March 19, 2020

Don’t be fooled. The new George T. Conway III is the same as the old George T. Conway III . He can’t help it.

I'm reading George T. Conway III in the Washington Post...
If you think you’ve been hearing a different President Trump this week — more accepting of the reality of the coronavirus pandemic — don’t be fooled. The new Trump is the same as the old Trump. He can’t help it. He’s incapable of taking responsibility for his role in this crisis — and thus incapable of leading us out of it....
... and I'm blogging this solely to say I'm not putting up with this kind of bullshit anymore. We're coming together, we're fighting a great worldwide battle. Ask yourself, before you hit "publish": Am I helping?

These people like George T. Conway III who are doing their same old routine in our new, painful circumstance do not deserve to be read. Ask yourself before you read something: Is this helping?

And don't click on that link.

BUT: That column has almost 5,000 comments over there, so there is an audience for it. It's sad, this desire to drink poison when health is our foremost concern. Take care of yourself, your body and your mind.

75 comments:

Mark said...

You should ask the same of your commenters.

Ann Althouse said...

"You should ask the same of your commenters."

I have in other posts, and I am doing it here too. I guess I could be more of a sledgehammer... but at this point, that's not what I believe in doing here.

Ray - SoCal said...

The Anti Trumpers are trying so hard to pin CoronaVirus on Trump.

Another example that is so revealing. Think what would be the reaction if this had been tweeted about Michelle Obama...

Rick Wilson's tweet:
https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/361899/

Dave Begley said...

His wife should have divorced him years ago. Total whack job.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

It goes to show how impervious people are to new information. It's easier to make this about the same old politics than change the paradigm. This crisis is solely about what keeps the most people alive, and at what cost. It's not about who wins the next election, because we don't even know if the candidates will be alive that long.

An obsession with politics is a luxury item, and I can't afford luxuries right now.

Black Bellamy said...

I watch MSNBC and it's just hilarious to watch Maddow et al try to thread the fine line between adhering to the patriotic duty to stand together in this crisis while continuing to slam Trump and his administration for every single thing imaginable.

LOL just kidding they're not threading anything. It's in their bones. They'll never stop being divisive assholes.

robother said...

Mind protection is as important as physical protection in a lockdown. And it applies to your (my) own habitual patterns of defaulting to seeing everything through a political prism, as well as what you read. Not helpful to others you're around virtually or otherwise, or yourself.

bagoh20 said...

Wash your hands, stay home, spew platitudes or shut up.

Retirement is a beautiful thing.

bagoh20 said...

I moved this from the post below. It fits better here.

I noticed that some famous people who never had a single good thing to say about Trump are suddenly praising his handling of this. Knowing how dishonest these same people have been about Trump, I need to ask: what are they up to?

Mike Sylwester said...

Jan 21: First person with coronavirus arrives in USA from China

Jan 23: Senate begins Impeachment trial

Jan 30: World Health Organization declares global health emergency

Jan 31: Senate votes about more witnesses

Jan 31: Trump bans passenger traffic from China.

Jan 31: Biden calls Trump’s decision “hysterical xenophobia … and fear-mongering.”

Feb 5: Senate ends impeachment trial

Feb 5: House Democrats belatedly begin coronavirus hearings

bagoh20 said...

So far, Scarborough, Andrew Cuomo, Ilhan Omar have all praised Trump. Something ain't right here.

Yancey Ward said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
bagoh20 said...

Imagine where we would be if the sleepy wokeness of Biden was in the White house in January. Millions will vote for just that this year.

gilbar said...

It's sad, this desire to drink poison when health is our foremost concern.

EVEN corn wine is better than poison!

Sam L. said...

I don't know anything about George !!!, but then, I don't care to. But it's in the WaPoo, and that's enough for me. I despise, detest, and distrust the WaPoo; the NYT, too!

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The Conway-Schitt-Show. Up next on Maddow.

Nonapod said...

