Don't Get Me Started with Linda Sharp

Do NOT Call Him Presidential

There has been a sickening, predictable reaction from those in the media, talking heads, MAGAts, etc, when Trump manages to put six words together without also heaving a glob of his own shit against a wall.

They call him "presidential."

Sorry, but having pupils the size of pie pans, slurring, and looking sedated is not "presidential."  It is exactly what it looks like - erratic, drugged, and scared.

After this afternoon's COVID rally, brace yourself for incoming.

In No Shit, Sherlock news, Trump soberly stumbled through these words:

“This could be a hell of a bad two weeks. This is going to be a very bad two, and maybe three weeks. This is going to be three weeks like we’ve never seen before. When you look at tonight, the kind of death that has been caused by this invisible enemy, it’s incredible.” 

Why the change from hubris to horror?  The White House is finally acknowledging what experts have been screaming at them for weeks:  before the worst is over, we will have lost between 100,000 and 240,000 citizens to coronavirus. 

As I type, the count is currently at 186,046 cases and 3,807 deaths.  We have pulled ahead of China in terms of death and we are nowhere near the top of the wave yet.  We have tested only a tiny fraction of our populace.  We still have governors (still looking at you DeSantis) who refuse to shut their states down.  Beaches are still open.  Places to congregate like barber shops are open for business in far too many places.  And because of Trump and his asslicking cronies, far too many still do not take this seriously.

I wonder, when it begins to burn through red MAGAt country like the fires in California they love to laugh at, will they believe it then?

This morning Mitch McConnell was again trying to blame Democrats for the slow pace, the lack of proactive measures months ago.  Trying to blame impeachment on how it managed to get so out of hand.  No go, Mitch.  Try these facts on for size:

The formal impeachment vote in the House took place on December 18.  In the Senate on February 5th.  At no point did your sacred orange blimp ever testify, make time for, or appear in any fashion other than on Twitter.  That makes these dates pretty damning:

On February 26 he was saying, "This is a flu.  This is like a flu."  All the while he was being served warnings and information that it was NOT anywhere near a flu. 

Today he is saying, "It's not the flu.  It's vicious."

Again, more breaking news on the No Shit, Sherlock channel.

His new tone does not make him "presidential."  His new acknowledgment of what we have all known for WEEKS does not make him a leader to look to.  It makes him responsible.

Every crapsack around him, every water carrying yes man and woman, every reprobate who went along with his "gut" when black and white stats were there for the reading - they are all culpable, complicit, responsible.

This has zero to do with the November election.  That should not be a consideration on either side of the aisle.  That politicians are angling that way?  Heinous.  That they are trying to gauge which way the COVID wind is blowing before making any decisions for their constituents?  Yes, they deserve to be voted straight to the bowels of Hell, if Satan would even have them.

But all politics must be pushed aside in this.  This pandemic gives not shit 1 who you voted for in 2016, who you plan to vote for, whether you cheer for a Blue Wave or wear a MAGA hat 24/7/365.  Politics will not protect you.  Truth.  Truth will protect you.  But truth was corrupted from the very beginning with this administration.  A president who has been caught in over 16,000 lies and counting; a president who cares more about his COVID briefing ratings numbers than the numbers of dead; a president who is on the record as saying governors who don't treat him nice won't get help - that is a president who needs to be shoved out of the way so experts can advise the nation.

No one should be listening to this tangerine tumor who called it a hoax.  No one should be listening to grifters like Diamond and Silk who this morning said it was not so bad.

No one should be listening to conservative ministers who refuse to close their churches or who wave their hands at the camera and declare COVID eradicated.  I don't care if you cannot understand big words, medicine, the world around you.  I don't care if you think Jesus is going to fix it all.  Now is the time for only one thing.

Now is the time for science. 

Now is the time for learned women and men.  Now is the time to listen to the people who have dedicated their adult lives to studying diseases, infection rates, how to mitigate spread, how to care for the infected.

It is no longer the time for Trump to be clogging up the airwaves like his Big Mac encrusted arteries.  He is a carnie, a grifter, a sandbagging con artist and for him people are just a mean$ to an end.  

We have missed the time when this could have been managed, held back, targeted; when it could have taken far fewer of us down.  And that is all on Donald J. Trump.

240,000 of us could be gone by the end of spring.  Since I typed the numbers up above, we now stand at 187,321 cases and 3,850 dead.  That means in the space of mere paragraphs, 43 more people have been added to the death count in this country.  Who is next?  Do not for a moment think it can't be you or someone you love.

