Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

This chaos was totally avoidable.

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

Those who are easily outraged are easily manipulated.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / Trump Press Conference – “I Don’t Take Responsibility At All”

Trump Press Conference – “I Don’t Take Responsibility At All”

by | 198 Comments

This post is in: ,

The previous thread is getting long. Here’s a new one.

Reader Interactions

198Comments

  5. 5.

    Shalimar

    The parts I heard were horrible.  Straight up bullshiting and ass kissing.  Not surprised the market approves of getting a bunch of CEOs to talk about the profits to be made, though. Sociopaths all the way down.

  6. 6.

    Zinsky

    “I don’t take any responsibility at all….”

    Those may be the truest words Donald J. Trump has spoken in his repulsive life.

  8. 8.

    VOR

    @JPL: He refuses to take responsibility for that either. Nothing is ever his fault. He could not possibly make a mistake.

    This is why Narcisstic Personality Disorder makes poor leaders.

  9. 9.

    JPL

    doctor let me kiss your ass, keeps shaking her head in agreement.   She’s like a bobble head doll.   I wonder if the RNC will sell them.

  11. 11.

    Aleta

    Also a great move making undocumented people afraid to go  to a clinic or hospital for medical help.

  12. 12.

    WereBear

    @JPL: Last weekend. Saturday evening, I think. I was doing okay because we have the CDC! We have Obama’s Pandemic Response Team.

    But no, we don’t. 2018 he let them all go and filled the CDC with Fundagelical Christian Culture Warriors instead.

    It was like seeing the First Zombie and knowing everything is different now.

  13. 13.

    KateP

    Follow up question should have been -“Have you ever taken responsibility for anything?” And it has to be restricted to negative things.

  15. 15.

    cthulhu

    “The buck stops here” Plaque on Harry S. Truman’s desk.

    A plaque soon to be on Donald J. Trump’s desk:

    “Get that buck out of here! Unless it is an actual buck. You can leave those here.”

    (RM got there first!)

  16. 16.

    Immanentize

    Question to Pence — How beautiful is Trumps ass?  Your lips spend a lot of time there and can tell the American people….

  17. 17.

    Scout211

    North Thurston School District (Washington) just announced it will be closed until April 24.  My daughter teaches there and my grandkids attend.  That is a long time, although one week of it is Spring Break.

  19. 19.

    BroD

    “I don’t take any responsibility at all….”

    Just credit if anything turns out not to be a disaster.

  21. 21.

    VOR

    Did you notice he made sure OAN got to ask a question? And then they asked about the conspiracy theory. Supposedly some people in China have a conspiracy theory that the US created COVID.

  23. 23.

    Marcopolo

    @germy: This should be the kick that every state needs to go to vote by mail. And in time for the November election.  If Republicans bitch that this makes it too easy to vote remind them the alternative is folks 70+ who are afraid to go to the polls.

  24. 24.

    The Truffle

    On Twitter last night, people were speculating that Trump would up and resign and possibly just hightail it to Russia.

    Would have been nice if he did.

    Right now he has to be sundowning. Has to.

  25. 25.

    arrieve

    I just can’t. I turned on the TV in the middle of this fuckfest. Most of the questions are useless, and the ones that aren’t get the mike turned off. I think he actually believes the fact that he doesn’t know that the pandemic response team was disbanded absolves him of any responsibility for it.

  27. 27.

    Ruckus

    “I don’t take responsibility at all”

    So he wanted the job for the golf weekends? What did he think taking the top job in government was about? Other than the golf weekends and a job for his idiot children and stepson of course…..

    He is far, far more harmful than the most useless person on the planet. And he wasn’t before he asked for the job, then he was just the most useless person on the planet. Now he’s the most destructive person, what with his total moronic self holding the office and thinking he’s not responsible for anything. He’s a lying sack of shit. He’s a fucking moron. He’s a horrible human being, maybe the most horrible in a long time.

    He is, by far and away the worst president we’ve ever had, no contest whatsoever. He’s not in the bottom five, he IS the bottom five worst

    I know a person in jail for murder. She’s been in for almost 50 yrs. She’s a better person than shit for brains.

  28. 28.

    mrmoshpotato

    Just let Wilmer’s supporters harass and wag their fingers at the virus.  It’ll throw in the towel.

  31. 31.

