The GOP's demented preznit:
Massachusetts' Republican governor, Charlie Baker, has an 84% approval rating in his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic in a very blue state.
That's because Governor Baker is not a TrumpCultist, but a sane politician.
In any other time, the GOP would be begging Baker to run as their nominee for the presidency. But the GOP has lost its mind and is in thrall to a malignant narcissist who is clearly unfit to be a street sweeper, never mind a POTUS.
We in Massachusetts are fortunate to have a governor who listens to facts and surrounds himself with experts who understand infectious diseases and their spread. You won't hear our governor speculate on injecting disinfectant into the human body as a cure for a virus.
We live in an age where about 30% of the American voting population are thrilled to support a liar, a cheat, and a fraud, who daily whines and blubbers about not being treated faily, while tens of thousands of Americans die.
We can't get rid of the plague of Trumpism soon enough.
Massachusetts residents overwhelmingly approve of Gov. Charlie Baker’s response to coronavirus, new poll shows
Gov. Charlie Baker saw strong support for his administration’s efforts. About 84% of respondents said they approve of how he is handling the coronavirus outbreak in Massachusetts. About 10% disapprove.
The remaining 6% were undecided or declined to answer. President Donald J. Trump saw significantly lower approval numbers in the Bay State. About a quarter of respondents said they approved of the president’s response to the outbreak. About 66% said they disapproved. Just under 9% said they were undecided.
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Here's the latest video from The Lincoln Project, :
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32 comments:
Shaw... your governor is a great example of a politician who while having a political leaning, or ideology, must find a way to govern in a pluralistic, diverse state. Unless we have more like him, from both parties, the balkanization of America will continue.
Steve Bullock, the Dem from Montana and Mike DeWine of Ohio are two other examples of leaders able to navigate their states and appeal to both sides of the political ledger.
These leaders are who give me hope for America.
They are the types of leaders I'd like to see the Dem Candidate, be it Biden, or someone else, enlist in a truly Bi-Partisan unity cabinet designed to bring our country together, across party lines during the next 4 years. Others might include folks like Jeff Flake, Joe Scarborough, Mitt Romney or John Huntsman.
Your governor gives me hope.
HAPPY Cinco de Mayo
I am sure the Rev understands the significance of this date to Mexico.
As one of the hardest hit states in the country it is good to have a leader who can appear to be in control. No one knows the answer of how to control the spread of the virus and social distancing will delay the spread but not stop it. The only way to control it is to have an effective vaccine and that is a year or so away. By then the female president can say she stopped the spread that trump started and all will be right with the world.
Like most things that are government controlled this is not a one size fits all. In the densely populated cities social distancing and closing businesses is prudent, in Wyoming not so much. Trump decided it is up to the governors to regulate their state and that is what baker is doing so congratulations to him.
Dave, my nephew and his wife live in Colorado, and they like their Democratic governor, Jared Polis, as well, and are happy with the way he's responded to the pandemic for their state. I've heard the same from Republican friends who live in Colorado (sane ones).
Massachusetts has had more Republican governors than Democratic ones over the years: Mitt Romney, Frank Sargent, Paul Cellucci, Bill Weld, to name a few. They've all been able to work with the Democratic legislature on Beacon Hill. And Romney, as everyone knows, gave us MassHealth (Romneycare), which was model for the ACA, (Obamacare).
History will show that the presidency of DJT was an anamoly. It'll probably destroy what is left of the Republican Party, but something stronger and saner will most likely replace it, once the Trumpistas are all gone, which can't be too soon for all of us who love America.
skud: "Trump decided it is up to the governors to regulate their state and that is what baker is doing so congratulations to him."
But the Trump-backed mobs showed up yesterday on Beacon Hill screaming for Gov. Baker to re-open the state NOW!
Even Massachusetts, a progressive/liberal blue state, has its crazies.
Ms. Shaw, Agree and it is harder in urban areas than rural but people are tired of no work and no socializing. If people were reasonable they can do both but we do cater to the lowest denominator. Personal responsibility is not something all practice.
I am all for destroying both the republican and democrat party because of the power and corruption both practice. One election for president and get rid of congress. Form a board of directors who are paid and retained on performance. If we could take the corruption out of congress we could provide for all citizens and do many of the things conservatives and liberals want.
