO. Trump is the MC-CEO, the jester to his own court, a paradoxical whirlwind.

And given a choice between Obama’s talk and Trump’s walk, I know which one I’d rather live with.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

ARM said: Those trillions of dollars came from or, more accurately, will come from, the people,......

You might want to read and comprehend my post. I know who is paying.

ME---->Money, BTW that is being spent in Washington State and everywhere that is paid into YOUR State(addressing my remarks to the Governor and other officials) by the American People everywhere.....show some gratitude to others who are funding you and trying to save YOUR people.

Note: I also don't necessarily agree with ALL of this spending or the amounts. But since, I am not in reality an actual Queen and only in charge of my own household, I don't get a say in how the money is spent. You should be grateful of that too 😁

Ignatius Acton Chesterton OCD said...

Do not sanctify Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and her damsel in distress bit. She’s behaving more like a stilted (and simultaneously scorned) governess. And unfortunately, we Michiganders are her children — paying the price. I’ll leave it to you to decide who the Lord of the house is.

It’s all an act on a grand stage Whitmer never expected to appear on, and she’s eating it up for all it’s worth. Don’t romanticize any of this as spontaneous or courageous. It’s part of the gig. Michigan is a swing state — economically liberal, socially conservative. It’s a real battleground.

The Governess is a politician like all the rest of ‘em. She talks a good game to her friends in the chattering class. But like Jennifer Granholm, Whitmer is not very good at making decisions. And her prattling, baiting and obfuscating is hurting our State. I thought women were supposed to be superior in grace and cooperation. I find the Governess quite catty.

And by the way, during this COVID-19 crisis, I’ve noticed Democrat politicians are unusually comfortable in their totalitarian leanings. Just sayin’... be careful what you endorse as sound public pronouncements. Don’t fall fur the “I’m on the team” smokescreen.

rcocean said...

The transcript can't show how Trump's delivery made the line "He leveled out at zero" so funny.

I Think Trump's main point, which he elaborated on, even after this extract, is that these 2 State Governors are NOT showing the proper appreciation for FEMA and the Corps of Engineers, both of which Trump praised to the skies. Trump LOVES repetition, but it somethings gets too much.

BTW, he's called Gov Islee (sp?) a snake, and teased Pence several times for thinking he could trust him, or "get him to put politics aside". Islee was in the debates, and IRC babbeled on about Climate Change and and how he hated TRump.

Michael K said...

It’s easier to support Trump if you don’t listen to him too much. Most of the foundation of my support for Trump comes from his enemies mouths

I agree.

Howard and ARM want the Deep State technocrats at CDC and FDA in charge of the response to the Wuhan virus.

Oh wait.., "This is not obesity or guns. What do we do now ?"

The Deep State was so busy building bureaucratic empires that they forgot what the job was.

Ignatius Acton Chesterton OCD said...

My insecurities, Howard? I was quite direct. No chaser. I sense you aren’t used to that kind of thing.

On matters of substances this shit is real. You thought the bench was shallow for the politicians? Wait until you see the bureaucrat squad take the field.

Now go take some Valium.

Jersey Fled said...

Obama let people who had spent much of their life preparing for such a moment take the lead.

You mean like Pelosi and Schumer?

After that Nobel Prize for Nothing, Obama started preparing for his next job as Celebrity in Chief.

Browndog said...

Remember what Gretchen did with the budget.

Used the line-item veto to strike half of it, used an "emergency" panel to put what money was left in places of her choosing, bypassing the legislature, all because nobody in either party would cave on her beloved 45/gallon gas tax.

RMc said...

A better way to run the press conferences.

(RMc hovers over link, sees it's from Democratic Underground.)

Nope.

MayBee said...

This morning, I am seeing that Whitmer claimed the Federal Government is telling ventilator suppliers not to sell to Michigan.

On CNN she clarified that she found out that it's because they are being sent first to the Feds, to be distributed. But the idea that Trump is keeping her state from getting ventilators is out there, and it is politics, and it is the politics of a failing governor hoping to use this health crisis to become VP

rcocean said...

The bottom line is that even though Trump goes overboard sometimes, he's 10x better than some weak-kneed Bushy who'd take all the abuse with "quiet good grace" like a Good Gentleman. When The D's or the Press take shots at Trump or his allies, they aren't just attacking them, they're attacking everyone who supports them and works for them.

Bush never understood that. Or did't care. Or maybe didn't like his supporters much anyway.

MayBee said...

When you shut a state down, I wonder how much gas tax revenue you get.

rcocean said...

He also praised many Governors in the Press Conference, especially cuomo and some guy from NJ.

MerryD said...

I think he went on so long yesterday because he is incredulous that Governors who want things from the Federal Government are playing critic at the same time. In his world, you don't bite the hand that feeds you.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Dust Bunny Queen said...
You should be grateful of that too


I am - everyday. 😁

Sebastian said...

Yes, sometimes less is more.

But Trump's appreciative appreciation is the flip side of Althouse's insistence on helping. If you're helping, you get appreciated; if not, not. It's his way of projecting positivity and team spirit: part of his job.

Trump is also a politician. He doles out appreciative appreciation, and always has, to people who are nice to him and work with him. As he does here: people who don't play ball, people who chirp, don't get appreciated. Message: I'll work with anyone, provided you work with me. No turning the other cheek. No free-rider criticism. Stop the TDS if you want stuff.

Jersey Fled said...