    Scout211

    Governor Brown of Oregon announced all public K-12 schools in the state will be closed for at least the next two weeks.

  34. 34.

    Mary G

    The dismissiveness of the retailers and Dr. Fauci about lack of hand sanitizer is white privilege and “let them eat cake” on steroids. Literally ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

  35. 35.

    Another Scott

    @JPL:

    TheHill:

    Russ Vought, the acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, on Tuesday doubled down on proposed cuts to health services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), despite the coronavirus outbreak.

    Vought came under intense questioning from Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.) at a hearing about President Trump’s 2021 budget request. It proposed cutting Health and Human Services funding by $9.5 billion, including a 15 percent cut of $1.2 billion to the CDC and a $35 million decrease to the Infectious Diseases Rapid Response Reserve Fund’s annual contribution.

    “The question I have is, are we prepared to fight pandemics if we cut from programs that are specifically designed to prepare for them, including the coronavirus?” Cartwright asked.

    […]

    They’re know-nothing monsters. That’s what’s happening, and has been happening since January 2017.

    We have to vote the monsters out.

    Grr…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  43. 43.

    MisterForkbeard

    @WaterGirl: I’m not panicked, but I’m definitely not reassured. This was basically the minimum response… for last week.

    I’m reassured that we can pressure Trump into at least some changes, but… Christ, this was bad. :/

  45. 45.

    TaMara (HFG)

    I am having evil thoughts. But as my niece said to me in the car as I turned off the unflushable turd, “Well, he is an evil person.”

    She’s 13. She shouldn’t have to be this smart yet.

  46. 46.

    geg6

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    She’s a fundie.  I have yet to meet a fundie who knows anything at all about biology or any science for that matter.  She may have at one time back when she was young, but fundamentalism rots the brain.  Just ask the CHEM110 students here on campus (oooops, via Zoom) about their fundie chem professor.

  47. 47.

    Ken

    In Illinois, no statewide closings yet, but some Chicago suburban schools are closing until early April, when they’ll assess reopening.

    Also several Catholic archdioceses have cancelled all masses, and other large churches are cancelling services.

  48. 48.

    HumboldtBlue

    @WaterGirl:

    My anxiety shot through the roof when I started reading about Italy.

    Here’s a reminder that humans, even in the face of tragedy, can still be awesome. (Posted this last night)

    Siena Italy

  49. 49.

    bemused

    @Mary G:

    He’s probably lying he didn’t know. If he did or didn’t know, he still has no capacity nor concern to be a president or anything else.

  52. 52.

    JWR

    @KateP:

    Follow up question should have been -“Have you ever taken responsibility for anything?”

    That occurred to me the other day. I mean, I watch Yamiche Alcindor on PBS struggling not to say, “and he lied, again and again”

    I did hear her use the L word during her first months at the station, but I’m sure Judy Woodruf let her know what’s what with that.

  56. 56.

    scav

    Paerty of Personal Responsibility!  Party of Personal Responsibility!  Your Leader and associated moment have arrived!

  57. 57.

    Duane

    @pamelabrown53: Trumpov might have got away with the announcement part of the presser, but taking questions was a disaster. He knew how awful it was, trying to get reporters to question other people, trying to hide behind them. He’s a coward. No responsibility at all. Never thought a president would say such a thing.

  58. 58.

    Calouste

    I saw a picture of a protest sign today (probably from a climate march, but applies here as well):

    ”Every disaster movie starts with the government ignoring a scientist “

  60. 60.

    Ruckus

    @TaMara (HFG):

    No, it’s better that she is that smart and that she knows at 13 what maximum stupid looks/sounds like. Kicking the current republican party to the curb is an all will be one, if not the most important elections in our history. She of course can not vote but this is about her future. She needs to know what a better future means for her. And what a republican future means for her.

    I’m glad she does.

  61. 61.

    Kent

    @Scout211:North Thurston School District (Washington) just announced it will be closed until April 24.  My daughter teaches there and my grandkids attend.  That is a long time, although one week of it is Spring Break.

    Insley just announced that all Washington schools statewide will be closed AT LEAST until April 24.  So we have the same thing down here in the Vancouver area.

  64. 64.

    WereBear

    What’s clear is they don’t want to test. So they are blocking it in every way at their disposal; which is all of them, Katie.

    Restricting materials, getting the wrong tests, refusing established tests, creating confusing ways to get tested: none of it matters. They are going to slow walk it to keep the numbers down.