So, MAGAts, call him your hero if you still insist; media, call him president if your network requires it; hell, call him for reservations at Mar-A-Lago.  But don't you dare call him presidential anymore.

We Are The Cactus

Living in Arizona now, my daily mental health walk is both beautiful and arid.  Xeriscaping in this climate means yards are plentiful with gravel, river rocks, and succulents - not grass, rose bushes, and tulips.  Having lived much of my life in climes where water is plentiful, this is an adjustment.

As my sister is a PhD in the field of conservation biology, now presiding over the Desert Horticulture and Conservation team at the Desert Botanical Garden of Phoenix, I see things through a much different lens than most laypeople.  I can ask questions, she has answers.  When we are out and about she points things out that may have escaped my notice.  And she is a wealth of knowledge and passion on them all.

For instance, when an agave (not a cactus) begins to shoot a stalk upward, like a mighty asparagus spear offering to Ra, its time is near.  It is using all of its collected energy in this last hurrah before it dies.  Age does not matter.  Young, old, somewhere in between?  No one knows what triggers it and why, just that it happens, and there is nothing even the most avid of gardener can do to stop it.

At first glance, cacti are not the most lovely of plant species.  Green, prickly, odd looking.  Aggressive, being defensive, on the offensive, all at once - come too close to many and you pay the price.  My worst encounter happened the night I moved here back in December.  In the dark, I misjudged my proximity and one left several of its calling cards so deep in my knee that my brother in law had to use pliers to pull them out.

 

I'll pause while you cringe.

Ready to continue?  Good.

 

Daily I take in the spectrum of these plants here in Phoenix.  I admire their variety, their myriad shapes, the stately Saguaros, the diminutive ones that crawl like snakes across the ground.  There are some that look like dead sticks most of the year, seriously, you would hardly give them a glance.  Some tower above their adjacent houses, agaves grow on a size spectrum from diminutive to prehistoric.  The variety is endless.

Much like people.  In fact, it was on last night's walk with my learned sister that I made that comparison in my mind.  And another, much deeper. 

As we walked, we came upon several clumps that normally are just faded green and covered with their armor.  Honestly, in this environment one can be forgiven for always looking right past them.  Yet now, as temps have been slowly increasing each day, and showers have been regular of late, these easy to dismiss plants were making themselves known.  They were embracing the spring, this time of renewal, and doing this:

That picture is straight from my iPhone, no filtering, no changing the depth of color.  This quiet, unassuming, could-be-mistaken-for-dead at times cactus was flowering in the most vibrant, alive, look-at-me way.

As I began paying attention, more and more were doing the same thing along our path.  Yellow, soft pink, red, more fluorescent pink like above.

And that is when I felt some glimmer of hope.  We ARE these cactus plants.  Isolating, distancing, aggressive, on the offensive, being defensive - all at once.  We are in hiding.  We are waiting for our time to flower again.

And we will.  But along the way, our lives are less colorful, we are in a holding pattern.  For now we exist.  Yes, every breath we take is life, but for a society that loves its freedom, its activities, its socializing, we are in a period of stasis.

Some of us will succumb like the agaves.  (Today's count - 183,875 cases / 3,720 dead) We already know there is not much rhyme or reason to the who, the why, the age.  Some of us will become infected and fight it back.  Some of us will become infected and our souls/spirits/whatever you believe lives on will move upward like those stalks.

But for the majority (hopefully the majority), we will again see a spring, a renewal.  We will move away from this crisis, this stasis, and the buds of society will again appear. 

So it's ok to feel prickly right now.   Because like the cactus, the ruggedest, most enduring of plants - we, too, are harboring our resources, protecting ourselves from the threats around us, and when the time is right, we will flower - brighter, hardier, amazing blossoms despite what we have endured.

I can't wait to see how beautiful we all are.

(Special thanks to my incredible, brilliant sister who makes me see with more than just my eyes.)

Stay The F*ck At Home

The video song below is humorous, but it is deadly serious.

As of 5pm (MST) today, we now stand at 163,479 cases of COVID-19 confirmed.  And 3,148 people have been lost to this pandemic in the United States.  We are still in #1 place ahead of Italy with 101,739 cases.  And while the people of Italy are outmourning us with 11,591 dead, we are on pace to catch them within days.