"He also praised many Governors in the Press Conference, especially cuomo and some guy from NJ"

The "guy from NJ" (Murphy) might be the only Governor in the country who is worse than Whitmer

Browndog said...

MayBee said...

When you shut a state down, I wonder how much gas tax revenue you get.


We got big problems coming. Especially since she's probably going to be the last governor to lift the lockdown so she can blame Trump for all our misery.

tim in vermont said...

"I want them to be appreciative. We've done a great job. And I'm not talking about me. I'm talking about Mike Pence, the task force, I'm talking about FEMA, the Army Corps of Engineers.” - DJT

The real issue with Trump’s rambling is that it leaves so many opportunities for the press to carefully select a tiny clip and turn it into the opposite of what anybody watching the full thing on TV would have understood him to mean.

Ignatius Acton Chesterton OCD said...

Amen on the Michigan budget, Browndog.

I’ve never understood proponents of the line item veto. It makes the executive a super-legislator.

The executive’s job is to execute the laws the legislature put in place. With discretion, of course, but that’s the nature of politics. But the executive shouldn’t be able to just “cross out” what the legislature passes.

The Governess is a dimwit playing speed chess on the national stage, acting like a victim while clinging to the trappings of power. These are not impressive moments for our State. All Presidents have enormous power to punish their adversaries. Gretchen is a gnat in Trump’s world.too bad for us, eh?

tim in vermont said...

They used to do the same thing with Sarah Palin. I would read what they said she said, believe it at first, but then, “just be sure” go to the original quote, and sure enough, she said something completely different and completely reasonable, unlike what was reported. “I can see Russia from my house” was only the most famous example.

Francisco D said...

I watched the entirety of Trump's present conference while making chili for our expected "shelter in place" order from Gov. Deucey.

What struck me was how nice he was to the media (e.g., that was an excellent question, most of the press is doing a really good job) until Jonathan Karl asked a really stupid and childish question.

I got the sense that he was really trying hard to be positive about people in general until he just wore down and got pissed off.

JAORE said...

"You don’t understand the job of the president. This policy wonking you want Trump to do is bullshit."

ARM pines for the missed opportunity of a Paul Ryan presidency.....

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I do notice the press completely ignore Mike Pence.

Temujin said...

Browndog- you asked the question, "Who should speak in his stead?" It's a good question. He needs to speak, sometimes. He is The Donald. He has to speak often or he'll blow up. But he does not have to front the Coronavirus Task Force daily, then take up 1 hour of it. His problem is that he cannot keep on topic. At one of his rallies, that's fine. It's vintage Trump. But as he has a task force run by his VP. This should start with Pence, who can give the overview, then over to the various experts or department head on the dais daily. There is no need, to have Trump up there daily speaking off the cuff for 1 hour. He could show up every other day to say a few words.

The others on the dais are exhausted, and to make them stand there for an hour as Trump riffs on about how he reacts to how people talk to him is getting to be insane to watch. I voted for him, and unless Mark Cuban runs for Prez, I'll vote for him again, but he really needs less time up there on the dais.

Temujin said...

PS- Michigan is my native state and I'm very disappointed at the caliber of Governor that got elected there. She's over her head.

Paco Wové said...

"I’ve noticed Democrat politicians are unusually comfortable in their totalitarian leanings."

I've noticed that also. Like they all came into office with a Napoleon outfit tucked away in the closet, just waiting for the chance to become Dictator.

Michael K said...

Fighting the Deep State so beloved by the left to do some good.

Distilleries large and small across the state and nation have switched from making alcohol to producing hand sanitizer, which has been in short supply in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But several problems have arose over the last couple of weeks, including a shortage of supplies, confusion about U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines and concern that large federal excise tax bills may await those producing the hand sanitizer because of the type of alcohol being used.


Just the bureaucracy at work.

alanc709 said...

"Blogger Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...
Trump is no FDR."

Thank god for that. FDR took a bad depression, and made it into the Great Depression.

dreams said...

And yet his approval ratings continue to rise so it seems the non elites are appreciative. Donald J Trump keep MAGA, I'm appreciative.

Chuck said...

Governor Whitmer made it clear that she’s been very happy to work with Vice President Pence and she said so. And in a Tweet a day before last evening’s debacle with Trump, she implored him to stop with the insults and get down to the business of supplying more PPE and ventilators.

And for good measure, Whitmer tweeted a video clip of Vice President Pence talking about Governor Whitmer’s “great energy.” And again reemphasizing how Michigan could work very well, with Pence.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/gretchen-whitmer-trump-coronavirus-michigan-governor-a9430391.html%3famp

Note that .url quickly; Meade won’t want you to see it.

AllenS said...

I got up and walked away. I said out loud at the time: "He needs to stop saying 'appreciative.' -- Althouse

Would you feel better if he started to use the words "cruel neutrality". How do you think America would respond to that?

Michael K said...

More news about the successes of the Deep State.

3/ There have been 3 major regulatory barriers to scaling up testing

- obtaining an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA)
- being certified for high-complexity testing under CLIA
- complying with HIPAA Privacy Rule and the Common Rule related to protection of human research subjects


Part of the reason testing was delayed. The thread has the rest of the story.

Mary Beth said...

Whitmer reminds me of the Governor of Louisiana during Katrina- what was her name? Anything she didn't know how to do became Bush's fault or FEMA's fault

Funny you bring her up. This morning I was doing a search (for something regarding the CDC) and an article about Kathleen Blanco was one of the results.

Browndog said...

Witmer went on WWJ yesterday and said "somebody", implying Trump, told vendors not to sell medical supplies to Michigan.