    Yes, even now.

  65. 65.

    chris

    The largest university in Halifax, Dalhousie and King’s College, goes online next week. Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, recommends cancelling any international travel. There is, she said, a risk of being quarantined in a foreign country or, worse, sick in a country with a poor medical system. Not sure what she meant by that last part.//

  69. 69.

    Scout211

    @Kent: Thanks for the update.  I didn’t know it was all the public schools in the state, like Oregon.  Yikes.

  70. 70.

    BroD

    BTW: we don’t need to build emergency health care facilities–there’s plenty of vacant space at shopping centers  Just sayin’.

  71. 71.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Aleta: An inspiration for what Dense – to vote all you fuckers out, and then start criminal trials on January 20, 2021 12:02PM Eastern?

  73. 73.

    germy

    COVID-19 containment with style: A first-hand account of the virus containment efforts in Italy

    This is a guest post from Gabriel Cardona-Fox who lives in Bologna, Italy with his wife Patricia and two daughters.  He is an Associate Fellow at the Bologna Institute for Policy Research at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) – Europe. He received a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin, an MA from Johns Hopkins SAIS and a BA from Princeton University.  His research revolves around internal forced migration and humanitarian affairs.  

  74. 74.

    Ruckus

    @Duane:

    Never thought a president would say such a thing.

    He may be the president, but he is in no way presidential. He is the complete opposite of what a president is. GWB was better and he’s a complete ass. Nixon was better and he was a lying sack of shit.

    He didn’t cause COVID-19, he had one job with it and that was to make sure it killed the least number of people, by letting others do their actual job. He fucked that up. He says he didn’t know, he says he’s not responsible. But he can’t not be responsible, it’s his job, the one he got “elected” to do.

    Be the responsible adult in the room. That is the entire job description in one sentence.

    And he’s totally incapable of that. And just admitted it. An actual human being would resign. But he can’t take responsibility.

  75. 75.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @WereBear:

    Restricting materials, getting the wrong tests, refusing established tests, creating confusing ways to get tested: none of it matters. They are going to slow walk it to keep the numbers down.

    They won’t be able to hide the deaths from this in a few weeks to a month or so. People will notice that. The media (sans Fox News) will report it

  76. 76.

    Shalimar

    @WereBear: I do not understand why they have such a difficult time understanding exponential growth.  Testing 100,000 now so you can quarantine the infected and not have to test 10,000,000 in a month is not complicated.

  78. 78.

    Suzanne

    @BroD:

    BTW: we don’t need to build emergency health care facilities–there’s plenty of vacant space at shopping centers  Just sayin’.

    I guarantee you that you do not want to receive healthcare at a vacant shopping center.
    I’ve seen things.

  79. 79.

    Ruckus

    @John Revolta:

    The catholic church may have spread the word that they all have to suspend mass because otherwise they will be killing the checkbook. It’s not like they don’t have a bit saved up in Rome. The church will be OK, as long as there are parishioners to come back after the major fan shitting event.

  80. 80.

    Sherparick

    • @geg6: They have to wipe out that knowledge about biology & for that matter physics & geology to maintain their Creationist beliefs.
  82. 82.

    WereBear

    Listening to Governor Cuomo: D NY saying they have what they need to start testing in the state. Ramping up all labs and procedures.

    Someone read someone the riot act.

  84. 84.

    delk

    We’re shutting down our country because of the — the cold virus, which is what coronaviruses are. This is COVID-19, the 19th version of the coronavirus. Rush Limbaugh

    I don’t think that is what the 19 means.

  85. 85.

    Subsole

    @WereBear:

    If trump loses the election, he loses immunity for all the horrid shit he has pulled. Probably costs the Conservative Movement some very hard-won ground, too. People with petty souls, long memories, and LOTS of options.

    He will sodomize his children on live teevee before he does anything that might tank his numbers.

  86. 86.

    Leto

    @Suzanne:

    There’s a reason they’re vacant: people didn’t want to go there for the intended purpose, sure as hell don’t want to go there for “medical care”.

  88. 88.

    Scout211

    All Illinois K-12 schools (public and private) closed starting Tuesday.  Governor is now announcing it.

  89. 89.

    Suzanne

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: They’re not just creepy. They’re not built to the same code requirements for fire, egress, air changes, structure, etc.

