Althouse: An effective presentation of what Trump got right and Biden got wrong about the coronavirus.

July 31, 2020

An effective presentation of what Trump got right and Biden got wrong about the coronavirus.

pic.twitter.com/DzCU5kF6Mm
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 30, 2020

131 comments:

rehajm said...: Yah. AN audit of that right/wrong thing? Ends up in Trump's favor on most major issues...; 7/31/20, 7:42 AM
MountainMan said...: Let’s see how long this ad lasts on social media before it is taken down. I can guarantee you I have “friends” on FB that will describe it as more of “Trump’s lies.”; 7/31/20, 7:42 AM
gilbar said...: Well, this Just Goes To SHOW, WHY
Jo Biden said 'We choose truth over facts'; 7/31/20, 7:44 AM
Jersey Fled said...: Very effective. How come I'm only seeing it here?; 7/31/20, 7:44 AM
Mark said...: Trump is wise to point out the few times his broken clock was right about this.

It certainly didn't disappear in summer, go away on its own, or be under control as he repeatedly said.

But his broken clock of anti China was right here so we can expect to hear this point over and over and over.; 7/31/20, 7:53 AM
doctrev said...: B+. Pretty clearly a Twitter ad. You need to cut it down and punch constantly on every possible avenue. Preferably with twenty second ads. The Dems decried Trump up until April, even spending most of February telling us to go hug the Chinese. A blunter display of their socialist ineptitude couldn't be made in an Ayn Rand novel.

Biden failed. Cuomo failed. The WHO failed. All of them need to take it in the neck.; 7/31/20, 7:57 AM
tim maguire said...: I guess they don't want to dilute the message, but a round-up of Democratic and media leaders echoing Joe Biden would have shown how broad the rot is and how really courageous Trump had to be to step up so early.

I hope they're developing a companion piece showing those same Democrats now criticizing Trump for not acting sooner.; 7/31/20, 8:01 AM
WisRich said...: Agreed, effect ad.; 7/31/20, 8:07 AM
iowan2 said...: Much like the Russia hoax, I asked repeatedly, what evidence, event, discovery, lead the FBI to open a counter intelligence investigation into the Trump campaign, Transition team, and administration. I never got an answer. Popadopolis was the frequent answer, but a follow up question as to exactly what did Popadopolis say, word for word, and, What date did the investigators ask Popadopalis who told him?. An answer to Both of those questions were never responded to.

This time the question is simple. What action recommended by the experts did President Trump refuse to implement? What action demanded by Democrat leadership, did the President ignore?

Still silence.; 7/31/20, 8:08 AM
hombre said...: Trump’s tenure, however brief, the Coronavirus, Portland, Minneapolis, et al, and the leftmedia/Democrat response, including the candidacy of Bunker Biden, have combined to illustrate that we are no longer who we say we are.

Too bad. It was a great run. I’m glad my parents aren’t here to see it end.; 7/31/20, 8:12 AM
TreeJoe said...: Very effective ad and this is why the media doesn't like Trump's twitter account: Because that is going to be viewed by millions and it's harder for them to "frame" this ad.

I have to give them credit for highlighting Biden's speaking issues without specifically pointing them out either.

Nancy Pelosi is the speaker of the house, Biden is the presumptive democratic candidate for president and a former vice president. Both of them COULD be attempting to advance leading positions for COVID to restrict deaths. That neither of them are, and that they are instead complaining about Trump's performance in a monday-morning-quarterbacking style, indicates they are uncomfortable leading on this issue.; 7/31/20, 8:14 AM
clint said...: Interesting color choices in the highlights -- red for Biden's wrongness and yellow for Trump's rightness.

I guess yellow is the normal color of highlighters and red is the color teachers use to mark things wrong, but they are also the colors of China's flag.; 7/31/20, 8:15 AM
Jersey Fled said...: BTW Biden looks terrible in this ad. Physically and mentally I mean.; 7/31/20, 8:20 AM
Left Bank of the Charles said...: Trump got it wrong too. Sure, he closed the back door to China, but he left the front door to Europe wide open. It’s clear now that all countries should have immediately closed their borders.; 7/31/20, 8:24 AM
MadisonMan said...: That's very good, I agree. I hope it figures in the How Biden Lost Me post.; 7/31/20, 8:24 AM
Freder Frederson said...: So, Trump's hatred of China led to what in retrospect, was a good idea (even though it wasn't a total ban and there was no requirement that U.S. residents returning from China be quarantined). But what has he done right since then? You must remember that at the same time he was banning travel from China he was claiming the cases would soon drop from 15 to 0.

It is pretty sad that the only correct decision he made was at the very beginning, and was likely more driven by a desire to stick it to China than actual concern about public health.; 7/31/20, 8:32 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Nice. More ads like this are needed. Trump’s pretty much the only guy fighting for our side.; 7/31/20, 8:34 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Dying of xenophobia is far worse the dying of the Wuhan Chi-Com Cornoa virus.

Right, leftists?; 7/31/20, 8:34 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: The left have a phobia to paint you with.

Please, let the collective left rape you with their fear of phobias.

Science!; 7/31/20, 8:35 AM
MayBee said...: Especially effective because Joe Biden looks so....doddering....in that clip.

I think I heard yesterday that only 25% of people want schools to stay closed next year. I wish the media found a way to better represent public opinion. Instead, I suspect they will try to change public opinion by scaring us more.
But I don't know what people want and I don't know how Joe Biden thinks he would keep us "safe" from Coronavirus. Are we all supposed to stay locked up forever?; 7/31/20, 8:41 AM
chickelit said...: A Greek friend in Athens recently told me that they were largely spared the deaths and agony that Italy went through. Why was that? Both are Mediterranean counties with similar population densities -- at least comparing Athens with Rome. One obvious difference is the amount of business travel from China. Not Chinese people per se, but business travel to and from Wuhan at the time.