She wouldn't say who, or what vendors--"Not going into that". When confronted with the fact Michigan got all their supplies she responded "that's not the point".

Ignatius Acton Chesterton OCD said...

tim in vermont: “The real issue with Trump’s rambling is that it leaves so many opportunities for the press to carefully select a tiny clip and turn it into the opposite of what anybody watching the full thing on TV would have understood him to mean.”

It’s an unresolvable problem, which means it is a condition. It’s just an unavoidable occupational hazard for any Republican. Trump is not special in this regard.

As much as I cringe sometimes at what the President tweets, Twitter is the platform that allows him to speak over the media, directly to the People. It’s frustrating sometimes, but it really is a blessing.

It’s very humorous to watch the Big Enemedia debate whether to do live broadcast of the President’s daily briefings. They’re not going to stop him from tweeting because that’s their lazy fun time to dissect his tweets. They’ve wanted the daily press briefings to come back for a long time after they couldn’t police their transformation into a raucous mob. Now the briefings are back, Trump is taking lots of questions, and they look like dopes. They don’t like it because they can’t filter it for us. in this time of ”grave crisis,” they’re thinking of pulling the daily live briefings. Hilarious.

They are assassins with pens, keyboards, and pixels. They’re children. They are a disgrace. No American institution has lost as much credibility in the last 12 years as journalists have. First, they fawned over Obama and stopped doing any real work, spoonfed (per Ben Rhodes, not me), reading Twitter like a ticker tape. These last 5 years, Trump has drawn them out and exposed them for who they’ve really been the past two decades: Leftist activists. Their corporatization has made them the Big Enemedia— a modern Legion of Doom.

What makes Trump special and useful is the daily spectacle — the venomous way journalists cover him. They’re a uniform, nasty echo chamber of self-absorbed, spoilt children. Every time I hear or read a journalist call Trump a narcissist, I gleefully grin. They believe their own stuff. Fox News is biased? My God. Look in the mirror.

MayBee said...

she implored him to stop with the insults and get down to the business of supplying more PPE and ventilators.

I get it, Chuck. It's funny though, because she is getting the PPE and ventilators, apparently. She opened her "Stay Safe and Stay Home" speech by criticizing the Federal response. So she just needs to get to the business of governing, I guess. Other governors are whingeing like she is.

She wants to be VP.

MayBee said...

Trump needs to just keep using the phrase "Are they helping?"

Chuck said...

Whitmer was elected in 2018. With a big majority. Her Republican opponent was Bill Schuette, whose term as state Attorney General was ending.

Schuette’s Republican primary opponent had been Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, closely allied with Michigan’s very successful 2-term NeverTrump governor, Rick Snyder. Schuette used Trump’s loud endorsement to win the primary. And with Trump’s endorsement, Schuette got slaughtered in the general election. Michigan Republicans lost every statewide vote in 2018.

In a nutshell, this is how Trump is hollowing out, and destroying, once-great state Republican parties.

Fernandinande said...

I do notice the press completely ignore Mike Pence.

I heard someone on NPR* who sounded unusually calm, well-spoken and reasonable - turned out to be Pence.

*Yes, yes, I know, but "know your enemy" - "chirpy" is often how I describe the voices of typical NPR talkers just before I shut it off.

Ignatius Acton Chesterton OCD said...

Journalism today — like Washington, D.C. en masse — is the self-congratulation of the morally magnificent. They truly believe their own shit.

narciso said...

it's very snubnose, indeed, the bureaucracy fit michels rules exactingly, to heck with their purported mission,

MayBee said...

In a nutshell, this is how Trump is hollowing out, and destroying, once-great state Republican parties.

She's going to have to figure out that being Anti-Trump can get her elected, but it doesn't make her a good governor. Or we are all going to suffer.

Ignatius Acton Chesterton OCD said...

tim in vermont: “I can see Russia from my house” was only the most famous example.

Would you believe it if I told you that was from a Saturday Night Live skit?

But Tina Fey is really, really, really, really smart. Super smart! ]

And really, really, really, really funny. Wicked funny!

So it’s true.

Funny how that works, huh?

MayBee said...

Trump and Pence are doing the bad cop/good cop thing.

narciso said...

argument clinic

Ignatius Acton Chesterton OCD said...

Temujin: “PS- Michigan is my native state and I'm very disappointed at the caliber of Governor that got elected there. She's over her head.”

Did you live under the eight years of Governor Jennifer Granholm? Whitmer is in over her head, but Granholm was a space cadet.

Granholm did not make a single tough, meaningful decision in the eight years she pent at the helm. It was pathetic. Truly.

Then she immediately left. For California.

Ya know, it is just so unfair how some women are chosen for things just because of their appearance. I mean, it is a real shame. This kind of injustice must stop!

Thankfully, Granholm was born in Canada, so she’s disqualified from ever being POTUS. Small victories.

narciso said...

but she believes the right things, so that fmr beauty contestant got the benefit of the doubt, unlike the huntress,

Ignatius Acton Chesterton OCD said...

Chuck: “ In a nutshell, this is how Trump is hollowing out, and destroying, once-great state Republican parties.”

Did you read that on the internet, too, Chuck?

Michael K said...

I see Chuck is back. I think I begin to understand how Michigan keeps getting those crappy Dim governors.

Soapy Williams, for example.

Iman said...

It’s easier to support Trump if you don’t listen to him too much. Most of the foundation of my support for Trump comes from his enemies mouths.

I very much agree with this sentiment.