It's somewhat understandable. There are a lot of media people who are addicted to Trump bashing and people who are addicted to consuming the Trump hatred produced by the bashers. And in times of stress, addicts can often fall back into their old habbits. The only question is if the Trump-hate consumers will still want to eat what the Trump-hate producers are dishing out during this time of crisis. Will people be able to rise above their nature?

hawkeyedjb said...

The public tends to give attention to a lot of people who have very little to offer in a situation such as this. My first rule is to avoid taking seriously any politician, pundit or 'expert' who offers partisan talking points. These are worthless.

I am saddened and angry that our news industry has so thoroughly destroyed its own credibility that it cannot be relied upon for accurate information. Even when the media do try to put out something accurate or helpful, I think of their endless partisanship, spin, and selective use of facts and I wonder how seriously I should take them. If you don't watch in real time or read a certified verbatim transcript, you cannot rely on what the news media say about Donald Trump.

Bay Area Guy said...

George Conway may be the dumbest man on Planet Earth, except for David Frum.

Perhaps, they are friends!

dbp said...

Captures my mood completely. So many people are out there trying to score points when they ought to either do something useful, or if they are incapable of that, just vanish into the background.

elkh1 said...

The mean fool is jealous of his wife's success. Do you remember his wife tried to get him a job in the Trump administration in the early days? He was rejected, ergo, the extreme bitterness.

dbp said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
eric said...

You know how Instapundit is always saying he will believe global warming just as soon as they start acting like they believe it?

Lemme tell you a secret. This virus is like all the rest. It's going to kill some people, just as the flu does. But those who are making this political? They don't believe it's a pandemic.

Yeah, it's a pandemic just like swine flu was a pandemic.

It's not a pandemic like you see in the movies

But, we are all scared. Why?

Think back to the Iraq war and how the media covered military deaths during that war. Made you think it was as bad as WWII, didn't they?

That's what is happening here. If we behaved the same way for the flu every year, we would be out of our minds with fear of catching the flu.

The media and their bureaucratic and political friends are evil for what they're doing right now. And when it's all over they're going to pay themselves on the back and say, "Phew! We had very few deaths from this, despite what Trump did. We got lucky!"

When all along most of them knew, or suspected, that this was a nothingburger to begin with.

That's why they're behaving the way they are.

Remember this when it's all over. They should have hell to pay for what they've done.

Mike Sylwester said...

Democracy Dies in Darkness!

bagoh20 said...

You know when this is over? When everyone has been exposed to the virus. Reducing the death toll is the target. Of course slowing the speed of exposures is key, but we will all be exposed eventually. Kind of like life itself.

rhhardin said...

Cause and effect go the other way. The audience drives the business. The media run the democrats.

It's been women in the audience, with their soap opera thing, driving it.

Guys' interest in what the left writes, and what women write, is mocking them.

A guy would reply that Trump varies his style to the situation. Dealing with soap opera takes one style, dealing with a business takes another. He's a serious educated adult all the time. Something for the left to look for instead of going into the fantasy world that their narratives produce.

Ken B said...

The Atlantic has a great article on the communist propaganda which I linked on another thread. But several of their top articles, several, are more of this kind of thing.

I used to just have contempt for the fake news types, like Rubin. Now I think they need to be punished. I don’t know how, and I don’t know when, sometime later, but my attitude towards them has shifted in am important way. Contemptuous dismissals will no longer suffice.

Sebastian said...

"Am I helping?"

Yes. To start with, I am helping by calling the virus by its proper name: the Wuhan Virus. I am helping to ease communication, to be historically accurate, to fix responsibility, and to resist Chinese and MSM propaganda

"That column has almost 5,000 comments over there, so there is an audience for it. It's sad, this desire to drink poison when health is our foremost concern."

It's sad! It's terrible! Why do they do such things! They should be doing better! Give us a break.

Look, I appreciate the sentiment and all, and I am pleased you are giving up phony neutrality by not putting up with prog BS, but it's very, very late in the day not to realize, not to assume that "health" is not progs' "foremost concern." Power is. Defeating Trump and the deplorables is. Not letting a crisis go to waste is. And they don't give a damn about your sad feelz.

