Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Museums are not America’s attic for its racist shit.

Celebrate the fucking wins.

Find someone who loves you the way trump and maga love traitors.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

Books are my comfort food!

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

“They all knew.”

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

The snowflake in chief appeared visibly frustrated when questioned by a reporter about egg prices.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

Petty moves from a petty man.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

The desire to stay informed is directly at odds with the need to not be constantly enraged.

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

If rights aren’t universal, they are privilege, not rights.

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

Just because you believe it, that does not make it true.

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

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

Reality always gets a vote in the end.

When I was faster i was always behind.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / Donald Trump Achieves A First Strike Decapitation Of US NatSec Command-And-Control

Donald Trump Achieves A First Strike Decapitation Of US NatSec Command-And-Control

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The Plague Rat in Chief’s scabbed and pustulent touch has reached the Pentagon.

Donald Trump Achieves A First Strike Decapitation Of US NatSec Command-And-Control

The US top military leadership have entered quarantine after Admiral Charles W. Wray, vice commandant of the Coast Guard, was diagnosed with Covid-19:

The chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and other top military leaders are under quarantine after a senior Coast Guard official tested positive for the coronavirus, two U.S. officials said.

Gen. Mark Milley and the chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force have tested negative for the virus, but remain under quarantine as a precaution, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss information not yet made public. The head of U.S. Cyber Command, Gen. Paul Nakasone, was also among those quarantined.

Up to 14 officials are believed to have been potentially exposed…

This exposure is, apparently, unconnected to the Judge Barrett corona party in the Rose Garden–but  this is the direct consequence of the larger Trump failure to create the procedures and culture in which all Americans collaborate that could contain the virus.

We are all less safe because of that–and now we see that such insecurity extends beyond “mere” personal security to that of the nation as a whole.

Enraged open thread

 

ETA: By popular (sic!) demand…

Image: Anonymous, Three Rats Eating a Fish Head, Edo, 18th c.

Reader Interactions

175Comments

  2. 2.

    Tom Levenson

    @catclub: Cool, isn’t it.

    Part of the fun of doing posts is looking for the art, and finding weird  stuff like this.

    Japanese miniature sculptures are just fabulous.

  5. 5.

    JPL

    BJ the place to come for breaking news and fine art.  The Washington Post just dinged my phone, so seven minutes after your post.   ha

  6. 6.

    The Moar You Know

    I do like the sculpture.  The post is disconcerting.

    As someone with a spouse in education, and also as someone with an ounce of sense, I think we’re seeing the arrival of the “second wave” even though the first isn’t over yet.  Cause:  school reopenings.

    Everyone missed that “the kids not getting ill” did NOT mean “the kids can’t get infected”.  And they’re passing it to their peers and parents.  I’m willing to bet that if you tested every kid in any open school from junior high on up, you’d see student infection rates over 50% already.  They are NOT distancing, they are NOT wearing masks except maybe in class, and they’re hanging out with all their friends after school, swapping virus.

    Fauci knew of what he was speaking about this being a very bad winter.  I wish he’d gotten into WHY, but he just would have gotten fired.

  7. 7.

    Elizabelle

    Plague Rat in Chief. I am reusing that phrase.

    PRIC. What shall we use for K? Killer? Kool Aid drinker? Kremlin (asset)?

  9. 9.

    Kent

    It is concerning, yes. But presumably the Joint Chiefs of Staff isn’t some archaic institution like the Senate that requires they all be physically present in the same room to make decisions. I’m assuming that if my daughter’s HS had adequate telecommunications capacity to run zoom classrooms then the Pentagon can figure out how to hold zoom meetings using whatever state of the art military telecommunications equipment they have, which is most certainly NOT zoom.

    Plus, my understanding of military chain of command (which is admittedly pretty low) is that every commander has acting deputies who can step in if need be, again, unlike say the Senate.

    I would be interested in hearing Adam (or someone else who knows what the fuck they are talking about) discuss what this sort of thing actually means in practice for the military command and Joint Chiefs.  I assume they have procedures to keep things going with “the next man [or woman] up”

  11. 11.

    Soprano2

    I heard on the news today that 12 people in Springfield died of COVID yesterday, or at least their deaths were reported yesterday. Last night City Council renewed the mask mandate until January 9th. No other cities or counties around here are doing anything, so I’m glad at least our council is listening to the doctors and scientists.

