Donald Trump

Inexplicable

Fandango16 Comments

The video above reflects the number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. as of March 22nd: 30,367. Today, one week later, the number of cases stands at 131,403, with 2,329 deaths.

And yet Trump’s poll numbers go up, his job approval rate goes up. In the presidential race polls, Trump has moved from what was a seven-point deficit in February to a near tie with Biden today.

And 15% of Bernie Sanders supporters have indicated that, if Bernie doesn’t get the Democratic nomination, they will vote for Trump in November. Are you fucking kidding me?

How stupid can people be? It’s inexplicable.

Who Won The Week? 03/29/2020

Fandango12 Comments

10CC3057-4EEA-4C80-B8C1-700C0FC6C906It’s time for another Who Won the Week prompt. The idea behind Who Won the Week is for you to select who (or what) you think “won” this past week. Your selection can be anyone or anything — politicians, celebrities, athletes, authors, bloggers, your friends or family members, books, movies, TV shows, businesses, organizations, whatever.

I will be posting this prompt on Sunday mornings (my time). If you want to participate, write your own post designating who you think won the week and why you think they deserve your nod. Then link back to this post and tag you post with FWWTW.

This week I am choosing former New York Yankees player and current Major League Baseball analyst Alex Rodriguez.D6B7D8A5-97CB-4037-B2CA-9AE15D876A3FDonald Trump has the world’s top doctors and medical experts at his disposal, but apparently Trump must consider A-Rod, who is, in no way, shape, or form a medical professional, to be an expert on the coronavirus pandemic. Trump reached out to Rodriguez for his thoughts on the administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Why would Trump turn to Rodriguez for answers — or even his opinion — on how to best curb the spread of coronavirus? Could it be because A-Rod is wealthy and is frequently on television?

It’s interesting how Trump’s perception of people changes over time. Back in 2013, Trump tweeted at Rodriguez, calling him a “druggie,” and suggesting that the Yankees should “immediately stop paying A-Rod.” I guess Rodriguez learned over the past seven years that it pays to be nice to Donald Trump.

Way to go, Dr. A-Rod. You won the week.

And now it’s your turn, folks. Who (or what) do you think won the week?

One-Liner Wednesday — Business as Usual

Fandango31 Comments

6D526E31-4BD2-48FF-A97D-DCE2AB91FB2F

“I would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter.”

Donald J. Trump

A World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson told a press conference in Geneva yesterday that there has been a “very large acceleration” in U.S. coronavirus cases in recent days.

Yet the American president, despite warnings like these from the WHO that the United States could soon become the epicenter of the global coronavirus pandemic, wants to return the country to business as usual by Easter.

Further, Trump has predicted that, on Easter Sunday, there will be “packed churches all over our country.” He added, “I think it would be a beautiful time, and it’s just about the timeline that I think is right.”

This is something that virtually all doctors, epidemiologists, and health experts agree is exactly the wrong thing to do if we want to “flatten the curve” of this highly contagious and easily transmitted disease.

It’s obvious that the current president of the United States is more eager to prop up the faltering U.S. economy in order to reinvigorate his re-election campaign than he is in saving the lives of American citizens.

Written for today’s One-Liner Wednesday prompt from Linda G. Hill.

May I Buy Your Vote?

Fandango19 Comments

009ABA53-BD53-4924-BB35-E2490D7E94AETreasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said yesterday that the Trump administration wants to send direct payments to Americans within the next two weeks to help mitigate the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Americans need cash now and the president wants to give cash now,” Mnuchin said during a press conference with Trump. “And I mean now, in the next two weeks.”

To that end, White House officials are working with congressional Republicans on approving an emergency stimulus package that could send two $1,000 checks to many Americans.

So, “many Americans,” whatever that means, will get $2,000 to aid those of us who are feeling the effects of an out-of-control pandemic. One that Trump told us would miraculously disappear. He said that everything was under control. He gave himself a pat on the back (a 10 out of 10) for how he responded to the threat. Had he taken this threat seriously early on and acted quickly and decisively to stem the rapid spread, we wouldn’t be in this situation.

But here we are. We’re getting paid to look away and to be grateful to an inept, incompetent leader for giving us money so that we can shop at stores with empty shelves.

Too little too late, Mr. “President.” You’re payoff is not going to work with me. You’re not buying my vote for two grand.

Fandango’s Provocative Question #61

Fandango21 Comments

FPQWelcome once again to Fandango’s Provocative Question. Each week I will pose what I think is a provocative question for your consideration.

By provocative, I don’t mean a question that will cause annoyance or anger. Nor do I mean a question intended to arouse sexual desire or interest.

What I do mean is a question that is likely to get you to think, to be creative, and to provoke a response. Hopefully a positive response.

I doubt that there’s anyone who hasn’t, in one way or the other, been impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, whether it’s simply the inability to find toilet paper in any stores or having their lives disrupted by the closings of schools, business, and gatherings and being asked to stay home.

Some people, like Fox News on-air personalities and even some congressional Republicans, have been downplaying the pandemic. California Republican congressman Devin Nunes, for example told his constituents, “…one of the things you can do, if you’re healthy, you and your family, it’s a great time to just go out, go to a local restaurant, likely you can get in, get in easily.”

Other Republican have been calling this whole coronavirus “thing” Nothing more than a politically motivated attempt to bring down the president. But no one has been more guilty of spreading disinformation about coronavirus than Donald Trump.

And so for this week’s provocative question, I’m going to do something different. I’m going to ask you to watch a report from CNN host Don Lemon. It’s about 12 minutes long, but I encourage you to watch the whole thing if you have time. And then, once you’ve watched it, my question to you is simply this:

What is your reaction to Don Lemon’s assessment?

Here’s the the video:

If you choose to participate, write a post with your response to the question. Once you are done, tag your post with #FPQ and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Or you can simply include a link to your post in the comments. But remember to check to confirm that your pingback or your link shows up in the comments.