Curious George said...

Althouse March 19th: "These people like George T. Conway III who are doing their same old routine in our new, painful circumstance do not deserve to be read."

Althouse March 12th: "How could the president's address to the nation include so many false statements about the issue that's been gripping the country and the world?"
My son John asks (on his blog).



Rick said...

Althouse can criticize Conway so that's a step in the right direction. But even yesterday she would not apply her standard to the NYT, and of course she's still covering for Dem "governors and legislators".

Deevs said...

This feels like a setup, Althouse. If you really didn't want us to go to the column, why did you link to it in the first place?

Left Bank of the Charles said...

I do agree to some extent with Althouse, but it's not too late to replace President Hoax with President Pence. Sometimes commanders do have to be replaced on the battlefield.

I do give Trump credit for closing the border with China, but it's looking like he should have more quickly closed the border with Europe and should have accepted foreign test kits. Also, China might have moved more quickly if Trump had cultivated a less antagonistic relationship with China. And we'd be better off now if Trump had cultivated less antagonistic relationships with Europe and the Democratic Party in the U.S.

If the worsening situation demands a unifying figure to lead our nation, it just may not be possible for that to be Donald Trump.

bagoh20 said...

Maybe this is helping:

"99% of Those Who Died From Virus Had Other Illness, Italy Says."

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-18/99-of-those-who-died-from-virus-had-other-illness-italy-says

Dr. Oz told me today that the average age of those dying in Europe is 80 years. That also should help ease some of the fear, unless your 80 of course.

Knowing those two things, wouldn't it make a lot more sense to isolate that much smaller group of elderly and sick, who in many cases are already isolated in care facilities. We just need to keep them away from the rest of us, while we spread the immunity outside. Then eventually we vaccinate them, and presto! That would greatly reduce the economic and social costs of our response and save lives.

Dave Begley said...

Great comment eric.

Achilles said...

We're coming together, we're fighting a great worldwide battle. Ask yourself, before you hit "publish": Am I helping?

and:



BUT: That column has almost 5,000 comments over there, so there is an audience for it. It's sad, this desire to drink poison when health is our foremost concern. Take care of yourself, your body and your mind.


There are maybe 50 words in between?

These people want pain. They are trying to cause pain. They want our economy to go into as deep a recession as possible. They will do anything to cause it.

They will even lie about the severity of an outbreak, where it started, who is really trying to do something about it.

You need to ask your self before you hit that publish button: am I helping?

Bay Area Guy said...

A few thoughts on Italy -- pre-existing health problems..

To be clear, elderly folks and those with pre-existing health problems, should "shelter-in-place," wear a mask, wash hands, socially distance themselves and take extra precautions.

That's just common sense.

As for the 300 other Million Americans, who are younger and healthier, well,.........

This doesn't have much to do with that idiot George Conway. I apologize profusely.

Todd said...

Well for a lot of people it is ALWAYS Trump's fault. Insurance rates went up, Trump's fault. Insurance rates went down? Trump's fault! 5 minutes ago means nothing. Each day history starts anew and it is ALWAYS Trump's fault.

FullMoon said...

PolitiFact | Biden falsely says Trump administration ...

Achilles said...

bagoh20 said...
I moved this from the post below. It fits better here.

I noticed that some famous people who never had a single good thing to say about Trump are suddenly praising his handling of this. Knowing how dishonest these same people have been about Trump, I need to ask: what are they up to?


They are still taking polls.

Those boomerangs are coming back and they are coming in hard.

There are two groups chucking these boomerangs. The dishonest media and shithead democrats/never-trumpers are tossing some career ending boomerangs.

They are really just pieces of shit who we should send to China one way.

Ice Nine said...

Althouse>>These people like George T. Conway III who are doing their same old routine in our new, painful circumstance do not deserve to be read...BUT: That column has almost 5,000 comments over there, so there is an audience for it.<<

At the Washington Post? Who knew??