  17. 17.

    JoyceH

    This exposure is, apparently, unconnected to the Judge Barrett corona party in the Rose Garden

    And yet not necessarily unconnected from White House indifference to pandemic protocols. According to the Washington Post:

    It is not clear where the admiral was infected, but his travels in recent days include attending a Sept. 27 event at the White House recognizing Gold Star military families

    So there you have it. He entered the Cesspool and did not emerge unsoiled.

  20. 20.

    lofgren

    Meh, we’d be in basically the same position if a Democrat was in office. The Democrats would put forth a detailed plan to minimize the economic impact while maximizing containment of the virus, and Republicans would call it socialism and refuse to follow it. I think we can all agree that both the science-based, anti-plague party and the party of nihilism and denial are equally to blame.

  21. 21.

    artem1s

    whelp now the national security community is involved in the developing struggle for power. any minute the reanimated corpse of Al Haig will start running down Pennsylvania Ave waiving a giant orange COVID flag and proclaiming he’s in control. I can assure you that it has occurred to both Barr and McConnell that no one is in charge – so why not me?  It’s not Trump we have to worry about kicking out of the WH come January. Not sure yet who is going to come out on top, but it’s not going to be Pence or the Orange Dumpster Fire.

  23. 23.

    JoyceH

    @lofgren:  I don’t know, but I don’t think the GOP and the MAGAts would have become quite so mask-averse if Trump hadn’t made it a requirement for club membership to eschew the mask.

  24. 24.

    Brachiator

    Somewhere in the Pentagon is a maintenance guy wearing a mask, and with a bottle of hand sanitizer, who might become the defacto head of the military if some shit comes down.

    Yeah, I’m sure that the military has all kinds of redundancies and contingencies in place, but still it is crazy how the government has to go through all this because of the ego of the ignorant and incompetent Trump.

    “Plague Rat in Chief” indeed.

  25. 25.

    Eljai

    @JoyceH: I’m wondering when the White House virus hotspot will spread to more people than that wedding in Millinocket, Maine.  They do such a poor job of contact tracing that maybe it already has.

  26. 26.

    oldster

    As always, the question is not whether or not he is Putin’s puppet, but whether he would do anything different if he were Putin’s puppet.

    He has inflicted more harm on America than anyone since Jefferson Davis.

  30. 30.

    Adam L Silverman

    Everyone needs to just calm the fuck down about this. First, all the Joint Chiefs do is advise the President, the Vice President, and the civilian leadership at the DOD and the Services. They don’t command any troops and they’re barely in anyone’s chains of command. Yes, if GEN Milley puts out guidance everyone is going to follow it provided it is a lawful order, but other than the couple of dozen uniformed and civilian personnel directly assigned to his office, and the President of the National Defense University, which is a direct reporting unit to the CJCS and is run by a two star, he’s not giving direct orders to anyone. Neither are the other service chiefs.

    Additionally, they all have full SCIFs in their homes with everything they need to work just as if they were in their offices at the Pentagon. Tthey all live on the campus of NDU at Ft. McNair in DC on general officer/flag officer row. They could literally stand in one backyard and hold a social distanced meeting if they need to.

    The real problem is the number of deputies and subordinates, uniformed and civilian, that were also in the meetings with the Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard that also have to quarantine. And who they came into contact with professionally and personally before they got notified that there was a problem. The real issue is how many people, regardless of rank or position, assigned to the Pentagon have now been infected. And how many they’ve infected.

  33. 33.

    Aleta

    @JoyceH:  And photos (looks like Pence too).  As you say, no masks.  instagram.com/p/CFrrRljAuY6/

    9/28 Melania Trump shared behind-the-scenes photos from a candlelight ceremony that was held at the White House for Gold Star Families.”
    “Last night we recognized our #GoldStarFamilies with a moving candlelight ceremony to remember those taken from us too soon,” the first lady captioned her post on Instagram Monday, along with several shots taken from the special event.”

  34. 34.

    Tom Levenson

    @Adam L Silverman: FTR–the post doesn’t (or shouldn’t) suggest that US military C & C is actually in doubt. Just that it’s impressive that viral trumpitude has caught the entire top command in its fecklessness.

    Some hyperbole is permitted on a top 10,000 blog, I hope.