    Hospitals are already fairly risky places. The absolute last thing we need right now is a bunch of highly infectious people in crappy interior environments.

  91. 91.

    WereBear

    @Subsole: Yes, but now governors called his bluff: they are doing their jobs and pressured him to do his.

    I’m beginning to see the upside of that whole “laboratory of the states” thing.

    But I think THIS can’t be handwaved away: I just heard the latest epidemic math. We aren’t going to be able to flatten that curve enough.

    We will have a higher mortality rate in the vulnerable population. Because of all the mistakes of the Trump administration.

  94. 94.

    Leto

    @Immanentize: Those concrete monoliths will be will humanity for a long time. I’m pretty sure my hometown, back in SC, still has the K-Mart shopping center that’s been abandoned for close to thirty years. I know there’s some photo essays of abandoned American malls floating around the ‘tubes.

  95. 95.

    Bufflars

    North Shore of Milwaukee suburbs have closed their schools through April 12th, to be reevaluated then.

  96. 96.

    Calouste

    @BroD: On the coasts they can use cruise ships, they’re not in business at the moment. Only after a triple disinfection of course. Bonus: every large cruise ship has a morgue.

  97. 97.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @delk:

    It doesn’t. The 19 refers to the year the virus was identified in. COVID-19 is short for “Novel coronavirus 2019”

  98. 98.

    The Moar You Know

    I guarantee you that you do not healthcare at a vacant shopping center.  I’ve seen things.

    @Suzanne:  Suspect water supply is the biggest issue with retail space.  Suspect construction.  Bad power.  Decades worth of shit ground into every single crack in any surface.  And everyone’s friend, asbestos.

    I haven’t seen things, I’ve actually worked on them.  If you wanna use a shopping center for medical purposes, you’re committing to stripping the building down to the foundation and studs and rebuilding from there.

    The military is sitting on top of thousands of top-grade battlefield medical tents.  I don’t know why we can’t use those.

  99. 99.

    PenAndKey

    @Subsole: and it’s rhetorical like that which makes me perfectly willing to day I want every one of the fuckers trying to “both sides” this to get sick and need an ICU room but find out all the beds are full and they don’t meet the triage metrics.

  100. 100.

    Glidwrith

    San Diego Unified school district and Carlsbad school district in California have closed as well until April 6th. One week of that is Spring Break.

  101. 101.

    Jeffro

    @Ruckus:

    So he wanted the job for the golf weekends? What did he think taking the top job in government was about? Other than the golf weekends and a job for his idiot children and stepson of course…..

    He is far, far more harmful than the most useless person on the planet. And he wasn’t before he asked for the job, then he was just the most useless person on the planet. Now he’s the most destructive person, what with his total moronic self holding the office and thinking he’s not responsible for anything. He’s a lying sack of shit. He’s a fucking moron. He’s a horrible human being, maybe the most horrible in a long time.

     

    Amen and amen.

    Remember, he was going to have VP Kasich do all the actual governing, while he just ran around ‘making America great again’ (per Don Jr)

    Let’s face it, he – and the GOP – just wanted an old white guy back in charge again.  Too traumatic seeing a successful African-American president for eight scandal-free years.

  102. 102.

    Immanentize

    @Leto: In my hometown it’s the “Oakdale Mall.”  Not dead yet!  But on its way.

    Oh, the places we lost — Recordland!  Spencer Gifts!  Orange Julius!

  104. 104.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @WereBear:

     I just heard the latest epidemic math. We aren’t going to be able to flatten that curve enough.

    Do you have a source? I’ve seen the peak is estimated to occur in late April or mid-May

  107. 107.

    The Moar You Know

    I don’t think that is what the 19 means.

    @delk: For once in his rotten life, he’s dead right.

    And I had to discuss this with my dad yesterday, who was hopeful/somewhat confident that we’d have a vaccine “soon”.  We’ve been trying for over a hundred years to make a vaccine for the common cold and we can’t.  The common cold is a coronavirus.  There is not going to be a vaccine this year, next year, or in my whole life.

  109. 109.

    Suzanne

    @The Moar You Know: Air changes are the biggest one. Most retail HVAC cannot come anywhere near what is required for sanitary healthcare. And leaky roofs, which means mold.

    The vast majority of hospitals built before 1980 are riddled with asbestos. And we find it in hospitals built after 1980, too.