Trump was right.; 7/31/20, 8:43 AM
Wa St Blogger said...: That video is completely wrong on one point: "No amount of spin will..." That spin will very much cover up the facts, and the LIV on the left will believe it quite thoroughly. And if you try to bring facts to an emotional fight they will put their fingers in their ears and chant lalalala because they do not have the emotional energy to deal with your oppressive reasoning.; 7/31/20, 8:45 AM
Marshall Rose said...: OrangeMan still bad....; 7/31/20, 8:48 AM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: Do we want a president with dull, drab, washed out coloring like Biden, or do we want want an amazing Technicolor tangerine dream streamline baby like Trump?

VOTE FOR VIBRANCY!; 7/31/20, 9:00 AM
CJinPA said...: True, but that ban was a looong time ago and no one thinks of it unless Trump mentions it. I assume there will be a more comprehensive ad in the future.; 7/31/20, 9:03 AM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: But seriously, a vote for Biden is a vote for Xi, and for Chinavirus.; 7/31/20, 9:03 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: I agree with Althouse’s choice of effective as the operable adjective here. So many ads are ineffective. Tighten this up to 60 seconds and run it in every state. I suspect he’s got one loaded with the Obama-Biden response to H1N1 ready to go too.; 7/31/20, 9:12 AM
Howard said...: Biden isn't in charge, so he got nothing wrong. Trump owns every death above 100K. The buck always starts with Trump and you love him for it.; 7/31/20, 9:19 AM
Nonapod said...: I have to hand it to the Left, it's an amazing trick that doing something to protect American citizens can now be sucessfully classified as xenophobia. So now doing things like shutting down foreign travel during an emerging pandemic, arguing that we should enforce existing immigration laws, or attempting to build a border wall to help lessen the flood of illegal immigrants... all actions that just a few short years ago may would have been considered rational and reasonable, are now all examples of "hysterical xenophobia". Even the whole concept of putting the safety and health of American citizens first is somehow racist and evil now.; 7/31/20, 9:19 AM
Gk1 said...: Well if you listen to Nancy Pelosi Trump got it wrong because he hadn't done the travel shut down with China sooner. (This was after weeks of castigating Trump for xenophobia and racism for closing air travel with China); 7/31/20, 9:21 AM
DavidUW said...: Trump’s biggest mistake was thinking doctors in the bureaucracy weren’t bureaucrats first (and therefore partisan democrats) and then doctors. And not good doctors (or they wouldn’t be bureaucrats)

Fraudci has been a hack who couldn’t predict the sun rising in the East never mind accurately modeling a pandemic.; 7/31/20, 9:32 AM
Ken B said...: Taleb on WHO https://twitter.com/nntaleb/status/1289187887364182018

Taleb has been the most right on covid.; 7/31/20, 9:33 AM
Original Mike said...: I have yet to hear people who claim Trump did a horrible job on COVID explain how that's the case.; 7/31/20, 9:34 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Let's see if Pelosi and Chinese New Year has been disappeared yet. New York's Chinatown Invite as well.; 7/31/20, 9:45 AM
Sebastian said...: "I have yet to hear people who claim Trump did a horrible job on COVID explain how that's the case"

Including, as noted upthread, any instances where Trump recited his super-scientific "health" advisers. The only instance that comes to mind is his hopeful touting of hydroxycoloroquine as a possibly useful medication.

"Biden got wrong"

Yes, it'll be good to round up some of Joe's inanities.

But what did Joe actually contribute on the the whole WuFlu mess -- anything at all? What idea or policy did Biden actually propose, in real time, when it mattered, that differed substantially from what Trump did, and that, at the time, clearly would have made a great difference?; 7/31/20, 9:48 AM
MayBee said...: Original Mike- Yeah, I don't know what we are really supposed to do except stay home, close school, and only let protesters out. And we should have done that sooner, I guess. And wear masks? But we'll never- no one will ever- get 100% compliance on masks so that can be an easy excuse to remain shut down.; 7/31/20, 9:49 AM
MadisonMan said...: Biden isn't in charge, so he got nothing wrong. Trump owns every death above 100K
Why do you think Governors are blameless?; 7/31/20, 9:52 AM
Howard said...: Trump Strains gnats while letting camels pass; 7/31/20, 9:53 AM
Todd said...: Original Mike said...

I have yet to hear people who claim Trump did a horrible job on COVID explain how that's the case.

7/31/20, 9:34 AM

Silly rabbit, easy! He didn't have a FDA approved cure and inoculation (all in one), available free to every resident of the U.S.A, safe for all ages, with no side affect, delivered to everyone, with idiot proof instructions written in 90 languages, and cures pattern baldness, ready to go on day one. He is such a friggen failure! Obama would have!; 7/31/20, 9:54 AM
Enlighten-NewJersey said...: President Trump stopped travel from Europe on March 12. Here’s what NY. Governor Cuomo was saying on March 17 when COVID-19 had infected about 1,700 people across his state and killed 12 people in New York. In New York City, the virus had infected more than 644 people:
“New York City will not be quarantined, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday, trying to dispel rumors as cities and states ramp up efforts to curb the spread of the new coronavirus. Cuomo said he wants to tamp down rumors that the city will be placed under lockdown similar to measures taken by public officials in Italy and China, which have the highest number of cases in the world. “; 7/31/20, 9:59 AM
wendybar said...: Todd said:

Silly rabbit, easy! He didn't have a FDA approved cure and inoculation (all in one), available free to every resident of the U.S.A, safe for all ages, with no side affect, delivered to everyone, with idiot proof instructions written in 90 languages, and cures pattern baldness, ready to go on day one. He is such a friggen failure! Obama would have!

7/31/20, 9:54 AM

You don't know how many Obama fans here were jumping up and down with ecstasy over your comment...Thanks for the laugh!!; 7/31/20, 10:00 AM
Jersey Fled said...: Left Bank said:

Trump got it wrong too. Sure, he closed the back door to China, but he left the front door to Europe wide open. It’s clear now that all countries should have immediately closed their borders.

And tell me again when Biden proposed this?; 7/31/20, 10:01 AM
Nonapod said...: But we'll never- no one will ever- get 100% compliance on masks so that can be an easy excuse to remain shut down.