  36. 36.

    Brachiator

    @lofgren:

    I think we can all agree that both the science-based, anti-plague party and the party of nihilism and denial are equally to blame

    No.

  38. 38.

    Brachiator

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Everyone needs to just calm the fuck down about this. First, all the Joint Chiefs do is advise the President, the Vice President, and the civilian leadership at the DOD and the Services.

    I feel much better, especially when I realize that the Orange Menace would probably reject any advice given and instead look to Fox News and Putin for guidance.

    The real issue is how many people, regardless of rank or position, assigned to the Pentagon have now been infected. And how many they’ve infected.

    This is bad enough to be very bad.

     

  39. 39.

    germy

    Sen. Kamala Harris tested negative for the coronavirus on Monday, two days before her debate with Vice President Mike Pence.

    A campaign aide shared the results on Tuesday. The campaign did not respond to questions about if and when she would be tested again ahead of Wednesday’s debate.

  40. 40.

    Ken

    @Adam L Silverman: The real issue is how many people, regardless of rank or position, assigned to the Pentagon have now been infected. And how many they’ve infected.

    Any idea if the Pentagon is also barred from doing contact tracing?

    I have this horrible image of them doing it, but keeping it secret from the White House lest they be ordered to stop.

  41. 41.

    gvg

    I think it’s rather pointed that the military did the correct thing without being ordered to, in order to set a good example for their subordinates, and I am relieved too.

     

    Actually I am surprised it hasn’t been a bigger crisis in the military as I just don’t see how they are going to keep large groups of troops from getting infected.  I know their was that ship a few months ago but I haven’t really heard of anything more and I sort of expected a huge wave of infections in the whole military, especially the Navy. I expect there has been some we haven’t heard about, but it must not have turned into the huge disaster I expected.  Haven’t heard of it getting foreign services either.  I know it happened in 1918, but I guess we learned something.

     

    Adam, do you know how they are maintaining?

  45. 45.

    Soprano2

    @opiejeanne: Yes, Missouri, but I don’t think our Springfield won the contest to be the home of the Simpsons. That was a big deal here. We’re an island of relative sanity in a sea of MAGAs, and even in Springfield there are lots of them.

  47. 47.

    Ken

    @gvg: I think you mean the USS Theodore Roosevelt.  There was a report of an outbreak at Okinawa in July because of improper quarantine at the US base before transport.  I haven’t seen any other reports (not that that means much).

  49. 49.

    randy khan

    @Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]:

    That is a pretty funky netsuke

    I’d say that on a scale of 1 to 10, it’s probably in the 8.5 to 9 range.  The Japanese do find beauty in all sorts of things that you’d never expect.   It’s one of the things I love about netsuke.  It’s a good thing I never started collecting them because it would have ruined me.

  52. 52.

    LuciaMia

    Ah, roly-poly fish heads. Kinda like the ‘Daisy’ campaign commercial, it only appeared once on tv (on SNL, I think) but its forever become iconic.

    *************

    I was gonna ask if that little sculpture was a netsuke.

  55. 55.

    Wapiti

    @Aleta: Holy cow. The frickin’ head of the US Coronavirus Task Force, slack-jawed, blissfully ignorant of everything. Harris should have that as one of her briefing slides for tomorrow’s debates. Put it on national TV.

  56. 56.

    cain

    @Kent: It is concerning, yes. But presumably the Joint Chiefs of Staff isn’t some archaic institution like the Senate that requires they all be physically present in the same room to make decisions. I’m assuming that if my daughter’s HS had adequate telecommunications capacity to run zoom classrooms then the Pentagon can figure out how to hold zoom meetings using whatever state of the art military telecommunications equipment they have, which is most certainly NOT zoom.

    It requires I hope secure intranet, but you know that can’t be targeted.

  58. 58.

    hueyplong

    @LuciaMia:  But it was on Dr Demento pretty much every week in the mid-late 70s, and while my memories of the era are fuzzy, it made have made appearances on MTV.

  60. 60.

    Betty Cracker

    According to my phone alerts, the Pence people are whining about the debate commission installing a Plexiglass snot guard between Senator Harris and Pence for the debate tomorrow. Can’t blame the Trump people for not wanting a symbol of the their admin’s utter failure to control the virus right there on the stage, but they earned it.

  61. 61.