If the democrats stay with their plan of keeping biden as their candidate the election is not a shoe in. He has a lot of exploitable baggage and a very limited attention span. By November a lot can change and people will question if biden is the person to move the country forward even if it is for just three months.
Skud... yes, I'm well aware of the significance of Cinco de Mayo in Mexico. It's not even celebrated, except in Puebla. It's more of US beer industry creation.
Your other comment might be the most intelligent thing you've ever posted here. It contained the usual snark, but also included this...
"...social distancing will delay the spread [of the virus] but not stop it. The only way to control it is to have an effective vaccine and that is a year or so away."
Now if our president, who traffics daily in misinformation and lies would just publicly admit that, America would be 1000% better off. But for some reason, he can't, choosing instead to continue his pattern of minimizing the disease and lying to us.
Why is that? Anyone?
skud: "He has a lot of exploitable baggage and a very limited attention span."
We've been telling you this about Trump for years. It's gotten worse since he was electorally given the presidency. More Americans voted for Hillary than voted for Trump. He's a minority president who has LOST supporters over the years, not gained them.
There are no groups of Democrats comparable to the "Lincoln Project" and "Republicans for the Rule of Law" working to defeat Biden. Biden is ahead in the polls for now, and he's ahead in the states where Trump narrowly won electoral votes in 2016 that put him over the top for E.V.s to win (with the help of Russia, of course.) But this is May. So those polls don't mean much.
No one sees Trump acting presidential between now and come the fall when things really start to heat up.
Trump had his chance to show true leadership, compassion, and bringing together all the American people during this crisis. He failed. In the most humiliating way. And the American people will not forget what a miserable self-centered heartless swine he's been during this heart-breaking pandemic.
He deserves to lose and take what's left of the cowards in the Republican Party with him.
skud: "...people are tired of no work and no socializing..."
The states that have lifted social distancing and other precautions so people can resume normal life -- those states are experiencing spikes in new infections.
So what's your idea here? Let people go back to the way it was and spread the virus to vulnerable Americans so more Americans can die?
You go first and let us know how it worked out.
Here's a not at all comforting comparison of the USA to the Weimar Republic, a thought many of us have had. The article goes on to a guarded optimism that I do not share; I hope he's right:
'Welcome to the US in the age of coronavirus. Faces and fists pounded the windows of Ohio’s capitol like a zombie apocalypse. In Michigan, an armed crowd stormed the state house. Then, history repeated itself.
'Taking a page from his Charlottesville playbook, Donald Trump called the protesters “good people” and urged Gretchen Whitmer, the Democratic governor of Michigan, to “make a deal” over the shutdown. The president tweeted that Whitmer should “give a little, and put out the fire”. In other words, negotiate over the barrel of a gun. After all, his base was “angry”.
'One state over, in Illinois, an anti-shutdown protester waived a poster aimed at the state’s Jewish governor, JB Pritzker: “Arbeit macht frei, JB.” The words that hung over the gates of Auschwitz.
'A Trump administration insider conveyed that it was all a “bit” reminiscent of the “late” Weimar Republic. We know how that ended...'
From an email by Michael K.
Ms Shaw, You know the limited attention span was not directed at trump. Biden will win and retain the presidency for maybe three months before we have the first female president.
I can't think of a state that has "lifted" social distancing they just don't make it a crime. There is an idea out there that people will exercise personal responsibility to remain somewhat safe. That will work for some but not for all since it is not something that has been taught. No one said go back to the way it was but do go back to enjoying life while practicing caution, something most can do but some won't.
Social distancing will not cure the virus or stop it. It will slow down the migration but a vaccine will be the true cure and that is at least a year away. Should we shut the country down for a year? You might be able to afford it but most of us will not.
Skud... and everyone else.
You've got the right question... "Should we shut the country down for a year? "
I don't have an answer for that question. I wish we weren't here, but we are. IMHO, we are here because Trump screwed up, plain and simple. But we are at the point of the question. It's essentially Now what?
We can't change what's done. We just can't. So now what?
I wish I had confidence in our president to choose best, as opposed to what is best for him. But I don't. I just don't. Even the Mother Ship Captain put it like this... Trump's all we got. They know over there he's in over his head.