The whole mask wearing thing has become an interesting and somewhat depressing test of the variations in human behavior. On one extreme, you have people who refuse to wear masks no matter what. On the other extreme you have people going out of their way literally lecturing people standing outside at safe distances for not pulling their mask over their face, tattling on their neighbors and the like. For whatever reason, the whole mask thing seems to bring out the worst in people.; 7/31/20, 10:03 AM
hombre said...: Howard: “Trump owns every death above 100K.”

This is because Trump is the Democrat Governor of all of those 5 or 6 states whose individual death rates per 100,000 exceed every nation on earth and whose combined death toll accounts for nearly half of all US deaths.

ORANGE MAN BAD! RIGHT?

(It really is depressing, even surprising, to learn that the stupidity displayed by Howard exists among the literate, despite the evidence regularly provided by teachers and professors.); 7/31/20, 10:03 AM
iowan2 said...: So, Trump's hatred of China led to what in retrospect, was a good idea

Do you believe this? Or just the talking points you received recently? Trump has exhibited for 6+decades, his understanding that hating on a person or entity, is counter productive to him advancing his goal.
President Trump has never shown hatred towards China. He has called out their bad actions when it benefits the United States.

You have to get past talking point to up your trolling; 7/31/20, 10:03 AM
Meade said...: "Very effective. How come I'm only seeing it here?"

Go to Trump's Twitter page. Scroll down to:

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump 17h; 7/31/20, 10:05 AM
Renee said...: Is there anyone that's really a swing voter/undecided?

I think people are too demoralized to vote for Trump again.

They will stay home or hold their nose to vote for Biden.; 7/31/20, 10:07 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Very effective. How come I'm only seeing it here?"

I'm displaying a Trump tweet! He has 84.4 million followers. I'd say it's getting seen; 7/31/20, 10:09 AM
Jersey Fled said...: Question for Mark:

I've asked Inga this probably a half dozen times but she refuses to answer.

Do you believe that Trump or anyone in his campaign colluded with the Russians to steal the 2016 election from Hillary.; 7/31/20, 10:09 AM
Ken B said...: Who agreed with Biden that the virus wasn’t a threat? Who thought restrictions were a bad idea?
Achilles
Drago
Yancey Ward
Pants
AnneIam
Gilbar
Wendybar
Jersey Fled
Narcisco
Original Mike
Big Mike
Birkel
Nancy Pelosi
Eric Swalwell
Fredo; 7/31/20, 10:10 AM
Jersey Fled said...: I don't use Twitter.; 7/31/20, 10:10 AM
Ken B said...: AA at 10:09 has missed the commenter's point I think.; 7/31/20, 10:11 AM
Meade said...: If by "I don't use Twitter" you mean "I don't have a Twitter account," then neither do I. But that doesn't stop me from reading what other people who do have accounts tweet on their Twitter page.; 7/31/20, 10:19 AM
Jersey Fled said...: Biden isn't in charge, so he got nothing wrong

At the very least he is the nominal leader and voice of his party. Tell me again what Democrat supported the Chinese travel ban and proposed limiting travel with Europe.; 7/31/20, 10:19 AM
Wa St Blogger said...: Left bank...

It’s clear now that all countries should have immediately closed their borders.

Operative word being "now". Tell me, who in a position of significance was advocating this policy back then? Are you holding Biden accountable for his LESS effective policy?; 7/31/20, 10:21 AM
Wa St Blogger said...: Howard...

Trump owns every death above 100K

Actually, YOU own every death above 100k. You liberals are disgusting pieces of work. Advocate for policies that kill and destroy and then blame other people for the results.; 7/31/20, 10:23 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Mark, The ad is about ACTION taken and inaction implied by what Joe said. Your obsession with what Trump says, often phrasing it as he hopes X will come to pass, instead of actual action your analysis will continue in the preschool level morass you’re in now. More actions: sent Flatten the Curve mailer to every household in March and early April, held daily briefings relying prominently on Birx and Fauci, took the HCQ cocktail during the zenith of anti-HCQ media-hysteria, stopped public events once they were not recommended, held China responsible, refrained from excess use of emergency powers.; 7/31/20, 10:25 AM
MikeR said...: As I've said elsewhere, it literally does not matter what Joe Biden says or said. No one considers him an actual candidate. He's just the one you vote for if you don't like Donald Trump.; 7/31/20, 10:32 AM
Jersey Fled said...: I don't recall saying that the threat was not real. I did say that it was overblown and sensationalized, which it is.

I also did say that the some of the restrictions were a bad idea. I still believe that. Like forcing covid positive patients into nursing homes to avoid overwhelming hospitals, which never happened. It was Democrat governors who did that.; 7/31/20, 10:34 AM
Original Mike said...: Blogger Ken B said..."Who agreed with Biden that the virus wasn’t a threat? Who thought restrictions were a bad idea"
…
Original Mike"

That's a damn lie. One you've repeated before and I've asked you to back up before. Crickets.
Put up or shut up.; 7/31/20, 10:34 AM
rcocean said...: Biden is owned by China, and will support globalization and open borders no matter what the cost to the American people. As stated in the video, Biden opposed the travel ban on China and the EU in March and continued to oppose it. His CV-19 position has always been lock everything down no matter what the Governors say (one size fits all), and make everyone wear masks and sit at home in the basement.

In his townhall, he opposed school re-openings, but wants teachers to be paid no matter what, and wants to give hundreds of billions to schools to "restructure them" to make it safe. Its a crazy, needlessly program. Countries in Europe have reopened with no bad side effects. Canada is reopening. There is no reason the USA can't reopen. And if teachers don't want to work, they shouldn't get paid.; 7/31/20, 10:36 AM
rcocean said...: its nice that Althouse is helping out these obscure Tweeters by posting their videos.; 7/31/20, 10:37 AM
Achilles said...: Ken B said...
Who agreed with Biden that the virus wasn’t a threat? Who thought restrictions were a bad idea?
Achilles
Drago
Yancey Ward...

And we have been proven right.

The insane shutdowns have killed more people and done far more damage than COVID 19.; 7/31/20, 10:38 AM
Drago said...: Ken B: "Who agreed with Biden that the virus wasn’t a threat? Who thought restrictions were a bad idea?
Achilles
Drago..."

yeah, uh, wrong.

As with the ChiCom/Fauci-funded Wuhan flu, I'll happily go along with any restrictions on the ChiComs and their activities.