    Bill Arnold

    @The Moar You Know:

    Fauci knew of what he was speaking about this being a very bad winter. I wish he’d gotten into WHY, but he just would have gotten fired.

    It’s also indoor season for much of the US. Bad habits developed over the summer will kill in the autumn and winter.

  62. 62.

    lofgren

    @JoyceH: While Trump’s vanity and general rejection of the germ theory of disease definitely contributed, I do think that Republicans would have turned any guidance that they perceived coming from “elites” into a culture war issue.

  63. 63.

    Aleta

    @patrick II:  BTW, that also happens to be one of Trump’s strategies.   Bad people want to hurt you—but don’t worry I’ll protect you if you follow me, give me money, support me, give me what I want.   Now he’s sort of doing it with the virus:  We’ll get through this together.  Trust me,  not others.

  64. 64.

    A Ghost to Most

    As a sculptor, I is seriously impressed with that work of art. As for the administration, they always double down.

  66. 66.

    p.a.

    Any guesses on the pre-packaged, waiting in-the-can Fux/Rethug meme for Cheetolini’s potential relapse-collapse?  “He relapsed for our sins”?  “He relapsed to help in the investigation of new treatments… whattaguy”?  “The MSM voodoo’ed the relapse on him”?

  69. 69.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    @Aleta: I don’t know how to feel about the gold star families who brought their children. These are people who have already lost a family member and now the US government may end up being responsible for them losing another. And is anyone calling those people to make sure they know and Quarantine and get tested. Naaaahhhh!

  70. 70.

    Raven

    Strange, I finally caught some fish and had just cleaned them when I opened BJ. Ya’ll be voodoo!

  71. 71.

    Ken

    @Baud: Dare I hope his phrasing was “And we wish the very best to all those affected by the White House coronavirus outbreak – Melania Trump, Hope Hicks, Senator Tillis, [list goes on for a fairly long time…]”

  73. 73.

    Ken

    @p.a.: Any guesses on the pre-packaged, waiting in-the-can Fux/Rethug meme for Cheetolini’s potential relapse-collapse?

    Obama’s fault.

  75. 75.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @lofgren: 200,000 people wouldn’t have died under President Hillary Clinton’s watch. But she would have been blamed by the GOP and the Usual Suspects for the people who did, and be defeated by Donald Trump in 2020. And that alternative reality sucks too.

  76. 76.

    Yutsano

    @Betty Cracker: Prediction: Kamala makes major hay out of the Plexiglass. I bet she brings it up as both plague and trust issues. “How can we trust anything out of this administration when I can’t even trust that the Vice President himself isn’t a carrier?” Something along those lines. I really don’t ask for much…

  77. 77.

    mad citizen

    I hate trump so much, but am determined not to let him ruin any of the things he has used in his propaganda messaging, such as the color red, orange, and the thumbs up gesture.  I like the thumbs up gesture, and though I don’t like to be in photos, I confess I’ve been trying to remember if I have ever flashed it in a photo.  Sometimes I have pointed to things, which my wife hates.  I just think it makes for a more interesting pic.

    Anyhoo, looking at the Gold Star instagram pictures, is there anything more insipid than OrangeMan doing the thumbs up with that group?

  78. 78.

    Roger Moore

    @Kent:

    Plus, my understanding of military chain of command (which is admittedly pretty low) is that every commander has acting deputies who can step in if need be, again, unlike say the Senate.

    Pretty much.  The military has learned through millennia of bloody experience that leaders have the unfortunate tendency to die at the worst possible time, so it’s always necessary to have subordinates ready to step into their places when it happens.

  81. 81.

    Brachiator

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    200,000 people wouldn’t have died under President Hillary Clinton’s watch. But she would have been blamed by the GOP and the Usual Suspects for the people who did,

    I agree with you up to here.

    and be defeated by Donald Trump in 2020. And that alternative reality sucks too.

    Nope. Sorry. This is fiction. And in my bedtime story, Trump, having been defeated in 2016, by a woman, never enters politics again.

  82. 82.

    Elizabelle

    WRT Pence, and Trump, whinging about using plexiglass shields during the two upcoming debates:

    I think the Democrats should insist on separate rooms, not merely the shields.  And cutting the mic on interrupters.