While Trump was being fellated by the My Pillow guy in the Rose Garden (seriously, WTF?), real people were dying.  ARE DYING.  WILL DIE.

I live in Arizona.  Our Republican governor (and yes, it IS political because these cretins are more concerned with licking orange taint than in protecting their citizens) FINALLY found himself pushed into an embarrassing corner by experts imploring him to take this seriously.  His whole "Keep Arizona open!" bullshit combined with being last in testing in the nation finally caught up to him.  This afternoon he signed an executive order instituting a stay at home policy.  It takes effect tomorrow at close of business.

As more governors (looking at you DeSantis - only South Florida under stay at home?  I did not realize COVID can read road signs.) start facing the real fallout from their desire to please Trump, the nation will finally find itself under a blanket directive to stay the fuck at home.

The sooner we stop whining and start caring about doing everything we can to mitigate the spread, the sooner we can flatten the curve and begin to think about a return to any sense of normalcy. 

We all have to care.  Not just about ourselves, but about everyone else in this country, on this planet.  No one is immune, and any one of us could be next when the death count is updated.

So enjoy this video, laugh even, but don't mistake its seriousness.  STAY THE FUCK AT HOME.

Part Of Their World

In The Little Mermaid, Ariel sings her heart out about her longing to be a part of what she sees from a distance.  People walking, dressing up, using forks.  Part Of Their World encapsulates that desire we have all felt that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, or ocean.  It looks calmer, or more glamorous, or contains excitements you cannot find on your own little island.  Sometimes it is simply voyeurism - not in a perverted way, but in a "WTF?!?" way - amusement of sorts.

Surely our current obsession with all things Tiger King falls into that latter category.  None of us want to be Joe Exotic, but boy howdy, does he make for good must cringe TV.

Escapism is healthy, we all do it.  And these days, escaping our holed up reality (146,027 cases / 2,650 dead), if even for a few moments, is more important than ever.

So as you hit the end of episode 7 when Joe goes to jail, the zoo goes to shit, and the assorted other characters drift off to find a new path not covered in old Walmart meat and bad music videos, here are some great options that don't require a mental chemical shower afterwards.

Animal livestreams.  And they are amazing.  From penguins to pandas to hanging out around a watering hole in Africa, you can indulge your inner Joe Exotic without fear of losing a limb (sorry, Saff).

You have the time, after all, we are all literal Doctor Do Littles right now.

9 Animals Cams Just For You

And check out Cincinnati Zoo - they are doing Home Safaris streamed daily on Facebook at 3pm.

OK, ok, fine, I'll throw you a bone - when you are done with the real wild life, here's Joe Exotic not singing a song he didn't write.  But man, it's catchy.

It's All About The Ratings

Anyone paying any attention since the 80s knew what he was when he slithered down his escalator in 2015 and decided to throw his hair into the ring and announce his candidacy for POTUS.

We knew he was a bankrupt many times over.  We knew he was a philanderer, a con artist, a grifter.  We knew he was reviled in NYC for not paying his bills, cheating contractors out of hard earned money, and a suck up of epic proportions.  We knew he shit on a gold toilet in his gaudy gold temple to excess.  We knew he had been accused of sexual assault many times over.  We knew even his first wife had credibly accused him of rape.

We knew he was a spray tanned imposter stealing from Peter to pay Paul and then fucking Paul in the ass.

Those who had never paid any real attention just saw the glints of gold and power out of their periphery, never understanding that everything he touched eventually turned to shit.  They mostly knew him from The Apprentice - the sham reality TV show in which he challenged young "business" people to hustle, market, and outlast their competitors in tasks as heady as selling ice cream on the street.

And they knew his catchphrase, "You're fired."  To every dimbulb in the asscrack of Amurica, he was an idol.  The walking personification of the saying, "A poor person's idea of a rich person."  They knew only what they saw - the excess, the arm candy, the promotional posters.

So they flocked around this landfill of a man - morbidly obese, he did not threaten them with a well cared for physique.  Coarse verbiage, they cheered as he talked like them, in small words, encouraging them to bring forth their biases, their racism, their hate.  They embraced his bumper sticker mentality - Make America Great Again - simple, fit on a hat.  And as the rational people who knew all about him warned, beseeched, and begged them to wise up, they clung to him harder.  They laughed at our concerns.  They cried FAKE NEWS in response to anything that did not prop up their new hero.  They reveled like pigs in shit while calling us snowflakes, telling us to "Fuck Your Feelings."