As I did in the case of travel restrictions.

Since you've been rather exposed over the last six months, though not as much as Beijing Boy ARM and Inga, I suspect you will continue to rewrite history as necessary.

Not that anyone who has been here for the last 6 months will be fooled.

I'm still fascinated by your insistence that "Free Trade" and "Open Markets" requires the US to have disadvantageous tariff arrangements with all other nations on earth.

I thought that was quite revealing so your performance on the ChiCom flu is hardly surprising.; 7/31/20, 10:38 AM
Temujin said...: Very effective. And yes, typically political ads are more annoying than effective.

It seems like there's 2-3 people who's voices are always used in political ads. I want to know their names. They are making a ton of money on everybody.; 7/31/20, 10:38 AM
LA_Bob said...: Keb B said, "Who agreed with Biden that the virus wasn’t a threat? Who thought restrictions were a bad idea?"

I could easily be included in that list. Some, especially Yancey, pointed out the virus had likely spread far and wide long before anyone recognized the threat. A Penn State study agreed with that. The lock-downs were ordered after it was too late in the game.

No one got COVID-19 "right". No one could possibly have gotten it "right". We don't know near enough about transmission, susceptibility, infectiousness, immunity, and prevention to know what "right" means.

Somehow we survived the Asian flu, the Hong Kong flu, SARS-Cov-1, and MERS-Cov without mass "lock-downs". This time around we tried economic suicide, apparently because we're so "scientific" and "smart" and just had to do something.

Trump's action at the end of January was reasonable. Biden's assertions of "racism" and "xenophobia" were not.; 7/31/20, 10:43 AM
Inga said...: Then he said Covid would just disappear because warm weather was coming. Then he refused to wear a mask, politicizing wearing a mask. Then he went against his own administration’s recommendations and opened up social distancing too soon, causing the massive outbreaks we see now. Then he held a rally in Tulsa that probably infected countless people including Herman Cain. Then he demanded that schools reopen. Then he promoted hydroxychloroquine and the witch doctor of demon seed notoriety.; 7/31/20, 10:52 AM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: Ken, you are such a hysterical, shrill bore. Who keeps a list of people whose views have offended them? Are you a twelve year old girl? Did you write that in sparkly green ink in your Lisa Frank trapper keeper?

As rational people understand, the virus is not a particularly relevant threat to anyone who wasn't going to be carried off this year or next by old age, other health problems, or other viruses. People need to grow up and accept that death happens. People are going to die. Especially the old and sick. I'm sorry to tell you that your hectoring and handwringing, no matter how goooooood it feels, is not going to grant eternal life to anyone's grandma.

The virus is not the problem. It's unfortunate, but, nature be like that sometimes. The frenzied overreaction fed by walking uteri like yourself is the problem, as is the terror of mortality and illusion of control that characterizes the overgrown children who populate this country. I'm sorry that you have this weird tunnel vision in which you think that the only relevant factor in health and wellbeing is the coronavirus, but your false paradigm is your problem and not mine. Sorry!; 7/31/20, 10:53 AM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 7/31/20, 10:53 AM
Francisco D said...: Original Mike said...
I have yet to hear people who claim Trump did a horrible job on COVID explain how that's the case.

That's because they are too busy rewriting history, as totalitarians often do.

We don't know how many people died FROM Covid. We have a good idea of how many died WITH Covid. If you take out the East Coast nursing home slaughter, how many deaths directly related to Covid do you have and what is the death rate?

Little Kenny B never responds to these questions because he marinates in the hysteria and I suspect that he still doesn't know how to calculate a death rate. That death rate has been falling dramatically as I predicted in March. It is simple math that the hysterics don't get and the Lefties don't want to get because it interferes with their narrative.; 7/31/20, 10:58 AM
Ambrose said...: Trump also deserves credit for a federalist approach - as local conditions varied, and looking to deregulation for solutions rather than more regulation.; 7/31/20, 11:10 AM
MikeR said...: @Inga Interesting list, some right and some wrong: as one would expect in the Fog of War.
"Then he went against his own administration’s recommendations and opened up social distancing too soon" Certainly did not. He set up a reasonable framework for weighing medical disaster and economic disaster, along with restrictions in case the medical situation deteriorated.
On the contrary - he followed his advisors suggestion on starting a lockdown, and we now see that a nationwide lockdown was a mistake. We should have done in on a state-by-state basis, having each state do it when they got hit. We're paying the price now, in states that were spared before but now don't have the wherewithal to do a proper lockdown.
"Then he demanded that schools reopen." As they should, with proper precautions. Kids matter too. If 7-11s can be open, schools should be open; they are essential services.
"Then he promoted hydroxychloroquine" It was the right call and still may turn out to be the right call. The risk/benefit for prophylactic use of HCQ is pretty high, and those who opposed it for political reasons were playing politics with the lives of millions of people. Even if it turns out to be completely useless, it was still the right call at the time.; 7/31/20, 11:15 AM
Bilwick said...: Asked to comment, Sen. Biden blew "raspberries" with his lips and tongue and ran off yelling "Pony soldier! Pony soldier! Pony soldier!"; 7/31/20, 11:18 AM
Bilwick said...: Hey, Inga, you know what kills more people than Covid? Statism. They call it "Democide." But you're okay with that, right? After all, you are the State's Handmaid.; 7/31/20, 11:19 AM
I Callahan said...: Trump owns every death above 100K. The buck always starts with Trump and you love him for it.

This is going to be fruitless, but I’ll try anyway: what should he have done? If Howard were president, what would Howard have done so that the additional 50K deaths wouldn’t have happened?; 7/31/20, 11:25 AM
Inga said...: “Since you've been rather exposed over the last six months, though not as much as Beijing Boy ARM and Inga, I suspect you will continue to rewrite history as necessary.”

Drago has been exposing himself for years here, ew.; 7/31/20, 11:39 AM
Yancey Ward said...: The travel bans, both those imposed and not imposed made no difference after December. I have beaten this horse to death, but the simple fact is that the virus escaped China by last Fall, at the latest. The travel bans were literally closing the barn doors after the horse had escaped. All the travel bans did was flatten the curve, but only a little and not for very long. The big policy mistakes were the shutdowns. Had we never shut down, we would be past this crisis already.