MayBee said...

George W Bush lost the state of Michigan, and Granholm won as governor. That, in a nutshell, is how Bush hollowed out, and destroyed, once-great state Republican parties.

Charlie Currie said...

Seriously vs literally

narciso said...

I was noting on another blog, the dems are so so much against therapeutic treatments, they would ban jenner and Pasteur and fleming, talk about the 'party of science'

Bruce Hayden said...

The response to the virus is primarily a technical/analytical problem, much like the response to the Great Recession crash. Obama let people who had spent much of their life preparing for such a moment take the lead. This is what Trump should do. Trot the 'leader' out once every few days at most to give an 'inspirational' speech.

And that was partially why the Obama Recession was eight years long.

If Obama were in charge, or Crooked Hillary, SLO Joe Biden, etc., more people would have, and would die. And that is because the experts are bureaucrats, and mostly detail oriented. We had a national pandemic plan, put together by the experts, after a lot of meetings and hard work. It laid out a timetable of the originating country immediately informing WHO. THE Chinese lied for a critical two months. Then, it assumed prompt notice by WHO to the US. They dithered, causing more lost time. They assumed that they could start producing a vaccine almost immediately. We don’t have one yet, and, critically, the FDA is going to require a year of double blind testing. So much for our national pandemic plan, put together by the smartest experts in the agencies given responsibility for fighting the pandemic. I should also mention the CDC having centralized testing nationwide, in a typical bureaucratic power grab, then immediately gotten overwhelmed by the volume, resulting in many early cases, despite displaying symptoms, not being tested, and the possibility of early containment at least in WA having been blown as a result. Plus, their failure to reorder masks after the H1N1 epidemic, and to not stockpile sufficient respirators (relying on their Plan that said that was not necessary).

We are rapidly acquiring adequate testing because Trump cut the red tape. Ditto with bringing treatments to patients. Likely going to be the case with vaccines and ventilators too. Also masks, gloves, sanitizers, etc.

Experts are rarely generalists. Generalists don’t get PhDs - because PhD degrees require intense specialization. And in our credentialed society, our experts are almost experts in very narrow niches. But specialists rarely see much more of the problem than a small sliver of it.

Let’s take the FDA here. They control, to a great extent, what medicines get administered, and medical equipment used by physicians, etc. their expertise is in product safety. Efficacy is a distant secondary consideration. Much of that came out of the Thalidomide Baby fiasco of the late 1950s. What they rarely do, unless forced to, is trade off lives saved versus potential lives lost. They have grudgingly accepted risky treatments for people who are deathly ill, and will likely die without the risky treatments. But a SARS-2 vaccine in less than a year of testing? Forget about it. Doesn’t matter how many immunizing much of the country would save if some might die as a result. Instead of risking being wrong they stick to their bureaucratic rules that prevent them from taking chances.

What Trump has shown himself willing and able to do is cut the red tape, the bureaucratic turf wars, etc, when necessary, to unleash the ingenuity that this country is famous for. Obama wouldn’t have done it. Nor Crooked Hillary, Biden, etc. they didn’t have the vision, but instead, were beholden to the government class that put them in power.

dreams said...

I think Althouse and the NY Times both share the same problem.

"One can feel the existential anguish oozing off every page and pixel at The New York Times. That's not because the coronavirus is approaching apocalyptic proportions, with mass die-offs comparable to the year 1348, when the Black Death was at its apex. Instead, the Times is confronting a different problem: President Donald Trump's poll numbers are doing very well. His recent town hall was the most watched town hall in cable history. His daily press conferences enthrall so many people that the media are desperate to stop televising them.

Read more: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/03/suffering_from_existential_despair_the_nyt_found_itself_a_new_scapegoat.html#ixzz6Hzvj9Inq

MayBee said...

Mary Beth- Yes! Blanco! Thank you!

Iman said...

Trump is no FDR.

This is a feature, not a bug.

Hey Skipper said...

“Enemedia”

I see what you did there — double play on words.

I am so stealing it.

Francisco D said...

“Enemedia” I see what you did there — double play on words.

My first reaction was triple play: enemy media (double) and enema media (triple).

Guess what the enema bag is filled with.

Ignatius Acton Chesterton OCD said...

Hey Skipper, credit Sam L. It’s his idea. I stole it and embellished with the Big part — as in Big Enemedia.

That replicates the whiny Democrats with their Big Tobacco, Big Oil, Big Pharma bullshit.

As Andrew Breitbart said, take their crap and shove it right back in their face!

That’s the game.

Ignatius Acton Chesterton OCD said...

Francisco D’s got it. Well played, sir.

Ignatius Acton Chesterton OCD said...

Democrats love Big Government. They control it.

Francisco D said...

It is funny that Lil' Chuckles thinks that Trump is "hollowing out" the Michigan Republican Party.

How about when our resident Sgt. Schultz LLR election judge saw nothing wrong with Detroit precincts giving 115% of their vote to Obama in 2012?

I wonder how many precincts Lil' Chuckles has worked to further the Democrat vote fraud agenda.

Michael K said...

Experts are rarely generalists. Generalists don’t get PhDs - because PhD degrees require intense specialization. And in our credentialed society, our experts are almost experts in very narrow niches. But specialists rarely see much more of the problem than a small sliver of it.

This observation explains a lot, including the global warming hoax. Probably also the leftist bias in Silicon Valley.

You would think the Theranos story would produce some humility but I have seen no evidence of it.

Jeff said...