We're in a fix...
Rev, Easy to blame trump but the truth is no one saw this coming anywhere in the world. No one saw or could have seen the devastation a bug could cause. His mistake was minimizing the effect but I doubt it would have changed the outcome in this country. Our political elite would have castrated him had he have shut the country down in January or February before the first death. Even joe said speaking bad of the chinese was Racist.
What was he suppose to do tell bill deblob or nancy to not invite people to their cities to celebrate Chinese new year. Was he suppose to shut down the celebration in San Francisco by nancy to celebrate the impeachment. He did follow their lead and said it was nothing other than the flu. I don't blame the incompetent politicians because they don't know any better. We elect based on money not on competence. They are far to busy trying to keep their jobs and making the other party look bad.
Was it trumps fault, no, could he have done better, yes, could any democrat have done better, doubt it.
He gave the democrats what they always wanted and that is to bolster their weak image.
Why are you so reluctant to place the blame where it belongs, China. How much support was there within the democrat elected elite to go after China for past abuses, none.
skud: "Easy to blame trump but the truth is no one saw this coming anywhere in the world"
That is NOT the "truth" by a long shot. Where the hell do you get your information from? This pandemic was forecast YEARS ago. Infectious disease experts knew it would happen. When, wasn't so clear, but President Obama listened to the experts and set up a pandemic response system which Donald Trump dismantled.
You're so wrong. Experts knew this would happen.
skud: "His mistake was minimizing the effect but I doubt it would have changed the outcome in this country."
skud: "He did follow their lead and said it was nothing other than the flu."
Are you serious?! Trump is supposed to be the LEADER isn't he? He had some of the world's greatest, smartest experts on infectious disease advising him. And your blaming his failure on listening to Nancy Pelosi? That's pathetic even for you who always finds a way to blame the Dems for Republican cock-ups.
skud: "His mistake was minimizing the effect but I doubt it would have changed the outcome in this country"
Really? My Gawd! Do us a favor and read up on how South Korea handled the pandemic and how they moved quickly to contain it. Do you believe we're not as smart as South Korea? Apparently you've been drinking the "Poor Trump, It's Not His Fault" Koolaide and feel you need to make excuses for the inexcusable response by his administration.
skud: "Was it trumps fault, no, could he have done better, yes, could any democrat have done better, doubt it."
Luckily, skud, you're not going to write the history of Trump's administration and it's unconscionable response and enormous failure in this pandemic.
You and your Mother Ship friends live in a bubble that will not allow reality to bleed into your smug little world.
Again, luckily, you and your friends at that blog are a distinct minority; and even if you protect yourselves from reality and the truth, a majority of Americans and the world know what that truth is, and it is that Trump is a liar, an incompetent, and a miserable failure, and he will be reviled in American history for his stupidity and malignant narcissism that has caused the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans and will cause many more deaths coming.
At this point it doesn't matter where this disease came from, it's here now and we don't have a president capable of dealing with it.
It's really, really difficult to deal with people who remain willfully ignorant because they refuse to see the rot that is Donald Trump.
It's the beginning of May... stories about children getting this and people in their 40's having strokes because of Covid-19 have been everywhere. And yet folks on the Mothership, where Skud has a deluxe stateroom are asking this...
"Why is it apparently NOW that there are articles warning that YOUNGER PEOPLE ARE DYING, TOO!?? Where were those stats when we first started getting told that , pretty much, OLDER FOLKS ARE MOST VULNERABLE?
The answer to the question is this... it isn't just now! News outlets around the country, both in print and on television, have been saying this for weeks. But if you tune out non FOX News sources, you would obviously never hear something like this...
Shaw, you are 100% correct, but let me rephrase you... "It's really, really difficult to deal with people who remain willfully ignorant because they refuse to watch anything other than trump enabling media."
We really must ask why that is...
Shaw, skud is a respectful individual and so you keep the dialog going. And that is good actually. But given this most recent post above my only conclusion after reading is he is either a tad naive or he is a true trumptard. Hopefully it is the former.
I must say though your reply to him was spot on. Perhaps it will sink in.