Trump was right on one big thing- we needed to make sure the actions taken weren't worse than the disease itself, but we collectively failed on this measure, and are still failing, and will likely continue to fail going forward since influenza itself causes 50-100k deaths every Winter- deaths that can now be reasonably argued don't have to occur if we continue to lockdown every Winter.

Enjoy wearing your face diapers for the next 20 years.; 7/31/20, 11:39 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Even if we saved 2 million Americans with the shutdowns and the economic calamity that has ensued, it was the wrong path. And if there isn't an effective vaccine, then you are going to get the 2 million dead anyway if the lethality is really that dire. In any case, all of the evidence suggests that the virus isn't that lethal, nor likely to spread to anywhere near the numbers of people the models claimed, and this was all generally known in March, but the saner experts weren't listened heeded.

If a Democrat had been president during this event, the only thing that would be different is that we wouldn't have 30 million people on unemployment right now because the media wouldn't have panicked us into the shutting down anything- they would have accidentally been on the right side of reason just because of the politics being the opposite of what they are today.; 7/31/20, 11:52 AM
tommyesq said...: It is pretty sad that the only correct decision he made was at the very beginning, and was likely more driven by a desire to stick it to China than actual concern about public health.

Even if you are correct that this was the only correct decision made, it was still one more correct decision than Biden has ever proposed.; 7/31/20, 11:55 AM
hstad said...: Blogger Inga said...Nothing, Bla, Bla, Bla,.....talking points to maintain whatever ill-conceived narrative of the day she gets. 7/31/20, 10:52. My friend - in the end you have no original thoughts and are the perfect candidate Marx talked about when it came to propoganda which pushes human emotions—fear, hope, anger, frustration ... You are a perfect example of a product of 'State Run Education'.

Ever ask why President Trump said what he said?? I mean, this is not his area of expertise, so you should sent an email to Drs. Fauci and Brix to find out about the President's missive. BTW, don't tell me about your love of experts - who where massively wrong and still don't know how to prevent Covit transmission. I you don't believe this last comment, Sweden laughs at your so-called experts. But I'm conversing with a mind who's been infected by propaganda, THAT'S 'My Bad'.

https://fee.org/articles/sweden-s-actual-covid-19-results-compared-to-what-modelers-predicted-in-april/; 7/31/20, 11:57 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Can't hurt to post this again: States with highest deaths per million of population. And looky here, most are Blue States.

State: Deaths
/Million Governor's Political Party

NJ 1,780 DEM
NY 1,680 DEM
CT 1,243 DEM
MA 1,235 REPUB
RI 951 DEM
LA 844 DEM
DC 827 No governor; Mayor is DEM
MI 645 DEM
IL 605 DEM
DE 597 DEM
MD 577 REPUB
PA 562 DEM
MS 541 DEM
AZ 498 REPUB; 7/31/20, 11:59 AM
Vance said...: Isn't it amazing how Herman Cain, a person Inga hated with a fiery passion, suddenly is now her best friend now that Cain has died?

Just like every other Republican is Hitler while alive and suddenly a noble statesman compared to the new, Hitlerish Republican currently out there.

We all know that if Inga got her fondest wish come true and some Antifa person successfully shot and killed Trump that suddenly Trump would be wonderful as compared to Hitler Pence. Trump wasn't all uptight and moral, see, unlike that Christian Pence and thus we all should long for the days of Trump instead of the upcoming "Handmaids tale!" atrocity Pence will impose.... "We need to put in some Muslims so we can avoid horrific oppressive religion!"; 7/31/20, 12:04 PM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: Trump has lately been referring to the “China virus”, but I remember when he was so afraid of Xi that he stopped saying “Chinese virus”, at least according to a supposedly reasonable man, who shall remain nameless.; 7/31/20, 12:08 PM
hstad said...: Blogger Howard said...Biden isn't in charge, so he got nothing wrong. Trump owns every death above 100K. The buck always starts with Trump and you love him for it.7/31/20, 9:19 AM

My, my...Howard thinks he's so clever with his verbal virtuosity - However, your unpleaswntness as a 'Troll' shows you have TDS. So what you're saying it's ok up to 100k but after that it's Trump's fault. Very interesting since, Trump had many so called experts who are from the Liberal and Leftist side give him advice which he followed.. BTW, you would've blamed him anyway - that's your 'modus operandi'. Trump lives in your brain rent free. But for those who agree with Howard about Covit - Sweden has the last laugh against the so-called experts.

https://fee.org/articles/sweden-s-actual-covid-19-results-compared-to-what-modelers-predicted-in-april/; 7/31/20, 12:12 PM
n.n said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 7/31/20, 12:15 PM
James K said...: the witch doctor of demon seed notoriety.

Inga's inner racist comes out. Never mind that Drs Gold, Wohlgelernter, Todaro, Zelenko, and many other nice white doctors have come out in favor of HCQ treatments, even (as it seems, since Dr Gold was fired) at risk to their jobs.; 7/31/20, 12:17 PM
Jupiter said...: "The only instance that comes to mind is his hopeful touting of hydroxycoloroquine as a possibly useful medication."

The situation with HCQ at this point is;
a) There is a proposed mechanism for HCQ effectiveness in early COVID, based upon in vitro results showing that zinc is a viral inhibitor, and HCQ functions as an ionophore, carrying ZINC into the cellular interior where it can be effective.

b) a large number of actual physicians treating actual patients, claim that HCQ + ZINC is very effective if given immediately when symptoms start, or better, used as a prophylactic measure. MANY physicians are dosing themselves and their families with HCQ and ZINC because -- They don't want to die!

c) Various people have conducted various HCQ studies, with varying but mostly unimpressive results. We don't know whether they used ZINC, or when they gave the treatment, or how they chose which patients to treat with HCQ. The most widely discussed study, which showed a negative result, is now known to have been a deliberate hoax. SOMEONE doesn't want the effectiveness of HCQ to be known.

d) Some bureaucrats who like to wear white clothing and facemasks and play doctors on TV have expressed doubts about HCQ, but of course, they don't actually see patients.; 7/31/20, 12:17 PM
n.n said...: The lock-downs were ordered after it was too late in the game.

