a new episode of the Trump show: “It's a comeback!”
Paul Waldman at WaPo hits the latest version of the post-prime-time presser Trump show, as Kayleigh “Kayfabe” McEnany does another Vanna White presser.
The last six months of Trump terror a.k.a. Bachelor-Grifter's Price is Reich will feature Individual-1 doing his impression of Thurston Howell on Gilligan-Epstein’s Island. Ignore that second pandemic wave, we’re making a radio from a coconut, or is it a sex toy. Ginger or Mary Ann, Kayleigh or Sarah Huckabee?
After all, only 72,812 people have died, more than what Trump calls “A Yankee Stadium of death”.
In less than a day, President Trumpsaidhis coronavirus task force might be closing shop (having done such a great job that its services are no longer necessary, I suppose), then reversed himself andtweetedthat “the Task Force will continue on indefinitely with its focus on SAFETY & OPENING UP OUR COUNTRY AGAIN.”
But either way, it seems that the president is tired of worrying about the pandemic, and wants to focus all his efforts on the economy.
As appallinga dereliction of dutyas it may be, the political calculation isn’t hard to understand. The election is six months away, and Trump knows that in the midst of a depression there’s almost no chance he could be reelected even if it weren’t for the fact that by that time a couple hundred thousand Americans may be dead because of his bungling.
[…]
In a 2008 interview about Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Mickey Rooney said he was shocked to hear that his role as Yunioshi had been branded racist by several Asian-American activists. Rooney said he was heartbroken about the criticism: “Blake Edwards…wanted me to do it because he was a comedy director. They hired me to do this overboard, and we had fun doing it….Never in all the more than 40 years after we made it—not one complaint. Every place I've gone in the world people say, 'God, you were so funny.' Asians and Chinese come up to me and say, 'Mickey, you were out of this world.'en.wikipedia.org/…
So what is Trump planning to do? Put on a show.
It’ll be a show about a great American economic comeback, and Trump will be the star. It will involve a running series of photo ops and media events, buttressed by fantastical lies and deception. And nobody is more practiced at it than him.
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Trump knows exactly how to save his reelection: With a show (This sounds exactly like a tRump plan!)https://t.co/gPN90x4Xnp
The TV producers used all their skills, and it worked, reinforcing for Trump a principle on which he had built his career: If you’re relentless enough, you can create a false image that eventually turns into reality, or at least something close. Tell everyone you’re the very embodiment of wealth and success, and you can con people into giving you so much money that you actually become wealthy and successful.
The analogy with the economy as a whole isn’t completely absurd. “Confidence” has a real-world effect: If people believe the economy will be better tomorrow than it is today, they’ll be more likely to spend and invest, which helps improve the economy.
McEnany says the notion all Americans need to be tested is “nonsensical” and “a myth”
“If we tested every single American in this country at this moment, we have to retest them an hour later…The people who need to be tested are vulnerable populations” https://t.co/9T8aUPjUrspic.twitter.com/YoDJKqXEBq
And now look at her– fucking over those very people so she could profiteer from a global pandemic. I'm sure farmers everywhere are proud. https://t.co/VtTaNvlF9L
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) May 6, 2020
— The COVID Tracking Project (@COVID19Tracking) May 6, 2020
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Trump says “there will never be a time when we don't have pre-existing conditions included.” The times they tried to pass specific bills, the bills weakened pre-existing protections. Trump is now trying to kill the ACA entirely, hasn't put forward a replacement plan.