  110. 110.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @The Moar You Know:

    Two years there was a hospital closure in my area, leaving three major hospitals in my county. A former hospital would be a great place to house/quarantine in the event other hospitals become overwhelmed. The problem would be getting the right equipment and staff for patients. Perhaps the National Guard or military doctors/medics could staff such places?

  111. 111.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Jeffro:

    Remember, he was going to have VP Kasich do all the actual governing, while he just ran around ‘making America great again’ (per Don Jr) 

    Fuck.  I’d forgotten about that line of horseshit.

  115. 115.

    Immanentize

    @mrmoshpotato: He is just a mean SOB who intends to take out as many MFers as possible.  Because other people are not brilliant rich people like him.  “Let them go to their maker like I am unjustly being forced to do!”  Their politics be damned!

  117. 117.

    WereBear

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): WaPo today

    Consider the ventilators

    For those severely ill with a respiratory disease such as covid-19, ventilators are a matter of life or death because they allow patients to breathe when they cannot on their own.

    In a report last month, the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins estimated the United States has a total of 160,000 ventilators available for patient care (with at least an additional 8,900 in the national stockpile).

    A planning study run by the federal government in 2005 estimated that if the United States were struck with a moderate pandemic like the 1957 influenza, the country would need more than 64,000 ventilators. If we were struck with a severe pandemic like the 1918 Spanish flu, we would need more than 740,000 ventilators — many times more than are available.
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/03/13/coronavirus-numbers-we-really-should-be-worried-about/

     

    So do we have 1957 or 1918? We can’t be sure because testing is STILL blocked and only starting to loosen up.

  118. 118.

    Subsole

     

    @WereBear: Fair points. I don’t have much hope the blame will fall appropriately, but maybe you’re right. Nothing like putting Republicans in charge to remind you why you voted ’em out last time I guess…

  122. 122.

    Mary G

    Surprise! The website isn’t coming “next week”:

    Statement from Verily: "We are developing a tool to help triage individuals for Covid-19 testing. Verily is in the early stages of development, and planning to roll testing out in the Bay Area, with the hope of expanding more broadly over time.— Google Communications (@Google_Comms) March 13, 2020

    That stupid “flow chart” Pence held up looked like amateur hour.

  124. 124.

    WereBear

    @Subsole: The reason so many people seem to determined to kill themselves with their vote is the enormous influence inflicted by deliberate propaganda from both Faux News and fanatical religion.

    This is about 1/3 of the population and they are hopeless. They also cheat. We need to get out the vote to get past the cheater’s edge.

  125. 125.

    Subsole

    @Jeffro: True. Bunch of assholes threw a tantrum ’cause they ain’t nineteen anymore and ain’t gonna be ever again. And here we are.

    Smartest thing I ever heard was that they hated Obama because he was the black man who SAVED them.

    They could grit their teeth if he was just black. But the fact he pulled their asses out of the fire they set for themselves? Oh child…

  126. 126.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @WereBear:

    Thanks. It’s better to overreact than under-react imo in these situations. I’d assume 1918 pandemic levels

  129. 129.

    Aleta

    Sherrod Brown @SenSherrodBrown

    Not true,
    @realDonaldTrump
    . I wrote to you more than 600 days ago demanding answers after you fired the entire White House pandemic team.

    (copy of letter)

  130. 130.

    Subsole

    @PenAndKey:

    Yeah. Though I really do wonder how much of the blame goes to the talent and how much to the producers?

    Much as I hate ’em, we are usually looking at the monkeys, not the organ-grinders…

     

     

     

     

    Except David Brooks.

     

    Fuck that guy.

    He knows exactly what he’s done.

  132. 132.

    mrmoshpotato

    @WereBear:

    The reason so many people seem to determined to kill themselves with their vote is the enormous influence inflicted by deliberate propaganda from both Faux News and fanatical religion. 

    We can’t forget the tens of millions who used their votes to send a message.  That message – “Go fuck yourself, Hillary!”

  134. 134.

    WereBear

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): And we are acting NOW, it will get spread out, we hope; but it’s criminal how much time we lost. That’s what I hear from so many sources: they do the math and keep hoping it’s less virulent because otherwise is so frightening.

    Yes, there’s more smoking in China, plus air pollution. But high blood pressure and diabetes is rampant in the US; and that’s a real negative for mortality, too.