Why herd immunity to COVID-19 is reached much earlier than thought

Ironically, "flattening the curve", delaying the spread, is a probable cause of the current spikes.; 7/31/20, 12:19 PM
n.n said...: Jo Biden said 'We choose truth over facts'

They're known to speak truth to facts. All, of course, socially justified, ethically-minded (i.e. relativistic religion/morality), and for good causes with common special and peculiar interests. Slow the Blight, whack a wind turbine, save a bird, a bat, and smaller, less em-pathetic creatures.; 7/31/20, 12:24 PM
n.n said...: Xenophobia, phobias... the fallback position for irrational "secular" apologetics.; 7/31/20, 12:28 PM
n.n said...: It certainly didn't disappear in summer, go away on its own, or be under control as he repeatedly said.

There are different modes for symptomatic and asymptomatic transmission. He was advised that the primary mode was symptomatic, aerosolized, and droplets. The primary mode seems to be through contact, which is why washing hands and mitigating transfer through mucosae is so effective. Also, "flattening the curve" does not come without side-effects (e.g. spikes), Planned Parent (PP) was probably a bad choice, and there is persistent immigration and migration (an Ellis Island protocol would mitigate the progress across the bridge).; 7/31/20, 12:36 PM
tim maguire said...: Todd said...

Original Mike said...I have yet to hear people who claim Trump did a horrible job on COVID explain how that's the case.

7/31/20, 9:34 AM

Silly rabbit, easy! He didn't have a FDA approved cure and inoculation (all in one), available free to every resident of the U.S.A, safe for all ages, with no side affect, delivered to everyone, with idiot proof instructions written in 90 languages, and cures pattern baldness, ready to go on day one. He is such a friggen failure! Obama would have!

Sadly, that is only about 5% hyperbole. It's 95% straight up truth.; 7/31/20, 12:38 PM
n.n said...: Limit immigration and migration to control transnational spread.

Oxford epidemiologists: suppression strategy is not viable

The Key to Defeating COVID-19 Already Exists. We Need to Start Using It

I am referring, of course, to the medication hydroxychloroquine. When this inexpensive oral medication is given very early in the course of illness, before the virus has had time to multiply beyond control, it has shown to be highly effective, especially when given in combination with the antibiotics azithromycin or doxycycline and the nutritional supplement zinc.

There is evidence that the primary asymptomatic transmission mode is through contact (e.g. fecal transmission) a la HIV/AIDS, so wash your hands to mitigate transferring through mucosae (e.g. mouth, nose, eyes).

Planned Parent (PP), in retrospect, was also a bad choice, and accounts for 1/4 to 1/3 of excess deaths.; 7/31/20, 12:48 PM
Tina Trent said...: Remember too that the NYT fashion editor was still waxing poetic and joking in March about the artiness of Covid worries as she justified being part of the hordes who ignored warnings to travel to fashion week in Milan and back to Manhattan right before the virus exploded in NYC -- of course the Times needs those designer clothing and upscale travel ads, so they hung on as long as they could, damn the consequences. Nicholas Kristof alone should choke on fistfuls of those articles, not to mention Krugman. They're what pay their salaries and subsidize their hubris as they berate the rest of us.; 7/31/20, 12:50 PM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Biden, at this stage of the game, can't keep from shitting himself, much less in be charge of anything else.; 7/31/20, 12:56 PM
Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...: Biden isn’t fit to dress himself in the morning but he’d sure as hell kick the malarky out of that corony virus thingy.; 7/31/20, 1:29 PM
gadfly said...: If you look around at the moment, most of the people who seek great power are complete assholes, who are really only out for themselves,” ... says [Monte Python co-founder John Cleese]. “Well, if someone’s out for themselves primarily, like our dear President Donald Trump, with no interest in other people at all, it’s not very likely that they’re going to be very good at building a society. And you see that the characteristics of people who are powerful is that they have a deep, deep fear of losing their power.”

“We have madness and power-seeking and complete unscrupulousness and pathological lying. And it’s very interesting why. Is it because people are very stupid? That’s a possible explanation.”; 7/31/20, 1:29 PM
Jeff said...: Who agreed with Biden that the virus wasn’t a threat? Who thought restrictions were a bad idea?
Followed by a list of Althouse commenters

Hey, what about me? I'm with Achilles on this one. The shutdowns have done far more harm than the virus would have absent the shutdowns. Most of the people who have died from Covid already had one foot in the grave. I remind you that median survival time in nursing homes was only about a year before Covid. Yet we are destroying the livelihoods of millions of young people in a futile attempt to defeat the inevitable.

Don't misunderstand me. I'll be first in line to get vaccinated if I haven't already had Covid by the time a vaccine is available. The vaccine is far less risky than the alternative, even if the alternative isn't dangerous enough to shut down the economy.

How many Karens are going to insist on everybody wearing masks even after they've been vaccinated?; 7/31/20, 1:39 PM
Ray - SoCal said...: Most people in the US blame China.

So smart for Trump to leverage that.

Devastating, putting Biden in a lose lose situation.; 7/31/20, 1:46 PM
Gk1 said...: "If a Democrat had been president during this event, the only thing that would be different is that we wouldn't have 30 million people on unemployment right now because the media wouldn't have panicked us into the shutting down anything- they would have accidentally been on the right side of reason just because of the politics being the opposite of what they are today."

This. I can't imagine a democrat regime that would have been whipsawed by the media like we have experienced this year. That's why over 54% of the country believe covid will disappear overnight should Biden win. They aren't fooling anyone.; 7/31/20, 2:00 PM
bagoh20 said...: Trump is probably the only politician who would have done that and stuck to it. Anybody else would have put politics first and ask around to see what it would cost him, then not do it. That's what "America first" looks like. You know, that terrible racist xenophobic idea that saved thousands of American lives in just this one decision. That's just not important to Democrats compared to the irresistible thrill of attacking Trump.

You could make an ad like that about most everything Biden has said his entire career.