    It’s more important for the GOP to debate, at this point, than it is for the Democrats.  They want that exposure.  Trump wants to show he’s in command.

    We cannot afford any extra concern about our nominees being exposed to the virus through the recklessness and even malice of Republicans.  Enough.

  83. 83.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    @mad citizen: hmmm pointing finger and thumbs up. And now I can’t stop thinking of the Buddy Christ from the movie Dogma. Bwahaha! Thank you

  84. 84.

    germy

    @Yutsano:   I bet she brings it up as both plague and trust issues. “How can we trust anything out of this administration when I can’t even trust that the Vice President himself isn’t a carrier?”

    They never say the things I want them to say during the debates.

    When Biden debated PEETUS, I kept imagining retorts to the gish gallop Biden was subjected to.

    reductress.com/post/seething-woman-mutters-right-answers-to-self-like-shes-watching-bad-episode-of-j…

  85. 85.

    Martin

    @lofgren: I disagree. You don’t need 6 month lockdowns to do this. You can do it in a few weeks  –  as most countries did. Once you get infection rates down, you manage it through public policy changes, contact tracing, etc. Make the problem small, and you make it manageable.

    Yes, you’d have some states refusing to go to plan, but you simply isolate them until they get with the program. Economically, they won’t last long against the states that have things under control. No sooner is Florida prevented from exporting their citrus vs California, they’ll comply, etc.

  87. 87.

    A Ghost to Most

    Jen Rubin is catching on.

    Is it too far-fetched to think Trump did not have negative tests to ensure others’ safety before the Rose Garden event on Sept. 26 or the debate on Sept. 29? Before the latest example of his stomach-turning indifference to others, we would have doubted even he was capable of such conduct. Now, it would not be surprising to learn that he knowingly endangered others, especially because he is concealing tests he took prior to discovering the illness of White House staffer Hope Hicks and because he conveniently missed his test at the debate site in Cleveland.

  89. 89.

    LuciaMia

    In One Blue-Collar Strip Club, Trump Voters Have Second Thoughts

    Guess the reporter got tired of hanging out at diners.

  91. 91.

    Sloane Ranger

    I understand that Gen. Miley has a complete C+C complex in his house and the others have similar so they can keep doing their job. That’s not the issue. The issue is that from the outside this adds to the appearance that the entire US government is in complete chaos. If the New York Stock Exchange has to close because a cluster happens there, that appearance will be confirmed.

  92. 92.

    rp

    20,000 people would have died on H. Clinton’s watch, and the media and the right would have painted it as the greatest tragedy and failure of leadership in American history.

  96. 96.

    Ken

    @Brachiator: If you click the link, you’ll see it’s a strip club with a lunch buffet.  Or so says Pearson.

    Personally I’m never going to a buffet again, but I made that pledge back in 2003 after a horrifying experience at an Old Country Buffet.  (People tasting from the serving spoons, if you must know.)

  98. 98.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Brachiator: I almost wrote in the original comment that all the Joint Chiefs do is advise the President, which he ignores.

    As for bad, it is. If COVID-19 gets a foothold in the Pentagon and spreads, that is far, far more of a problem than if the most senior leadership has to work from the secured rooms in their houses on Ft. McNair for two weeks.

  102. 102.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Ken: I have no idea, but I doubt it. I would expect that they would consider that an illegal order that is detrimental to the health and wellbeing of the force, as well as being able to maintain readiness.

  104. 104.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @lofgren: From my experience (n=1), I have to disagree. People wear masks a lot more in areas where there are mandates. Almost very few wear masks in areas where they are not mandated. It’s not 100% either direction, but maybe 80/20.

  106. 106.

    JaySinWA

    @Adam L Silverman: Okay, I am calming down. However this seems like a form of OPSEC failure. I am part of groups that are not meeting in person because of the risk of COVID. We use curb service for groceries when possible.

    The fact that these people are taking meetings in person means they are not taking this threat seriously for themselves or others. Quarantine after the fact doesn’t make up for the carelessness before. Especially with the resources you say are available.

  107. 107.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @Brachiator: Thing is, I don’t believe it’s ‘fiction’, if it never was Trump’s intention to win in the first place. Especially if he was planning on launching a media platform which would have brutally attacked Hillary from day one, and positioning himself as The Last Honest Man In Politics ready to challenge the treacherous she-bitch in 2016. But then, the worse possible thing happened: Trump won.