  138. 138.

    Jeffro

    @Immanentize: It’s funny…who’s Rush going to leave that fortune to, anyway?  I don’t think he has any kids, and he probably isn’t going to leave a dime to his four ex-wives.

    Maybe the Central American Sex Tourism Bureau*?  Whatever trade association represents cigar makers or hearing-aid companies?

    *per his 2011 comments…not making that up

    Here’s hoping he failed to do any estate planning and that most of it ends up taxed and lawyered away.  I’d hate to think of it going straight to another TCNJ jackass

  139. 139.

    Another Scott

    Warning – Politico:

    The House is expected to vote Friday afternoon on a multi-billion dollar package drafted by Democrats, which would guarantee access to food, affordable testing and paid time off for people whose lives are disrupted by the virus. But it’s unclear how many Republicans, if any, will back the bill without Trump’s support.

    “Senate Democratic Leader Schumer and I, last weekend, called for further action to put families first. Today, we are passing a bill that does just that,” Pelosi said at a press conference on the “Speaker’s Balcony” outside her office. She made no mention of her conversations with Mnuchin, and ignored a question about whether she has reached a deal with the White House. Pelosi and Mnuchin have held at least nine phone calls on Friday as they strove to reach an agreement.

    “Our nation, our great nation, has faced crises before,” Pelosi said in a speech notably devoid on the partisan aspects of the debate. “Now working together we will once again prevail, and we will come out stronger than before.”

    […]

    The fate of the multi-billion dollar package has been thrown into flux on Friday by last-minute nervousness by House Republicans, who want Trump to openly embrace the bill to provide them political cover.

    House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) went to the White House to meet directly with Trump earlier in the day on the coronvirus package and came back with a negative response. McCarthy later told Republicans that Mnuchin did not support the House bill in its current form, according to GOP lawmakers and aides.

    “Every time they exchange papers, it’s, ‘Well, that’s not what we agreed to.’ It’s that kind of disconnect,” Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said of the ongoing negotiations.

    Without an agreement, it’s unclear whether the House would need to return to Washington next week for Democrats to hammer out legislation with the White House and GOP leaders.

    A senior House Republican lawmaker, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Trump’s demand for a payroll tax cut as part of this legislative package — which could cost hundreds of billions of dollars — has been the sticking point for the president. Congressional leaders in both parties have been lukewarm to Trump’s proposal at best, while also noting it would be something both chambers will take up in the next coronavirus initiative.

    https://www.c-span.org/video/?470342-2/house-members-coronavirus-response

    Go, Nancy, Go. Get it done.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  141. 141.

    Raven Onthill

    I have decided that Trump has a theme song: Bob Esty’s “It’s Not Our Fault.” (Can’t find the original recording, but that one is fun.)

  142. 142.

    Immanentize

    @Jeffro: He has a mostly reasonable sister who I remember defended him 5 or 7 years ago as family?  I looked once for that article after the “SLUT!” comments (can’t remember the young target’s name) but couldn’t find it….

  143. 143.

    A Ghost to Most

    Interesting. I’ve never seen a mob boss use his communicable disease as a loyalty test. He truly is a piece of shit.

  144. 144.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Subsole:

    Except David Brooks.

     

    Fuck that guy.

    He knows exactly what he’s done.

    Written bullshit for decades and been paid handsomely!

    I wonder if Driftglass will mention David Fucking Brooks on tonight’s Professional Left episode.  There’s bound to be much talk of “President Stupid.”

  145. 145.

    terry chay

    @The Moar You Know: The reason there is no cure for “the common cold” is because the “common cold” is not one virus but a set of symptoms for a host of different viruses and bacteria. The most common of them is the rhinovirus which is too small for our antibodies to recognize and combat. Vaccines depend on teaching our immune system.

    As for the coronavirus. I’ll bet they’ll have a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 maybe in 18 months (assuming that they relax testing protocols enough to cut 6 months off of that, else 2 years).

  146. 146.

    Mary G

    Attn Subaru Diane and other opera lovers:

    .@MetOpera, after shutting its doors, will offer free streams from its Live in HD catalog: https://t.co/VsNHAQ7Vor pic.twitter.com/wa4eekrIOJ— Playbill (@playbill) March 13, 2020

    Our school district, which has remained open with its head in the sand by refusing to close because there have been no cases here, is abruptly announcing an emergency meeting tonight of the Board of Trustees to close schools starting Monday. Just yesterday they sent a message to parents pretty much poo-pooing the idea. It’s going to be bad for the teen.

