First it was raw bats, then Dems became target

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I dropped in the small photo of Joe Biden above as a contrast to the gaggle of dimwits shown at right. Just a reminder that common sense does continue to exist in our country—just not around the Oval Office at present.

Conservative “experts” have at least decided that it’s not something caused, as they first reported, by the Chinese eating bats.

Here’s comment from about a week ago (Feb. 28) by “USA Today” Opinion contributor Nikki McCann Ramirez: “CORONAVIRUS: HOW FOX NEWS AND OTHER RIGHT-WING MEDIA ENDANGER OUR HEALTH. Virtually from the moment reports of a new virus emerged out of Wuhan, China, far-right extremists began circulating theories about its origin. When experts declared that the coronavirus likely spread from bats, far-right figures began circulating videos showing Asian people consuming exotic animals. Former InfoWars personality Paul Joseph Watson tweeted, ‘Our media encourages us to eat all kinds of weird stuff because it’s ‘normal’ in other cultures,’ but ‘some cultures are better than others.’

“That evening, Fox News prime-time host Tucker Carlson also blamed the emergence of the virus on Chinese culture, erroneously claiming it was a result of people consuming animals ‘alive’.” Once the virus obviously couldn’t be dismissed as a racial thing, conservatives decided to go heavy on some way to blame Democrats for cold-heartedly “politicizing” the virus—while they in turn pooh-poohed its seriousness (out of Donald’s fear for the stock market).

Trump’s Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross cheered on the disaster in China as something that would “accelerate the return of jobs to North America.” And Rush Limbaugh, recent recipient of a medal from the president, told his listeners, “It looks like the coronavirus is being weaponized as yet another element to bring down Donald Trump . . . The coronavirus is the common cold, Folks.“ Trump himself began cutting funding for the CDC more than two years ago, leading to an 80% decrease in the resources devoted to global disease outbreaks. He also shut down the entire global health security unit of the National Security Unit.

A vaccine is “just around the corner,” according to Donald; “a year or more,” according to medical experts. Trusting the public’s traditional short memory, the Trump administration was considering finally paying for a move against the virus by cutting aid to the poor—low-income heating subsidies.

What we’ve wound up with is a society in which the welfare of the general public has been sacrificed to the self-image of a single individual via a wall along the Mexican border, His new Space Force, etc. (NOTE: Feb. 27, a federal judge in Western Washington ruled that President Trump cannot take $89 million from a military construction project at Naval Base Kitsap and use the money to fund his unconstitutional border wall.)

Here’s a March 2 comment by opinion columnist Andy Slavitt in USA Today: “He may lie, cheat and steal, but he has shaken up Washington and just look at that stock market. That (along with some help from foreign governments) is the formula President Donald Trump's team sees as his ticket to reelection. It’s also the logic to appeal to battleground independents who might not much care for Trump. But independents and even Trump loyalists have a breaking point.

“It’s one thing to purge and silence the Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency and career government employees, as Trump has done. These are dangers to our democracy and to our planet, but they seem far off to some.


“It's quite another thing, however, for Trump to wipe out the chain of command for a public health emergency, end 80% of our pandemic prevention efforts, repeatedly try to reduce the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention budget, and propose to cut $3 billion in global health funds and 40% of our uniformed public health officials. And then watch the new coronavirus hit.”

Read the entire item at: https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/03/02/coronavirus-stock-market-drops-disrupt-trump-2020-pitch-column/4906834002/

And how on earth did we ever get Vice-President Michael Pence as a virus czar? He has illustrated his belief in science in years past by telling us that smoking does not kill, as Indiana governor blocked a needle-exchange program and called instead for prayer—which was no where as effective in preventing a major HIV outbreak. And he’s in lock-step with Donald against human involvement in Climate Change. Government scientists now need Pence’s approval before making public statements about coronavirus.

Leonard Pitts Jr. of the Miami Herald summed up the situation with “we are teetering on the edge of pandemic, our lives and fortunes at stake. And our leader is an idiot. Competence has rarely been so dearly missed.”

REMEMBER: While stocking up on essentials, don’t forget your pets!