  108. 108.

    MomSense

    @Aleta:

    Dense is in the front row – opposite the aisle from the dumps.  I really don’t want Kamala to debate him.  I don’t trust that he will disclose he is COVID +

  109. 109.

    FlyingToaster

    @Betty Cracker: It all gets weirder.

    First, the Trump/Pence campaign rejects the plexiglass.  The Presidential Debate Commission sends back the Biden/Harris provided photos of Pence unmasked at the Rose Garden and the Gold Star Families events.  So the T/P campaign throws up its hands and says, “if you’re so afraid of the Coronavirus, little girl, bring your Plexiglass!”.  The PDC accepts this as a done deal.

    Then the T/P campaign starts whining about what they fucking publicly agreed to…

    Ya know, my 7th grader is better behaved (and fuck knows she whines all the fucking time) than these covidiots.

  110. 110.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    @Tom Levenson:

    Hope is the thing with feathers –

    That perches in the soul –

    And sings the tune without the words –

    And never stops – at all –

     

    h/t Emily Dickinson

  111. 111.

    J R in WV

    Tom:

    Best headline in modern world history~!!~

    Well done, thanks for this whole article.

  112. 112.

    Brachiator

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I almost wrote in the original comment that all the Joint Chiefs do is advise the President, which he ignores.

    We are definitely on the same page here.

    As for bad, it is. If COVID-19 gets a foothold in the Pentagon and spreads, that is far, far more of a problem than if the most senior leadership has to work from the secured rooms in their houses on Ft. McNair for two weeks.

    Makes sense. Early on in the pandemic, I wondered about how the virus would be contained in specialized social spaces, such as prisons and naval vessels (especially in light of the outbreak that gained some publicity). But I presumed that the military would focus on keeping bases and the Pentagon and other areas safe. If they have not paid sufficient attention to this, they are nuts.

  114. 114.

    Edmund Dantes

    Trump calling off stimulus negotiation till after the election.

    Fuck this party.  Gop needs to die.

  116. 116.

    Eljai

    @lofgren:  Sure, the culture war issues would go on.  However, President Hillary would not have dismantled the Pandemic Task Force nor would she have put Jared Kushner in charge of PPE distribution.

  119. 119.

    jl

    @Edmund Dantes: it’s almost like he wants to lose. Or, so desperate he needs the SCOTUS to make an outrageous intervention to fix the election. Not sure even corrupt SCOTUS will go as far as needed for a Trump win, since they are creatures of McConnell as much as Trump. Like the corporations, they play the long game, and should be clear by now, no long game in Trump or the Trumpsters.

    But that said, Dems need to be smart about early voting and do something to block the nomination before Jan 22, certainly before the election.

  120. 120.

    Adam L Silverman

    @JaySinWA: The only member of the Joint Chiefs I know is the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army. And he hasn’t asked for my advice. So…

  122. 122.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Brachiator: My understanding is that they’re doing their best. Beyond that I don’t have much information that isn’t in the news.

  123. 123.

    Edmund Dantes

    He’s literally pulling the “buy this magazine or the dog gets it” from national lampoon. Except it’s vote for me or the country gets it.

  124. 124.

    Jeffro

    @Elizabelle: I think the Democrats should insist on separate rooms, not merely the shields. And cutting the mic on interrupters.
    It’s more important for the GOP to debate, at this point, than it is for the Democrats. They want that exposure. Trump wants to show he’s in command.
    We cannot afford any extra concern about our nominees being exposed to the virus through the recklessness and even malice of Republicans. Enough.

    Fully and completely seconded.  Keeping Biden and Harris safe and healthy at this point should be a major, major priority for the entire nation.  They will lose not a single vote if they refuse to debate without controlled mics.

    And they need to be prepared to walk right the fuck out if trumpov & Co pull their usual stunt BS – audience members taking off masks, trumpov showing up at Pence’s debate while still infected, etc.  Just close up that folio, wave bye, and head straight to the nearest available TV studio to ask why the president* (or VP) can’t follow basic CDC guidance (or act like a normal human being for once, for that matter)

  125. 125.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Edmund Dantes: Pelosi must have really pissed him off this morning when someone informed him that she told Mnuchin he couldn’t come to meet with her at the Capitol in person today to negotiate because she couldn’t trust anything the White House or administration says about who is and is not infected.