  148. 148.

    Leto

    @delk: @Immanentize: don’t know if it’s a charter scam but I’m glad they’re reusing it. We have a lot of old infrastructure that I’m sure we could do that with, re-purpose for something else. Just need people like Suzanne to make sure it’s done correctly.

  149. 149.

    mrmoshpotato

    @WereBear: Also racism – sixty-two million bigots and imbeciles had to “suffer” through 8 years of an intelligent, decent President who was black.

  150. 150.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Another Scott: Thank you again to everyone who kept their Representative’s seat blue or flipped it blue.  I can’t imagine 4 years of no checks and balances.  Two was bad enough, and it’s still pretty bad, but we have footing to fight.

  153. 153.

    Subsole

     

     

    @WereBear: Oh I know, man. Seen it all my life. And it’ a reinforcing network of interlocking propaganda – church, fox, online, radio…

    Any ideas on how to break it? ‘Cause you are absolutely right about how destructive it is.

    I mean, these fuckers are a straight drug cartel -they just pack their opiates in hatred and fear and self-righteousness instead of gelcaps.

  157. 157.

    A Ghost to Most

    From Rubin’s latest at WaPo:

    The OH Predictive Insights Arizona poll shows “Biden leading President Donald Trump in a head-to-head matchup by 6 points. However, the same poll shows Trump beating Sen. Bernie Sanders by 7 points.” Here is the critical point: “The reason for this performance gap between Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden is that less than three-quarters of the respondents who said they would vote for Biden in a head to head match up with Donald Trump also said they would vote for Sanders if he were to be the nominee.”

  158. 158.

    debbie

    OMG, I listened from work and almost puked at the non-stop tongue bath Trump was given.

  159. 159.

    ballerat

    @Mary G: It’s not going to be used to triage testing. It will be used to triage the seriously ill. And for Google, to get into the medical data field. They want data like what Epic is sitting on.

  162. 162.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Mary G:

    Awesome news, I think? That was the ruling that basically made it impossible for Congress to require testimony from Admin officials

  163. 163.

    Ruckus

    @Shalimar:

    It’s not complicated. It does require actual thought and the people in charge now do not do actual thought. They follow the script that they are given. That is the sum total of their mental capacity, following orders/scripts

  164. 164.

    Ken

    @Mary G: Don’t they realize the President has a major crisis to ignore and can’t be distracted from his golf score by petty issues like this?

  165. 165.

    LuciaMia

    Keep thinking of the Simpsons episode, where Bart gets famous with his catch phrase, “I didn’t do it!”

  167. 167.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @debbie: Well, a bunch of old, overly privileged, white Guys having to orally service Trump on National TV is a very, very small price to pay for getting the states more money to fight this thing.

    And if they will have given each other the virus during all the totally NOT gay fun;  those executives will be able to die knowing that they helped their fellow citizens for once in their otherwise worthless lives.

  168. 168.

    Marcopolo

    I’ve now watched a couple of clips of Trump getting tough questions. It looks like they were cutting off the mic with reporters whose questions they did not like so they could not do any follow up.

    Trump is a coward.

  170. 170.

    Ruckus

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Once the occupancy gets below break even it’s better to close the doors than run it at a loss. And once it’s closed there is no reason for someone else to purchase it, it’s zoned for sales, not production or medical or really anything else. So until someone with enough money comes along to purchase it, turn it into a field or possibly nice housing it’s going to sit there, a nice write off for someone.

  171. 171.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Mary G: How do one “triage” a test? Triage means some of the patients can wait, some can’t be saved.

  178. 178.

    Mary G

    @satby: No, they are open if you make an account and at least on my phone, download their app. I haven’t, just use the login from the subscription I cancelled in 2017 on the PC. Apps are garbage.

  179. 179.

    Mary G

    Senior WH official tells @NewsHour that President Trump has approved the House Dems coronavirus response bill after Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a deal had been struck.The official says keep an eye on Twitter for an announcement coming soon.— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) March 13, 2020

  183. 183.

    Marcopolo

    If you ever need an example to show how reporters clean up for Trump’s lying, this little outtake from The 1A is a perfect example. Click through and listen. It’s about 90 seconds long.