They finally had someone who not only approved of their ignorance, but elevated it to the national stage.  Someone who did not shrink from the ugly things in their souls, but who proudly said the quiet parts out loud.  A totem representing all their baser instincts, a raging dumpster fire into which they could pour all their emotional gasoline. 

And most of all, he allowed them to attain their deepest desire - they were finally part of the greatest reality TV show ever filmed. 

They ignored that he was a lifelong Democrat who never had even a passing interest in church or Jesus.  They looked the other way at his string of infidelities; his litter of five children with three women.  His mobbed up associates?  Just more great characters in their show.  

While the rest of us were stuck in a horrific episode of Survivor, they were anointing their new American Idol. 

Fast forward to today.

We are in the midst of a global pandemic.  Our country is still #1 in cases of COVID-19, as of this afternoon we have 141,169.  The death count continues to rise alongside - currently 2,458.  For those keeping track, that is 17,591 more cases and 238 more deaths since yesterday.

One month and two days ago, Trump went on TV and declared that we only had 15 cases and that soon it would be 0.  He stood at a hate rally and called it a "Democratic hoax."

Always the conman, always the bullshitter, he was treating this as a reality TV show that could somehow be gamed.

Then people started dying.  And he tried bullshitting harder.  Still no worse than the flu, go about your business.

Then as the numbers mounted, those were not the ratings he desired, so he tried sounding serious, saying he knew it was a big deal all along.  He promised widespread testing that still has not appeared.  He promised everyone would be taken care of.

Governors and business owners knew the flim flam man was not going to protect us, so they stepped up, listening to the experts.  Sports seasons were canceled.  Disney pulled the plug on its theme parks, cruise line and hotels.  And then Las Vegas closed down.

Now, to any of you Qanon idiots, MAGAts who still don't think this is serious, any sundry dullards who think this is a conspiracy, PAY ATTENTION.  When the biggest moneymaking endeavors in our society - sports, entertainment, and gambling - shutter?  IT'S SERIOUS.  The Mouse and the House do not close up shop, they just don't.  They are nonstop cash registers with people queued up to pay homage with their wallets.  What they have lost in the past two weeks?  Close to the amount of money Trump claims to have.

Yet, ever the showman, ever the star in his own ongoing TV show, Trump decided that if he could not travel the country having the hordes fellate him at his rallies, he would start appearing on TV daily.  As President he can do that.  He surrounded himself with toadies and one expert who had to constantly correct the bullshit Trump dribbled all over the mic.  Face it, Dr. Fauci is no match for Trump's "feelings".

He entertained his stupid followers by downplaying the severity with gems like this, "You can call it a germ.  You can call it a flu.  You can call it a virus.  You know, you can call it many different names.  I'm not sure anybody even knows what it is."

The supporting cast in his reality circus - his base - lapped up that wilted word salad and continued to believe him, cheer him, laud him.  Even as more people fall sick around them, even as loved ones begin to die off their family trees.  This is exciting stuff!  Talk about getting voted off the island!

The sentient Cheeto has used these briefings to deride journalists who dare ask questions like "What would you tell the American people who are scared?"; to tout medicines that are unproven, even dangerous; to openly spar with Governors who are begging for assistance.  Bend the knee and kiss my ass or no masks and ventilators for you!  And in the most dangerous game he is playing, he arbitrarily pulled Easter out of his ass as the day when this would magically be over.

The MAGAts beamed as if given a rose in a Bachelor ceremony.

Then today, as the numbers continued to climb, as families were being changed forever, as loved ones died alone in hospital beds, or were sent home to be almost dead before being allowed into a hospital, he Tweeted this:

As Americans were dying, the numbers rising (incidentally since I typed the numbers up above, we are now at 141,781 and 2,471), Trump was not consoling, speaking words of sympathy, encouraging us to be strong, follow the experts' directives to social distance.  He was touting his ratings.

Because that is what we have been all along.  Just a numbers game to him.  Easy marks to con.  A bunch of rubes who lust for entertainment like the citizens who filled the Colossium demanding their boredom be quenched with blood.

This whole thing is just the biggest reality TV show ever mounted, and all that matters to him is how many people tune in to watch him curse, riff, flip tables, and point fingers like a drunken Real Housewife.

How anyone still cheers him on is beyond me.  Hopefully beyond you, too.  Because if you are one of the imbeciles who still think he is swell, that he actually gives a shit about you, you deserve what is coming for you.  It is that simple. 