They should put one together with all the times Trump was ridiculed for things that turned out where he was right and the experts, the media, the Dems were wrong. It might have to be miniseries, but whose fault is that?; 7/31/20, 2:28 PM
RMc said...: Just like every other Republican is Hitler while alive and suddenly a noble statesman compared to the new, Hitlerish Republican currently out there.

The media treats Republicans the same way cowboys treated Indians in the old Western movies: "The only good one is a dead one".; 7/31/20, 3:15 PM
Inga said...: Have Vance and Drago ever been seen in the same place at the same time? As the years go by, more and more they sound alike.; 7/31/20, 3:23 PM
Inga said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 7/31/20, 3:35 PM
Inga said...: “As rational people understand, the virus is not a particularly relevant threat to anyone who wasn't going to be carried off this year or next by old age, other health problems, or other viruses. People need to grow up and accept that death happens. People are going to die. Especially the old and sick. I'm sorry to tell you that your hectoring and handwringing, no matter how goooooood it feels, is not going to grant eternal life to anyone's grandma.”

I hope this person can tell herself “Oh well they were going to die anyway, death happens. It’s nature!” should her husband or one of her children contract the virus and die. To say that only those with underlying health issues old or young die of Covid is not only very uninformed but pathologically selfish. Some people are so bereft of what it takes to be empathetic that they make comments like Pants’ comment I quoted. How do these people live in a world with other humans? I wonder if she talks like this to her church ladies. I’ve been seeing a lot of Karma lately among the loudest and most vile of Covid deniers. I suspect I’ll be seeing more as Covid continues it’s deadly march.; 7/31/20, 3:40 PM
DavidUW said...: Swedes don't wear masks either.

Neither do the Dutch.

Looking back in history, masks didn't do anything during the Spanish flu.

East Asians wear masks frequently in the past; it has not changed the trajectory of any pandemic.

Masks were extensively written about re: the flu and the conclusion was they don't do anything.

So, mask people, tell me how breathing is different now? Is this virus so much bigger than the flu virus that the masks block it?

Or, here's an observation:
1) NYC: massive infection, then falling. Riots happen, masks are still mandated (minus the riots), no second wave.
2) Sweden: Massive infection, then falling, no masks, no second wave
3) California: No massive infection, masks required, post riots, massive increases
4) Florida: No massive infection, no masks required, no huge riots, massive increases.

The only conclusion is. this virus will infect a certain portion of the population, no matter what, and the only difference is the time course over which it occurs. Period. Flattening the curve DOES NOT CHANGE the area under the curve, only the time over which the curve travels from 0 to amplitude Y back to zero again.; 7/31/20, 4:47 PM
steve uhr said...: Trump did what the HHS scientists including Fauci recommended. Biden also would have followed their recommendations. Biden did not ever say he opposed the partial ban. If they had it would be in the ad.; 7/31/20, 5:22 PM
pacwest said...: Howard. You're just mailing it in lately. Why bother if you can't do better than that?; 7/31/20, 6:42 PM
Inga said...: Hundreds of Georgia campers infected with coronavirus at YMCA camp in just days, CDC report finds

“RABUN COUNTY, Ga — A CDC report released Friday reveals that hundreds of campers at a north Georgia YMCA camp were infected with coronavirus in just days before the camp was shut down.
Channel 2 Action News has confirmed that the report documents COVID-19 cases at the YMCA’s Camp High Harbor on Lake Burton in Rabun County.

According to the report, of the 597 residents who attended the camp, 344 were tested and 260 tested positive for the virus. The camp was only open for four days before being shut down because of the virus, and officials followed all recommended safety protocols.

Under Gov. Kemp’s executive orders, overnight summer camps in Georgia were allowed to open on May 31. All campers and staff members had to test negative for the coronavirus before attending.

Channel 2′s Justin Gray talked to Dr. Rodger MacArthur, an infectious disease specialist with the Medical College of Georgia about the report.
MacArthur pointed out another alarming finding in the report.

“It also showed that about 75%, or 3 quarters of the young persons who got it developed symptoms,” MacArthur said.”; 7/31/20, 6:44 PM
hstad said...: Inga I'm so tired of your propoganda! You have no data on the Covit virus yet keep pushing garbage that you happen to see. You should've read my last missive to you. Sweden laughs at people like you and Drs. Fauci and Birx, the so-called virus experts of the USA. Hell, the Swedish virus expert was right and Sweden has left Covit behind them without any drastic changes to their lifestyle.

Inga give it a rest stay away from blogging! Trust me it's great medicine. But maybe you're being paid to blog - in which case you should disclose this to your fellow readers.
Here's the Swedish experience:
https://fee.org/articles/sweden-s-actual-covid-19-results-compared-to-what-modelers-predicted-in-april/; 7/31/20, 7:18 PM
Inga said...: “Masks were extensively written about re: the flu and the conclusion was they don't do anything.”

Yes, Wearing Masks Helps. Here's Why

“Take, for example, a meta-analysis of 172 studies that looked at various interventions to prevent the transmission of COVID-19, SARS and MERS from an infected person to people close to them. The analysis, which was published in The Lancet on June 1, found that mask wearing significantly reduces the risk of viral transmission.

What this evidence supports is that, if there is a policy around using face masks in place, it does actually come with a fairly large effect," says study co-author Holger Schünemann, an epidemiologist at McMaster University.

Now, most of the studies in the analysis looked at face mask use in health care, not community, settings. And they were observational, not the gold standard of science, a randomized controlled trial, which would be "very unethical in a pandemic," says Jeffrey Shaman, an epidemiologist at Columbia University. Still, he says the fact that there is a benefit from masks is clear.

"I personally think that face masks are a key component of the non-pharmaceutical arsenal we have to combat COVID-19," says Shaman.”; 7/31/20, 7:25 PM
Michael K said...: “We have madness and power-seeking and complete unscrupulousness and pathological lying. And it’s very interesting why. Is it because people are very stupid? That’s a possible explanation.”

Yes and we saw the tech oligarchs this week. They, and Soros, are the chief examples.; 7/31/20, 7:32 PM
Michael K said...: Inga is showing once again why nurses should not be let out on their own. Tell us the mortality rate, Inga ?; 7/31/20, 7:33 PM
Birkel said...: Who thought the virus a threat to the old and infirm and that we should protect those groups of people and let the rest of the population keep the economy from degrading? That was me.