FullMoon said...

Trump did not refuse test kits. It is just another lie continues by evil, despicable leftists PolitiFact | Biden falsely says Trump administration ...

FullMoon said...

Althouse>>These people like George T. Conway III who are doing their same old routine in our new, painful circumstance do not deserve to be read...

Personally, I think the former prosecutor yesterday who said Trump can be tried for murder set a pretty high bar..

narciso said...

Context is critical, that's why the times the post the journal, leave it out, the who head, is a tool of the Chinese state, this epidemic arose out of the vicinity of the Wuhan institute of virology, they are using it in part to wreak mass economic chaos, and if possible topple a hated adversary, all that is left out of the piece,

Walter Russell mead's piece in the journal, is more edifying,

Gunner said...

Why do these NeverTrump, fake Republican morons feel the need to act like they are bold truthtellers? All the dork Trump haters at WashPo still hate Trump. He is pushing back against no one.

Gahrie said...

And they don't give a damn about your sad feelz.

Actually they do care. Very much. After all, it's what they use to manipulate her and most Leftwing voters.

narciso said...

in lieu of that piece

narciso said...

could rick Wilson be panda-ing (I'll let my self out) as well as on the doha dole,

walter said...

Oh..and enjoy voting for demented Biden and the Lefty puppet masters who will control him.
All to conserve conservatism.

purplepenquin said...

Kinda funny that the same guy who constantly talks about lynching anyone/everyone who didn't vote for Trump is saying other people post "reprehensible" stuff.

Almost as funny as Althouse now claiming that calls for civility aren't bullshit when SHE does it.

*rolls eyes*

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Conway is a clown-show porn for the Trump-Hate-obsessed

Yancey Ward said...

You want to know how this would have been different with Clinton as president today? The media wouldn't have treated it as the apocalypse, and if the virus really did arrive here in January from China, we would be about a month further along into the bell curve of infection than we are today because Clinton wouldn't have closed down flights from China, and probably wouldn't have closed down flights from anywhere else, either.

As it is, I think actually nothing would be different today except for the stance of the media, which most likely would have been blaming a recalcitrant Republican Congress for making the epidemic worse despite all the valiant efforts of the lady President.

Ironclad said...

I got temporarily banned on the Washington Compost site for daring to push back on an article written by 2 Chinese stooges that were praising China for the crackerjack job they had done in fighting the new Black Plague. All it was missing was an accusation that the US planted the virus. The Wuhan Flu must not be knocked.

I wrote the censorship team there and asked why it is that any level of profanity and insult is fine against Trump - but anything deviating from CorrectThought is somehow out of bounds.

Same as NPR - I gave up on them when 1A started censoring free speech.

narciso said...

indeed, yancey, we saw how h1ni was handled and what the cost was then,

walter said...

Dunno, Hil' was way ahead of the curve on that Benghazi bit.

Leland said...

I never read George Conway. He seems like a guy thrilled that he can troll his wife. I don't ever recall James Carville making a routine of this with his wife.

Thing about a troll is it easy to discount anything they say, regardless of how much truth their might be. They write and speak in an obvious manner that exposes that their comment is driving agenda separate from whatever the topic may be. In the case of Conway, he'll say whatever hurts Trump even if it means cherry picking the most irrelevant references to do so, even if it means that it hurts his own wife or any other stated goals from the past.

walter said...

I suspect George has a bit of pent up.."frustration".

hombre said...

Dr. Fauci has pointed out that Biden lied again. This time it was about delays in testing which Fauci says had nothing to do with Trump.

No sense in waiting for an apology. Biden has no doubt already forgotten.

narciso said...

they banned me at the atlantic, when Douthat had his own blog there, there was a nasty Nazgul that wrecked it, like our own frank Lloyd nut,

Lurker21 said...

Conway Twitter bad.

Some people do remember his duets with Loretta Lynn fondly, though.

hombre said...

Asshat Democrats hope that the Trump/Pelosi “bailout” will damage the economy. They are cheering the race toward the precipice.