FDR took a bad depression, and made it into the Great Depression.
No, most economists think that the Federal Reserve gets credit for that dubious achievement. They were convinced of that by Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz in their book A Monetary History of the United States. Roosevelt himself did some good stuff, like the 1933 gold price increase, but also a lot of bad stuff, like most of the New Deal programs. But most of the harm Roosevelt did was long-run in nature. The Fed's tight money policies (the price level dropped by 25 percent!) were the most important cause of the Depression itself.

Ignatius Acton Chesterton OCD said...

Browndog: “Witmer went on WWJ yesterday and said "somebody", implying Trump, told vendors not to sell medical supplies to Michigan.“

There’s a word for that: Chickenshit.

Ignatius Acton Chesterton OCD said...

Jeff: “No, most economists think that the Federal Reserve gets credit for that dubious achievement.“

Read the book “The Forgotten Man” by Amity Schlaes. I believe it will have a powerful impact on you.

Highly recommended. And disturbing. FDR was no friend to the common man. His “experts” did a lot of damage.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...


“@ Tim
It’s easier to support Trump if you don’t listen to him too much. Most of the foundation of my support for Trump comes from his enemies mouths.”

Bingo! In the 2016 campaign I read reams of criticism of Trump but about a paragraph and a half promoting/defending Hillary.

I don’t think the Left is oblivious to this and I think a lot of their manic desperation (our boy Chuck is a great example of this) comes from knowing they can’t open their mouths without doing Trump more good than harm.

n.n said...

the novelty of a major public figure, the US President, telling them that they are great people and not irredeemable or deplorable.

Trump the CEO, the father, and the grandfather figure. The executive trinity.

Michael said...

Can we stop saying chirp when we mean carp?

Beth B said...

Gov. Whitmer has been tossing her fair share of shade. She can't resist taking not-so-veiled swipes at Trump by blaming the Feds about one thing or another every time she speaks to the people of Michigan.

Maybe she could better spend her complaint time trying to get Michigan's Unemployment website & call center up and running properly again. It has been impossible to get through and virtually no one has been able to file for unemployment since this whole thing started really blowing up. Michigan's unemployment website/line has always been crap at the best of times. Right now it's running with the same impressive speed as the original Healthcare.gov roll out. Starting Monday, people are supposed to file only on the days assigned to the first letter of their last name. Unfortunately, she's done a lousy job of letting anyone know that.

With multiple people in my family suddenly out of work, it would be nice if even one of us could finally get through and apply. Especially since it takes weeks for the first unemployment checks to be sent. Color me unimpressed by Gov. Whitmer.

gadfly said...

In these times Donald Trump has personal fights with Dem Governors , so he shuts down shipments of PPE and ventolators as he did for Michigan. People.died.

Drago said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Drago said...

gadfly: "In these times Donald Trump has personal fights with Dem Governors , so he shuts down shipments of PPE and ventolators as he did for Michigan. People.died."

gadfly and ARM are clearly attempting to replicate the tone and content of Democratic Underground at Althouseblog.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

You would think the Theranos story would produce some humility but I have seen no evidence of it.

I remember seeing a "5 year retrospective" on the MSM coverage of Katrina. It had Shep Smith and a few other journalists on it. They all sat in a circle on stools and told each other what a good job they had done.

Drago said...

David Begley: "Trump’s references to the Governors of Washington and Michigan is being spun that if a Governor doesn’t suck up to Trump, then that state doesn’t get federal help. A quid pro quo. Another impeachment. No lie."
3/28/20, 6:46 AM

Then, as if on cue...

gadfly: "In these times Donald Trump has personal fights with Dem Governors , so he shuts down shipments of PPE and ventolators as he did for Michigan. People.died."
3/28/20, 11:08 AM

Yep. The dems have their next Russia Collusion / Hoax Ukraine Quid Pro Quo.

"And People Died!"

I suspect there are already those working in the bowels of the FDA and CDC and elsewhere coordinating quietly with Pelosi and Schiff and Schumer to construct an attack/impeachment narrative by late summer.

Birkel said...

Why are banned racist fopdoodles around?

Drago said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Drago said...

Birkel: "Why are banned racist fopdoodles around?"

Because a far left democrat governor is being called out and when any democrat is exposed LLR-lefty Chuck rides in lickety-split to defend them while attacking conservatives.

I assume that's what the lefty billionaires are paying for.

Chuck said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Ignatius Acton Chesterton OCD said...

It’s an act, Chuck.

Drago said...

Another key reason LLR-lefty Chuck has jumped in forcefully for Team Dem/Whitmer is Whitmer is one of 2 Utter Moron governors who have decided their medical treatment knowledge is superior to pretty much the entire Free World's medical understanding of the benefits of HC+Az.

Whitmer has outlawed its use for Chinese Communist Flu AND told pharmacies not to fill prescriptions fir those meds.

She and LLR-lefty Chuck make a good team.....

hombre said...

My daughter is a health care worker in a hospital. We spoke at length this morning about the damage to morale in her workplace stemming from the negativity in the media. Many are working short weeks because the hospitals are not full, but have cut back on services including surgeries, where the money is. They are looking at a choice between layoffs and infection and are being led by the mediaswine to believe that the feds are doing wrong or nothing and that Trump is refusing to help based on politics.

The irresponsibility of the leftmediaswine is evil and disgraceful and they don’t give a shit!

Drago said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
narciso said...

sisolak with his dr. nick Riviera medical officer sans licensing, is a classic, Bloomberg did a great deal of harm,

Drago said...