Who thought the economic losses should be a lot worse while depriving American citizens of life, liberty, and property? Yeah. Dumb asses thought that. Cvnts who cannot understand trade-offs and who cannot represent the views of those with whom they disagree accurately. Fucking cvnts.; 7/31/20, 7:55 PM
Birkel said...: I predicted this pandemic would behave as all others in the past have.
I have been correct.; 7/31/20, 7:57 PM
stevew said...: Hey, Inga, tell me this: so what?; 7/31/20, 7:58 PM
stevew said...: An effective political ad because it is all true, and well documented. Biden is an idiot. Doing the right things to address the crisis, as he advocates, amount to doing what President Trump has done and recommends.; 7/31/20, 7:59 PM
I'm Not Sure said...: "Flattening the curve DOES NOT CHANGE the area under the curve..."

I am convinced a sizable portion of the population believes that "flattening the curve" means "fewer people get infected".; 7/31/20, 8:04 PM
Howard said...: More winning, Inga. Summer camp covid in Deliverence, Ga. Surprise, surprise, surprise.; 7/31/20, 8:05 PM
Michael K said...: Howard entertains us with his death fantasies.

This is a bad flu season, Howard. The difference is that flu kills kids and WuFlu kills elderly. There are reasons for that but you would not understand,; 7/31/20, 8:43 PM
iowan2 said...: I rarely follow the Inga links, because the seldom report what Inga thinks they report.

What did I learn from the "news" article?

This happened in and around June 24th.

This news item was posted July 31st.

Lots of numbers. Percentages, #infected, ages, etc.

But I learn lots of things by numbers ignored by a media that only cares about setting a narrative. Not about informing.

Number hospitalized = 0
Number dead = 0

What we have here is an unfortunate situation, but less of an issue than food poisoning that runs through these camps from time to time, and put hundreds in the hospital.; 7/31/20, 9:54 PM
Francisco D said...: Michael K said...
Inga is showing once again why nurses should not be let out on their own. Tell us the mortality rate, Inga ?

Math is hard. Ask Little Kenny B.; 7/31/20, 10:03 PM
n.n said...: 2) Sweden: Massive infection, then falling, no masks, no second wave

Yes, SARS-CoV-2 infection, Covid-19 disease, and excess mortality have been progressive. The only caveat suggested is that Sweden's population is largely homogeneous, and disease progression and safe sanctuaries were limited in a regular way.

SARS-CoV-2 Transmission and Infection Among Attendees of an Overnight Camp — Georgia, June 2020

Interesting. While this is still under investigation, and the evidence is wholly circumstantial, it is still starkly inconsistent with similar situations. It should be interesting to learn the details of demographics, cultures, activities, health, and orientations of the attendees.; 7/31/20, 10:08 PM
DeepRunner said...: Trump went at Biden and the Dems (a lounge act, no?) from several angles. He got it right and they got it wrong. Stuttering, Muttering Joe. "They want to rewrite history," a clever and sort of subtle reminder of libs, riots, and anarchists pulling down statues.; 8/1/20, 4:00 AM
rwnutjob said...: Don't try to find that ad on YouTube; 8/1/20, 5:54 AM
daskol said...: Enjoy wearing your face diapers for the next 20 years.

We are all little old Asian ladies now.; 8/1/20, 6:10 AM
Tina Trent said...: Howard and Inga: your barely-controlled stimulation discussing a summer camp in Clayton Georgia, with the usual tedious Deliverance homosexual rape slurs, is grotesque. You're just sick, miserable people.

The camp is actually a liberal bastion run by a firmly left-of-center organization. Figure that out, Inga.

I've spent a lot of time in Rabun County. Nice, hard-working, decent people who don't merit the relentless sexual slurs incontinently spewed by prejudiced leftists.

Howard: you consider this virus outbreak "winning." Do you feel the same about the outbreaks in NYC? Did they make you win? You feel comfortable slurring total strangers as homosexual rapists because of some 30-year old, racist movie that totally misrepresented the town and also James Dickey's book, Deliverance. I pity the children, elderly, gay, and sexually abused people who might be in your family, you sick prick.

Most people believe we should re-open schools, not just conservatives. Nobody has all the answers, but it doesn't seem likely we can stay locked-down or avoid resorting to herd immunity, imperfect as that is, as have many European countries that are socialist and leftist. It's one thing to criticize thought leaders and powerful journalists: it's another thing entirely to revel in certain types of children (whom you inaccurately assume to be from conservative homes) catching a virus. Sick, sick, sick.; 8/1/20, 7:12 AM
Nichevo said...: Wa St Blogger said...
Howard...

Trump owns every death above 100K

Actually, YOU own every death above 100k. You liberals are disgusting pieces of work. Advocate for policies that kill and destroy and then blame other people for the results.

Indeed! Howie, what you describe is perfect incentive for Cuomo and Whitmer and the other D crazies to crank up the deaths, because they can blame them on the President. Plus reduced social services spend, plus hammering a Republican voter demographic. I'm surprised they're not having pogroms of the elderly. Or are they. I'm surprised that you're not.

Also, PDT owns deaths over 2 million, so he's got headroom.; 8/1/20, 8:04 AM
Original Mike said...: "Math is hard. Ask Little Kenny B."

Yeah, best as I can figure out that's why he's got a stick up his butt about me. I questioned his use of math in one post. The man holds grudges.; 8/1/20, 9:54 AM
Inga said...: “...it's another thing entirely to revel in certain types of children (whom you inaccurately assume to be from conservative homes) catching a virus. Sick, sick, sick.”

You’re making a lot of assumptions here. Maybe you should question your own issues that would make you presume that I linked to the article about the camp for the reasons you assert.; 8/1/20, 10:41 AM
Bruce Gee said...: Ambrose at 11:20: "Trump also deserves credit for a federalist approach - as local conditions varied, and looking to deregulation for solutions rather than more regulation."
Thank you thank you thank you. Finally someone put the whole federal response into context!; 8/1/20, 4:27 PM