It would be foolish to forget they are Democrats.

Nichevo said...


Left Bank of the Charles said...
I do agree to some extent with Althouse, but it's not too late to replace President Hoax with President Pence. Sometimes commanders do have to be replaced on the battlefield.


Sometimes mutineers do have to be summarily executed without trial.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

If we did have to pick a new President from the last twenty years of candidates for this moment, I would nominate Mitt Romney. Or President Pence could pick him as his Vice President and put him in charge of the response.

Skeptical Voter said...

Robin Abcarian and Michael Hiltzik in the Los Angeles Times are a West Coast version of Conway. If I want to avoid the ravings of a rabid dog, I stop when I see their byline. There are others on staff at the times, and reading that newspaper requires the same level of caution as walking across a feed lot pen trying to avoid the cow flops.

The Godfather said...

I don’t do Twitter, but maybe someone who does can tell me: Has Trump been less confrontational on Twitter lately? I’m wondering if the epidemic has gotten him so engaged that he feels less need to confront his enemies?

Michael K said...

Interesting to see all this heavy breathing when the the mortality rate is going to be closer and closer to flu as this goes along.

Between countries, case Fatality rates vary significantly, which suggests considerable uncertainty over the exact case fatality rates.

What might be affecting the case fatality rate?

The number of cases detected by testing might vary considerably by country;
Selection bias can mean those with severe disease are preferentially tested;
There may be delays between symptoms onset and deaths which can lead to underestimation of the CFR;
There may be factors that account for increased death rates such as coinfection, poorer healthcare, patient demographics (i.e., older patients might be more prevalent in countries such as Italy);
There may be increased rates of smoking or comorbidities amongst the fatalities.
In China, CFR was higher in the early stages of the outbreak (17% for cases from 1to 10 January) and reduced to 0.7% for patients with symptom onset after 1 February.


My estimate is that, for healthy adults and children, the fatality rate will approach 0.1%. Elderly and pre-existing conditions, just like the flu, will be most affected.

And I don't use Google.

walter said...

Kind of hard to put much faith in stats coming out of China.

rcocean said...

I'd put Conway in the Rick Wilson/Max Boot/Jennifer Rubin category. Completely worthless trolls not worth a read. Yet some people love the crap they dish out, or they love to read them and get OUTRAGED.

Like the reporters who keep asking trump about "Chinese Virus" - the political never trumpers are never going to quit.

rcocean said...

At some point a "Life Long Republican" just turns into "another Liberal" and stops being interesting. Jonah Goldberg, Bill Kristol, and Erick Erickson have reached that point. George Will was a dullard before Trump and even the never-trumpers don't care about him anymore.

Bob Boyd said...

Never heard of George T. Conway III.
I thought it was going to be about an old country singer struggling to cross over to K-pop or something.

rcocean said...

Rod Dreher has become so hysterical I've muted him. He has his good points, but he goes overboard in every crisis.

rcocean said...

You've heard of Conway Twitty? He's Conway twitter.

walter said...

"an old country singer struggling to cross over to K-pop"
Now that would be one helluva movie!
Crossover to NK-pop even better.

walter said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Does wishfully thinking that we should inflate Trump's talent for tacking this help? And does cheerleading for him personally help? Seems to me that he can do a perfectly job cheerleading for himself, by himself. Unless you think he's really that bad at believing in himself. Which is something I don't know if it would be helpful to Trump, but it's certainly not "nice."

How did a concern for Trump's emotional well-being take precedence over anything else coronavirus-related? Strange.

gadfly said...

Is Trump helping with his daily press conferences/campaign rallies filled with his lies and his routine attacks on the press and continued BS about fake news that is not fact-based? Bias, it seems, works both ways but personal bias goes undetected.

Trump racketeering began with his Dad and has continued even to Donald's siblings and offspring. And Trump's mental problems makes him especially dangerous in these times. Why, for example, doesn't he order 3M to make more needed medical masks immediately?