If one pays attention, LLR-lefty Chuck ALWAYS increases his posting activity when dems are falling behind somewhere.

Its as though the DNC and its funders have battalions of FakeCon LLR's in reserve that can be tossed into "battle" when the Team Dem lines need some shoring up.

LLR-lefty Chuck's defense of Whitmer here very closely mirrors LLR-lefty Chuck's defense of Stolen Valor Blumenthal and Chuck's beloved Dick Durbin on immigration.

Very consistent.

Michael K said...

And Democratic governors are determined to help their states’ residents. They are not going to try to help Trump.

Banning the only available treatment for COVID 19 will certainly do that, you fool.

You have to know better than this. I accept that you are a med-mal lawyer. Why not ask a client if that ban makes any sense ?

The first fatal case in Tucson was an example of such failures. The LMD did not test for COVID while testing her for flu. Three days later when she was worse, he tested her for COVID but did NOT start hydroxychloroquin. Three days later, when the COVID test was positive, he told her to go to the hospital, where she died in the ER. 54 year old diabetic medical receptionist.


In possible excuse for the LMD, maybe the COVID test was not available when she first came in and maybe hydroxychloroquine is not available in Tucson.

Your TDS is badly affecting you.

victoria said...

Think about it, the 3 people he has an "issue" are 2 women and an italian. The 2 women, Governor of Michigan and the CEO of GM Mary Barra. The Italian, Andrew Cuomo. Calls him a "wise guy". Anyone with half a brain knows that the Cheeto means an Italian, in a pejorative manner.
2 Women and an Italian (who is also a Democrat and a superstar)

Just Saying

no one has to be "appreciative". This is neither the time or place to have a thin shkin, Cheeto. Just do your damn job.


Vicki from Pasadena

Michael K said...

Many are working short weeks because the hospitals are not full, but have cut back on services including surgeries, where the money is.

My wife, who is very high risk for the virus, is having symptoms from gallstones but has no intention of going near a hospital, until this is over. She has seen a surgeon but is determined to wait it out. I hope she makes it without complications.

Chuck said...

...
Whitmer has outlawed its use for Chinese Communist Flu AND told pharmacies not to fill prescriptions fir those meds.


This is a bald lie of critical significance.

Right now, a friend of mine is in Beaumont-Troy hospital with COVID-19 that has now gone into pneumonia. Her job had been as a research nurse at the Beaumont-Royal Oak medical campus.

She is being treated under the chloroquine-Z pack protocol as the FDA has emergently approved for compassionate use. Governor Whitmer knows about, understands that use and approves of that use.

To suggest that the Governor has somehow outlawed something that I know for a fact is happening with her full approval is a shocking lie that Althouse should want to be forcefully corrected so that her comments pages are not being used for destructive rumor mongering during a public health crisis.

Browndog said...

Inevitable Chuck would show up to defend Half-Whitmer.

Whitmer, being a LLD, former minority leader in the State House having major sway in budgets and law making, who's father is a top executive of Blue Cross/Blue Shield, the health care provider with a virtual monopoly in Michigan...

The only way can can defend her is if you yourself are a Life-Long Democrat.

Chuck said...

Michael K let’s fight this out in public on your blog, okay? Give me a link to go to.

hombre said...

Howard said...
“It's all about Trump getting credit and cuddles. Disgusting, but fortunately the Deep State is in charge. However, we fight the pandemic with the leadership we have, not the leaders we wish we had.”

This is one of the dumbest fucking comments I’ve seen here. Trump is under relentless attack from the corrupt, dishonest media while he and his team are doing a relatively good job during dangerous times. He’s an elected official. Of course he’d like some credit. As for the Deep State, CDC, NIH and FDA Obots cock-ups have made his job harder, but don’t we wish we had Obama or Hillary whose prowess under pressure is legendary. Benghazi and previous pandemics come to mind. Or how about Uncle Joe, who hides his own Easter eggs.

narciso said...

isn't that fascinating browndog, the backgrounds of these players, like the quixotic Norridge (I mean flint) city council, that suspended all the charges, to start a new 'hunting the real perpetrators' of the lead fiasco,

Browndog said...

The point Beth B made above cannot be understated.

In typical democrat fashion, they cannot provide the basic serviced they are mandated to provide while running off on emotional tangents trying to fix problems that do not yet exist.

She forced businesses to close, yet did nothing to shore up unemployment claims processing.

Who didn't see that coming?

Browndog said...

Chuck said...

Michael K let’s fight this out in public on your blog, okay? Give me a link to go to.


Why don't you call Frank Beckman on Monday and cry to him...again?

Chuck said...

The State of Michigan executive branch letter on chloroquine/Z-pak prescriptions:

https://www.michigan.gov/documents/lara/Reminder_of_Appropriate_Prescribing_and_Dispensing_3-24-2020_684869_7.pdf

The Governor does not want private physicians, acting outside of the Compassionate Use exception from FDA, to be prescribing the drug combination, currently in limited supply, to ever Rush Limbaugh listener with a cough.

Legitimately documented cases, and prescriptions, are not affected.

Rusty said...

"ARM said: Those trillions of dollars came from or, more accurately, will come from, the people,......"
Well no shit sherlok. And it will have to be repaid at some point.
The big difference between the usual suspects and the rest of us is that we're not waiting around for someone from the deep state to tell us what to do. Don't need a daddy figure.

Darrell said...

Chuck was the fucker trying to get chloroquine/Zithromax Z-Pak combinations banned because Trump suggested it after reading the internet reports--implying that it was reckless, dangerous, and "anti-science."