RN,
Skud is welcome here because he is respectful, and I appreciate that. I do get heated in my answers. I could understand a GOPer defending his or her president, but I don’t understand ANYONE defending a terrible person like Trump. He has no redeeming qualities and has done what may be irreparable damage to our country.
If Donald Trump survives his presidency, he will spend the rest of his life having strangers come up to him and accuse him of murdering their family members.
He deserves worse.
Very good response and presents questions we will never be able to answer. Could the mistress of darkness have done better we will never know. The S Korea comparison is like apples and oranges, 51 million compared to 350 million. 38K sq miles vs 3.8 million sq miles. Healthy population where the sick elderly live with children vs obese population, unhealthy where sick elderly live in group homes which has accounted for almost 25-30% of deaths.
The rest of your post is filled with good rallying points that I am sure will be a focus in the election of joe. You said the swell guy gave him a book and he ignored it so the swell guy did his job.
Re-opening the country will result in more deaths because people will not follow reasonable safe guards and you just cant fix stupid.
You do have a point that we have known about this for years. Maybe we should have shut the country down years ago and maybe we should be building plastic bubbles instead of just masks.
The last great president once said “It isn't so much that liberals are ignorant. It's just that they know so many things that aren't so.”
I found this on a Washington Post chat yesterday:
"I found this FB post from a Georgia restaurant owner to be pretty compelling as to why these Republican governors are rushing to reopen (hint: same as ever, follow the money): "heres the deal. Kemp mandates restaurants reopen, whether I reopen dining rooms or not. I file for business interruption insurance, it does not go through since I am 'allowed' to operate at full capacity. My landlord can demand all their money, since I am allowed to fully operate. Furloughed staff that is collecting unemployment insurance have to come back to work or I have to let them go. Their unemployment insurance then goes on my tab. If things blow up again they are still on my tab not on the states since they are no longer employed. Guys this is about screwing the working class and small business, not about helping us. Thank you so much to everyone that voted this malignant tumor into office."
Pretty shocking, or not shocking at all...
Possumlady
BTW, all the senators were getting daily briefings about the virus yet the only alarm was some sold some of their stock. I would find it difficult to believe pelosi and schumer had no knowledge and invited people to gather anyway. No politician is immune from incompetence in this but that is what we get for not demanding better.
How is the search for a competent replacement for biden going. It's like jill said swallow a little bit and vote for joe. You can do better
Rev... I don't blame President trump at all for the virus. That stuff happens. But leaders are judged on their response to these types of events. And from the minute the virus arrived on our shores, and President Trump became aware of it, in early January, this became Trump issue to solve.
Looking objectively at the data and how he responded, he should get a grade of needs to improve. Look, I'm not expecting perfection. That's unrealistic. But I do expect honesty. Tell us the truth. And in that metric, President Trump fails every single day.
Are we critical? Am I critical? You bet. Because his lies and misrepresentations are endangering the American people.
As president, take whatever actions you feel are best. Then truthfully explain to us why you are doing so. They may not work, and he should tell us that too, but Americans will support a pres who tries, if he tells the truth and is honest with us.
Does it not concern any of his supporters that Trump seems, or chooses to be unable to speak the truth?
"You do have a point that we have known about this for years. Maybe we should have shut the country down years ago and maybe we should be building plastic bubbles instead of just masks."
Snark. And more snark. A reasonable person would have understood that when a president is given information by infectious disease experts, the responsible thing to do is set up a pandemic response system, which is what President Obama did. Do you remember the Ebola crisis? Do you remember how people lost their minds over it and predicted we were all going to die?
Do you remember what happened?
Do you remember that Trump became president and dismantled the pandemic response system that President Obama set up?
Your snarky, foolish comment shows that a Trumper just doesn't have the guts to look at truths and face them.
Go ahead and joke about Americans dying. And the incompetent president who allowed this disaster.
As Dave said, we Americans understand when someone does his or her best and when those best efforts are thwarted by nature and unforeseen circumstances.
Nature was cruel, that's for sure, but Trump had all the tools to deal with that cruelty and threw them away, just to spite a president who set up a way of dealing with pandemics.
That you and your friends at the Mother Ship continue to make excuses for Trump and denigrate the experts (one of them even calls Dr. Fauci a "worm!")-- is indicative of how twisted your minds have become in trying to defend the indefensible.