    Heard this on @1A today and it's so revealing and important. Host @toddzwillich catches White House reporter sanitizing Trump's disinformation about COVID-19 as "rosy spin," and you can feel the immense difficulty the guest had acknowledging reality: Trump's comments are false. pic.twitter.com/597XF4lMOz— subscribe to my newsletter (@brianbeutler) March 13, 2020

  185. 185.

    Geminid

    Well, on the bright side we now have better prospects of flipping Senate seats in ME, AZ, CO, NC, IA, MT, TX, KS, SC, and KY. And 2 in GA. Barbara Boullier’s chances in Kansas may be especially enhanced, what with her being “a doctor, not a politician, who wants to clean up the mess in Washington,” as her campaign website presciently stated. She is actually a State Senator, besides being a doctor, but good copywriting is good copywriting.

  186. 186.

    Mary G

    Yamiche brings the shade:

    A senior White House official on Trump’s support of the bill adds that it should be called “the Mnuchin-Pelosi package.” The official name of bill is the “Families First Coronavirus Response Act.”— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) March 13, 2020

  189. 189.

    Ruckus

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    In my travels around the country I’ve seen a number of abandoned malls. I don’t know where, if anywhere there is a major number of them but mostly they were overbuilt for the surrounding areas and never really took off. I’d bet that it’s the customer base size that was overestimated when it was built and the people just never showed up. I know that Wal Mart at one time wouldn’t build if there wasn’t 50k people within a certain sized radius, they just would never justify the money.

  190. 190.

    Mike in NC

    “I don’t take responsibility at all,” Trump says

    Carve that on the old pigfucker’s tombstone, which people will gladly wait in line for several hours to piss on.

  191. 191.

    Gravenstone

    @delk: Why don’t we let someone who has a serious case of covid-19 lick your eyeballs, Rush. (cruel to the licker, yes) Then we can sit back and see how you feel about “the 19th version of the cold”. Fucking ambulatory waste of protoplasm.

  192. 192.

    waspuppet

    Knew it. ABC and CNN have Trump’s blame-shifting way down on the front page. NBC and CBS have nothing at all. The main headlines on all four homepages — Trump announces national emergency, stocks go through roof.

    They’re trying so hard to make him sound like a coherent president.

  193. 193.

    joel hanes

    @Mary G:

    Soap and water are much better than sanitizer.

    https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2020/3/11/21173187/coronavirus-covid-19-hand-washing-sanitizer-compared-soap-is-dope
     

    Even here in the Silicon Valley epicenter of infection, I was able to score a dozen bars of Dial.

    Personal wash kit:  two baggies, two washcloths, dishtowel:  in one baggie, a  washcloth wet with very soapy water; in the other, a washcloth wrung damp to wipe off the soap; the handtowel for drying after.  Inexpensive , renewable , available.

  194. 194.

    Mike G

    Some of the MAGAts who voted for this orange trash are going to die from his negligence, and I don’t feel sorry for them at all.

  195. 195.

    J R in WV

    @The Moar You Know:

    The military is sitting on top of thousands of top-grade battlefield medical tents. I don’t know why we can’t use those.

    But, but, but!!

    What if we have to attack Iran, or Iraq, or The DPRK, real soon now?!?!!!! We’ll need those battlefield medical tents! Why would you put sick people in a tent when they could have a closed Macy’s building?!?

    ;-)

  196. 196.

    ballerat

    @Mary G: Oh yeah, that’s what it’s ostensible purpose is. But we know they don’t want to test people and even at the presser Trump discouraged testing. So what it is really for?

    Apart from giving Google a chance to collect possibly millions of PHI records and a foot into the healthcare biz, it seems it could work like this:

    How high is your fever? Do you have pneumonia? Have you traveled to China recently? Is there a test available? All yes? You are in the result set that can get tested.

    It sounds like CDC does that now, manually, one request at a time, apparently.

    But such an app could also be repurposed to rank records (people) by other criteria.

    Are you 60 or older? Do you have x, y or z current or previous health issues or do you need a ventilator? All yes, you are in the triage result set.

    We know they will have to triage people if the infection rate curve projection holds (and Trump has done zero to flatten it). How are they going to handle the process of triaging a million people?

    It seems to me like like such an app sure could be used to do that.

Comments are closed.