Now the cocksucker is trying to make it his idea and Trump the villian
Fuck you, asshole. I always wondered why people always wished you to die in a fire. Now we all know.

I hope your friend returns to perfect health, timed with the flames licking your asshole and turning you into ash. It would make a great graphic novel.

Drago said...

LLR-lefty Chuck (now in Full Democrat Defense Mode): "To suggest that the Governor has somehow outlawed something that I know for a fact is happening with her full approval is a shocking lie that Althouse should want to be forcefully corrected so that her comments pages are not being used for destructive rumor mongering during a public health crisis."

Whitmer is threatening Lawfare against Doctors and pharmacists in her state as her purposely vague and broad March 24 Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs letter to doctors and pharmacists shows.

Whitmer, and you no doubt, given your "closeness" to democrat politicians and policies, know perfectly well that HC+Az is being prescribed primarily "off-label" which Whitmer's letter clearly indicates will be scrutinized.

It is PRECISELY this "off-label" prescribing that Whitmer is attacking....which is purposeful because double blind/Control group testing which would make it "permissable" under FDA rules to prescribe this medicine combo "on label" won't come around for many many months.

I predict doctors and nurses will continue to flout Whitmers Lawfare threat and continue to prescribe this combo "off label" to their patients and then dare Whitmer and her LLR-lefty Chuck minions to do something about it.

Go back to defending Blumenthal's Stolen Valor lies Chuck. You were better at that.ds

And by the way, Whitmer isn't the only dem governor to do this: LLR-Chuck's beloved Sisolak in Nevada is doing the same thing:

https://nypost.com/2020/03/24/nevada-governor-bans-malaria-drugs-for-coronavirus-patients/

Milo Minderbinder said...

Not hard. No one ever followed a pessimist.

Chuck said...

I have tried to elevate this comments page by supplying .urls to original-source documents that directly address erroneous comments made by others.

As I mentioned to Dr. K; if someone wishes to have at me personally, supply a link so we can do it away from Althouse’s comments pages.

Drago said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Drago said...

LLR-lefty Chuck (the inveterate lefty liar): "The Governor does not want private physicians, acting outside of the Compassionate Use exception from FDA, to be prescribing the drug combination, currently in limited supply, to ever Rush Limbaugh listener with a cough.

Legitimately documented cases, and prescriptions, are not affected."

The only letter of the law "legitimate" uses of medication is "on label" prescription writing...which is not possible for HC+Az for coronavirus treatment since that combo has not completed the long and winding FDA testing protocols for that specific purpose.

Every single "off label" prescription written by a doctor for HC+Az (or equivalents) is technically in violation.

But I fully suspect that in the end, LLR-lefty Chuck and his dem allies wont have the guts to go after doctors who dared to save lives when the dems/LLR's were banking on a big time fatality count for their 2020 election pro-dem campaign narratives.

narciso said...

in a different context, they would ban penicillin spores or ampules of small pox, because they aren't 'double blind studies'

Drago said...

narciso: "in a different context, they would ban penicillin spores or ampules of small pox, because they aren't 'double blind studies'"

Correct.

It's why Fauci starts tap dancing like crazy when he is asked by a LLR-lefty Chuck-like lefty "reporter" to invalidate what Trump is saying.

Politically, Hillary fanboy (but no where close to LLR-lefty Chuck, I admit) Fauci would love to use bureaucracy to rein in all this "freedom", but as a doctor and someone who clearly cares about people as well, he knows that the results pouring in from "every corner of the globe" where reputable doctors are using this treatment to very good effects means this can't really be stopped politically.

Which is why Fauci spends so much time speaking about "off label" uses of this and "hopefully" the "anecdotal evidence" will be "proven correct", even though thousands of doctors are proving it every day.

Fauci has to be careful because, technically speaking, using HC+Az this way isn't technically, letter of the law, allowed.

And that's the "opening" Whitmer and her minions like LLR-lefty Chuck are attempting to exploit.

Because OrangeManBad.

Ray - SoCal said...

The Michigan and Nevada actions on Quinine don’t pass the smell test of no politics.

Studies seem to show that early use is the most effective.

A great way to scare Dr. is by threatening a review. The process is the punishment.

On the other hand Gov Cuomo is going full speed ahead on its use.

mockturtle said...

Moments ago I hung my clothes out to dry in the warm sunshine here in southern AZ. This is an experience I was unable to enjoy all the years I lived in the PacNW. A mockingbird was singing gaily in the palm tree next door. It was a beautiful and idyllic half hour and I appreciated it fully. Thank you.

Ray - SoCal said...

Testing is improving in the US, but I don’t understand why Ca is so far behind.

https://covidtracking.com/data/#CA

57,400 pending, and it has been that way for a day or two.

Total pending is 60,000 including CA.

US is now doing 105,000 tests per day.

CA seems to be doing 1000 tests per day.

As a CA resident, I’m worried.

Press seems to be MIA on this issue.




Drago said...

Ray-SoCal: "On the other hand Gov Cuomo is going full speed ahead on its use."

Correct. But he's at ground zero for Chinese Commie Bat/Pangolin Soup Flu so he can't play politics around this particular issue the way Whitmer and LLLR-lefty Chuck gleefully do.

If you really think about it, the letter, except as an implicit threat, is completely unnecessary. There isn't a single legitimate doctor or pharmacist in the state of MI who doesn't already know all the applicable laws backwards and forwards.