  127. 127.

    Jeffro

    @Martin:

    Yup.  Six week lockdown anywhere the community infection rate is above a couple percent.  Everywhere else, flood the zone with testing and contact tracing.

    There was an article in the WaPo back in May about how we could have this thing relatively under control by July 4th, if we had better leadership that followed the science.  I re-post it on FB on the first of every month since.

  129. 129.

    Mary G

    I worry more about the godbotherers who were at the gloating ceremony for Covid Amy, who the White House has refused to even pretend to contact trace, and the fat cats at his $200,000 per couple fundraisers at his golf club. Not them personally, they deserve whatever consequences befall them, but the people in the wider world they may have infected. Nannies, maids, drivers, and hairdressers that don’t have the health insurance and savings they do. The people who died from the Maine wedding didn’t even attend it.

    We’ll never know who got it, because the White House has demanded keeping it secret, and they’re all die hard supporters who won’t want to admit they are Typhoid Marys and embarrass Dear Leader.

  130. 130.

    LuciaMia

    “Vote for me or go broke and die. Whichever comes first.”

    Hell of a campaign slogan.

  131. 131.

    Jeffro

    @Adam L Silverman: well yeah, this whole ‘pointing out how untrustworthy trumpov & Co are’ is just totally uncalled for, Adam  ;)

    In his mind, they should be falling in line with this “it’s just like the flu” insanity and helping him get re-elected.

  132. 132.

    hueyplong

    @Aleta: No, it was the Horst Wessel tune from the through-the-clouds sequence at the beginning of Triumph of the Will (though this is a horrific slander of Leni R).

  133. 133.

    mad citizen

    @germy: Agree on that–no suit with long red tie.  I had to actually go down to work last Thursday and needed a tie, so was looking in my closet.  I rarely wear ties, 5 or less times a year for work.  I still have a light blue (one color) textured tie with a gold metal sign on the back, From the Collection of Donald J Trump.  A TJ Maxx purchase many many years ago.  I thought, I should burn this and make a youtube video in memoriam.

    As for the debate and things to say, covid overtook things, but the attempted a-hole tactics to get Biden to stutter should be a national outrage.  I hope Biden himself brings it up IF there is another debate.  And if there is no debate, then throw it in at the funeral.

  134. 134.

    NotMax

    @MCA1

    Hoping the answer is a firm no. The public gets muddled enough between COVID-19 and influenza as it is. Let’s not drag typhus into it.

  135. 135.

    jonas

    @Steeplejack (phone):

    In One Blue-Collar Strip Club, Trump Voters Have Second Thoughts

    Yeah, the Cletus Safaris are back on — except now the narrative is Trump voters with buyer’s remorse, which I suppose is better than “Unemployed Trump voters at Kentucky diner sticking with him,” which is all we’ve had until now. I’m still waiting for the “Highly-Educated, Urban Clinton Voter Enthusiastic About Biden” stories, but they never seem to come…

  138. 138.

    Brachiator

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    Thing is, I don’t believe it’s ‘fiction’, if it never was Trump’s intention to win in the first place.

    Sorry, this makes no sense. One thing that we clearly have seen about Trump is that once he jumps into something, he does everything he can, including cheat his ass off, to win. Also, he is a simple, stupid man. He does not hatch elaborate plans.

    The media platform thing also does not make sense.  He never had the money for this, and could never raise the money for it. Also, having been the “star” of The Apprentice does not make him a media mogul.

    But again, the main thing is that all of this what-if speculation is pointless. It can never be tested. But I certainly believe that the country would have been better off had Hillary Clinton been elected, and would have handled the pandemic better.

    And again, in my fantasy projection, Trump would have caught the virus, but not having access to state of the art medical care as president, who have survived but been deeply weakened, and become not even a footnote to history.

  140. 140.

    Roger Moore

    @Edmund Dantes:

    Trump calling off stimulus negotiation till after the election.

    Shorter Trump: vote for me if you want COVID relief. Whenever things go bad for him, he resorts to strongarm tactics, and he’s doing it yet again.

  143. 143.

    I am not Jon Snow

    @Edmund Dantes:

    It will, and Trump’s sabotage of the stimulus talks is a tacit admission that even he knows it’s just about over.  This is scorched earth politics, plain and simple.  He’s going to lose the election, probably in a landslide, and he wants to wreck the country as much as possible before Biden and the Dems can take over.