In the end, it won't matter. History will judge Trump and the people who still support him the way history has judged other incompetent leaders and their blind syncophantic supporters.
Possumlady Those are Trump supporters that the Republican governor of Georgia is stabbing in the back. I hope they remember this betrayal when they vote in November.
Shaw said speaking of Trump voters in Georgia... "I hope they remember this betrayal when they vote in November."
If they live long enough to vote...
Your right Ms Shaw. History will judge incompetent leaders and some will make millions in book deals and TV specials, some will leave office and disappear and some will build houses. The way of the world and for REV, honest politician is the definition of oxymoron. There is no such thing.
Skud, What I is S. Korea' death rateer/m compared to the USA's deaths per/m. That my friend IS a more meaninhful metric. It is worth asking why it is the USA has the highest number of deaths/m of ANY nation on the planet. And, we are alledgedly the MOST medically and technological advance nation on the globe. As well as the wealthiest. Have you asked why that is?
RN, Deaths per thousand, Belgium 69, Spain 54, France 37, Italy 48, US 21
You need to change your search engine or tune in something other than MSDNC or CNN.
To skud: We don't know how many Americans have died. And we can bet on it that the true numbers may be being suppressed by the president. You do know that in Florida (where my sister lives) the Republican governor has stopped the reporting of how many deaths are in that state.
From the Miami Herald:
The head of the Florida Medical Examiner’s Commission, which governs the state’s 21 medical examiners, has insisted the information — including the names — is subject to disclosure under the state’s public records law. The administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis, which oversees state health regulators, has warned the examiners to keep the information secret.
“The Department of Health is telling the medical examiners it cannot release this information that the medical examiners have been releasing on a regular basis,” said Barbara Petersen, president emeritus of the First Amendment Foundation, an open-government watchdog in Tallahassee.
“For whatever reason, our governor is trying to hide information — first about nursing homes, and now from medical examiners. They are trying to paint a rosy picture by refusing to provide us accurate information that allows us to make informed decisions about the health and safety of our families,” Petersen said.
I don't doubt for one minute that the biggest liar to ever sit in the Oval Office wouldn't want to suppress the actual Covid-19 deaths nationwide.
Remember, Trump is the president who lied that there were only 15 cases in the US and those would all go away and everything would be fine.
Trump is a pathological liar and he's in charge of the government and the government's reporting.
Nothing gets past that liar.
The point Skud is our numbers given America's exprrtise if you will is HAD Trump taken info he was being given in Feb via briefings and reactrd much sooner than he did the death/m as well as total deaths would most certainly be lower.
Now many states are reopening and their cases of hospitizations ore still increasing every day. It is true everyone wants to open the economy and get back to work and some sense of normalacy. I get that and I want every states economy opened. But I, like most of the good people of America want ot done AS SAFELY AS IS HUMANY POSSIBLE. Which for me means FOLLOWING THE president's own guidelines, something which isn't happening in MANY states. MA, NY, CT to cite 3 states that are folllwing sesible guidlines for reopening just MAKES SENSE to most folks skud. Unless one believes the scientists and medical experts don't know what they are talking about or simply don't care.
You are right though. I should have checked the data of every country. My bad.
Tony Schwartz, who wrote Trump's "Art of the Deal" for Trump and put Trump's name on it, said this:
"With certainty: Trump will begin questioning the Corona virus death toll. And imply a conspiracy against him."
RN, Makes sense and you can't check everything
People need to do what they feel comfortable with as far as going back to the new normal. MA, NY, CT are all densely populated states with large cities. What makes sense for them is different than what makes sense for WY, MT,etc and that is the reason states should determine what is best for them.
Ms Shaw, Like any statistic the number of deaths is blurry. Corona is blamed for a lot of deaths where it may have been a contributing factor but not the cause. I don't believe there are factual numbers and I think it is probably higher than reported. Generally there is not a single cause of death in these cases it is just one of the factors.
I understand your hatred for Trump and I wish we had a better option but the DNC needs to step up and give us one. The women he assaulted is now asking for him to quite his bid so the DNC has an opportunity to replace him otherwise we will have another four years of trump.
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