It was just another cheap shot that Team Dem/LLR couldn't resist.

Ray - SoCal said...

More info on why CA is so far behind on testing:
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-17/california-promised-coronavirus-testing-expansion-meets-harsh-reality

Unfortunately no explanation of why other states can do so much more testing...

CA is 12% of the US population, yet we are doing only 1% of the tests?

I don’t understand.

narciso said...

it's more a question of the litigious cobwebs more than any partisan thing, but that enters into it, does it work all the time, I suppose not, that's why the French medical establishment is going after dr. rault. who looks like their version of brent spiner from independence day,

hombre said...

Vicki from Pas wrote: “no one has to be "appreciative". This is neither the time or place to have a thin shkin, Cheeto. Just do your damn job.”

Krikey! What country are you living in? Trump started responding to this while defending himself from the most partisan, bogus impeachment in history. His negative coverage from the corrupt leftmediaswine, 93% negative at best (per MRC), has ramped up to 100% and DemPol moron obstructionists beat their chests as though they are doing something other than following Trump’s task force’s lead while whingeing all the way. He and his team are due some appreciation even from Democrats and their media hucksters.

Meanwhile some libsimp blathers about “thin shkin,” whatever shkin is, and callsTrump silly names. Helpful.

Michael K said...

The Governor does not want private physicians, acting outside of the Compassionate Use exception from FDA, to be prescribing the drug combination, currently in limited supply, to ever Rush Limbaugh listener with a cough.

It's not "compassionate use" you idiot. I assume as a med-mal lawyer you would be interested in the 25 year use "off label" of Xylocaine for cardiac arrhythmias. Stop pretending this is anything but politics.

Here are a few "links" you asshole.

Hydroxychloroquine (EC50=0.72 μM) was found to be more potent than chloroquine (EC50=5.47 μM) in vitro. Based on PBPK models results, a loading dose of 400 mg twice daily of hydroxychloroquine sulfate given orally, followed by a maintenance dose of 200 mg given twice daily for 4 days is recommended for SARS-CoV-2 infection, as it reached three times the potency of chloroquine phosphate when given 500 mg twice daily 5 days in advance.

Another you dipshit.

Preliminary trials of chloroquine repurposing in the treatment of COVID-19 in China have been encouraging, leading to several new trials. Here we discuss the possible mechanisms of chloroquine interference with the SARS-CoV-2 replication cycle.

There is a long list but I will leave you to do your own search on PubMed. This is why I usually post comments about medicine elsewhere.

narciso said...

California is where even the pot business goes broke, it's like a wormhole of incompetence,

Drago said...

narciso: "California is where even the pot business goes broke, it's like a wormhole of incompetence,"

If LLR-lefty Chuck and his dem allies have their way, California is our future

narciso said...

Nathaniel west would wonder if we've gone past 'day of the locusts' even Sinclair lewis, would look askance,

Ray - SoCal said...


Opinion: Michigan’s doctors fight coronavirus, and governor's office
Detroit News Op Ed

Lots of links.

I don’t know enough of the political leanings Of the author, newspaper, and who they endorsed for governor.

Upon more research they endorsed Whitmer...

Professional lady said...

Whitmire purposely started the fight with Trump. She is Michigan's version of Nancy Pelosi. Just what we need - making already over burdened doctors and pharmacists even more stressed out.

Ray - SoCal said...

Michael K - I appreciate your links here, Chicago Boyz, and your log,

Very informative.

Browndog said...

Libs-

wtf I love borders now!

Hamptons seek travel ban on corona-fleeing New Yorkers

320Busdriver said...

Using the word "appreciate" to manipulate the situation.

This comes straight from Curb Your Enthusiasm season 10, ep 8. Starring John Hamm

Trump is trying to mimic Larry David. He watches a lot of TV.

narciso said...

yikes they are eloi in the letters section, among the medical staff,

Michael K said...

Sorry about my language but Chuck's pretending gets me angry.

Browndog said...

I don’t know enough of the political leanings Of the author, newspaper, and who they endorsed for governor.

Author, Nolan Finley, is a generational staple in Detroit media, veteran news man. Which is why as a conservative, he is still allowed a voice in Detroit media.

YoungHegelian said...

It’s easier to support Trump if you don’t listen to him too much. Most of the foundation of my support for Trump comes from his enemies mouths.

I have never been able to listen to politicians speak. Fingernails on a chalkboard to me. If I like 'em or dislike 'em makes no difference. It must be like how an atheist feels when he gets preached at. I'm fine with reading transcripts, though.

So ignoring Trump's ramblings is just par for the political course for me. I mean, it's his style. I find it no more aggravating than W's "Never explain. Your enemies won't listen & your friends don't need it" nor Obama's unemotional recitation of the first person singular pronoun in all its egotistic glory.

Some people just don't know when to shut up even when they're shuttin' up.

Browndog said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Francisco D said...

Lil' Chuckles said: The Governor does not want private physicians, acting outside of the Compassionate Use exception from FDA, to be prescribing the drug combination, currently in limited supply, to ever Rush Limbaugh listener with a cough.

All drug supplies are limited you idiot. Even when Teva Pharmaceuticals (a Pharma company from a country the WHO does not recognize) donates 10 million tablets, it is a limited supply. Of course, 10 million more are pretty easy to manufacture, and another 10 million, etc.

I do not know much about Whitmer (MI) or Sisolak (NV), but when Lil' Chuckles is defending them, I start to wonder if they are sabotaging the health care of their own people in order to sabotage Trump.

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