  146. 146.

    Brachiator

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Ecdysiasts are essential workers too!

    Certainly. And they are having problems here and around the world because of the pandemic. From BBC News

    A strip club owner says their industry has been hit harder than most by the coronavirus pandemic restrictions.

    Many dancers have not worked since March and say they are facing financial difficulties and struggling to apply for benefits.

    Jennifer Nicie, who owns six For Your Eyes Only clubs in Southampton, London, Cardiff, Newcastle and Bournemouth, says the 22:00 BST national curfew makes them unviable.

    She said they have had no help from government and are mothballing venues.

  152. 152.

    Aleta

    @patrick II:  @Aleta: I’m wrong about the date, it was Sun. Sept. 27.  (News article was the 28th.)

    It was the “Gold Star Mother’s and Family’s Day”  (Named by  Tr’s WH Proclamation issued two days earlier).    Lots of mothers were there along with kids and spouses.

  155. 155.

    JaySinWA

    I thought selfishness was a conservative value:

     

    “It’s an interesting point of view” Lmaoooo. The host looks absolutely stunned t.co/lNX4wJtqcI— Imani Gandy ☄️?? (@AngryBlackLady) October 6, 202

    The tweet shows a Fox news interview with Trump’s new NY Post darling talking about selfish seniors keeping the kids from enjoying life by trying to stay alive themselves

    ETA Miranda Devine. Looking at taking out Maggie Haberman as Trump whisperer.

  156. 156.

    Brachiator

    @Subsole:

    Had he lost he would be sitting in Hannity’s chair. Which, regrettably, would still put him in politics.

    Nope. Trump has the attention span of a gnat. He could not sit and host a show whose length was more than 5 minutes. And he would never want to work for anyone else. And the pay would not sustain his debt load.

    Trump got extremely lucky when he figured out that a lot of dopes would back his unlikely political career. Otherwise, he probably would have ended up bankrupt and in a ditch somewhere. And we would not have to hear from his foul spawn or his minion Young Jared.

  160. 160.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    @Subsole: But of course!  It’s probably the bored 10 year old sitting in catechism inside my head, but I did love that movie.

  163. 163.

    JaySinWA

    @Brachiator:Trump has the attention span of a gnat. He could not sit and host a show whose length was more than 5 minutes.

    Nonsense. He would babble on about how great he was for virtually all of it. As long as he only had T worshippers on he’d be fine.

  164. 164.

    Brachiator

    @Edmund Dantes: 

    Trump calling off stimulus negotiation till after the election.

    If Trump loses the election, I can’t see him caring about the stimulus bill anymore. He would not get any benefit out of its passage.

  165. 165.

    Subsole

    @Brachiator: Disagree. If that show was all about sitting on his worthless ass talking about how bigly wonderful he is and how that nasty shrewbitch was destroying ‘Murka and he could do it so much bettererest? You’d have to dart his ass in the neck to shut him up. And he might keep going even then.

    As far as the money…fair point. Doesn’t Hannity knock down several million, though? I could see Donnie’s loanshark being a little generous IF he is pulling in enough to cover the vig. No money in a closed book, after all.

  167. 167.

    Brachiator

    @NotMax:

    There is some Mad Max level insanity with drive-thru strip clubs.

    And it was interesting to see the dancers properly … masked.

    And it gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “honk your horn.”

  170. 170.

    Ken

    @Steeplejack (phone): Trump this morning wanted to go to the Oval today.  It triggered a discussion among aides. He’s still in the residence right now.

    Now I’m imagining the aides nailing planks over the doors to the residence.

  172. 172.

    jl

    @JaySinWA: Hard to tell how many of the Fox News news actors are deep into the inner circles of the con. This Fox blonde didn’t seem very prepared. I dunno, maybe she has parents?

    I hope the Trumpsters send that lady around and we can get reactions from all the Fox flunkies. Her spot with Hannity should be interesting. Maybe have Giuliani do a joint segment?

  174. 174.

    Shana

    @Soprano2: I seem to recall someone actually built a replica of the Simpsons’ house, in Vegas as I recall, and then offered it up as a raffle prize. I think the eventual winner had to agree not to redecorate for a year.

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