Go ahead, fill your churches on Easter.  Hell, you "Branch Covidians" were still filling them today. 

Send your kids back to Liberty University - only ten of those students have tested positive so far.  Meh.  Laugh at the mere notion of social distancing.  Hang out and have your COVID-19 parties, trying to infect each other because some equally dim talking head told you it is just like chicken pox. 

Bitch in the grocery store because you have to stand on the blue tape six feet from the nearest person in line.  Spread your bullshit memes that are easily debunked with a three second Google.  Decent society is done trying to reason with you.  We have always known you were dumb and mean and selfish.  That has been evident from the beginning.  But somewhere inside, we still held out hope that something he did would finally wake you up.  It is obvious nothing will.

You are completely willing to risk your life, your children's lives, those of friends, family, co-workers.  You are literally willing to die to own the libs.

So go ahead.  Call it a hoax.  Ignore the warnings.  Guffaw at the conservative prediction of 100,000 of us dying.  Laugh at our horrified expressions as we watch more and more innocent people succumb.  

But know that when you start coughing, when your child has a fever that won't go away, when your husband's lungs begin to glue themselves together, when you are alone and dying in some sterile hospital room - know that you own it, all of it.  Every life you endangered, every child in a cage, every American who has died because you elected a D-list celebrity with a fifth grade vocabulary and convenient bonespurs all because he made good TV watchin'.

We'll be over here social distancing the vertical way.  You are welcome to do it horizontally.  It's six feet either way.  Just know your way means your show is permanently canceled.

P.S. Since I started typing, the numbers are now at 141,781 and 2,475.  That's right, SEVENTEEN people have died since I sat down and started this piece.  And I type fast.

 

The Beat Goes On

 

New numbers to report... sing along, you know the melody.

 

 

 

 

The beat goes on, the beat goes on
Trump keep pulling "info" out his ass
LIE de da de de, LIE de da de DIE

 

Socializing was once the rage, uh huh
History has turned the page, uh huh
The isolation, the current thing, uh huh
Tangerine Taint is our newborn king, uh huh

 

And the beat goes on, the beat goes on
Fever's now pounding a rhythm to the brain
LIE de da de de, LIE de da de DIE

 

The grocery stores are all bare now, uh huh
Little girls sew COVID masks, uh huh
And Trump says he's a President of war
Electrically we keep the virus score (119,938 cases / 1991 dead)

 

And the beat goes on, the beat goes on
Sirens keep pounding a rhythm to the brain
LIE de da de de, LIE de da de DIE

 

Grandmas sit in chairs and reminisce
'Bout TP for to wipe after they pissed
Cars sit idle in the drive all the time
All cry, "Hey buddy, have you got a dime?"

 

And the beat goes on, the beat goes on
Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the grave
LIE de da de de, LIE de da de DIE

 

And the beat goes on, yes, the beat goes on
And the beat goes on, and the beat goes on
The beat goes on, and the beat goes on

Brother and Sister, Can You Spare A Dime?

As this pandemic takes hold and unemployment numbers fold more and more people into their statistics (over 3.3 million as of two days ago), I have thought many times about writing this post.  But I have hesitated because we are all, if not tightening our belts, losing sleep because the belt is already so tight.

I have received requests from five people in the past couple weeks who are struggling and scared.  Their jobs deemed non-essential, a couple are gig economy workers, and all petrified about how to even feed themselves and their families.  I have tried to help as I can from my end.

Each time I think about sitting down to type this, I stop because I simply do not want anyone feeling guilty if they cannot help.  But then yesterday I got an email notification from Paypal.

One of our long time DGMSers, completely unprompted, sent a donation along with this note:

I was unemployed for 6 months last year, so I didn't get to donate for Christmas, so thought I'd do so now in case we have people that are struggling with the shutdown. Thanks!

My tears were immediate.  This community is filled with amazing, generous, thoughtful people.  I know that.  WE know that.

So I slept on it.  And this morning decided to write this and ask if anyone else can help.  A dollar, five dollars, but ONLY if you can afford it.  And if you cannot, this has never been a place for guilt.  If you are needing help with food, please email me.  As donations come in, I will spread them as far as I am able.

At Christmas each year, we refer to our efforts as Yes, Virginia.  Throughout the year, as needs arise, we have always paid homage to our lost blogmunity member, Toni, who embodied not only friendship, but true generosity of spirit. The Namaste and Toni Wilkerson Fund links on the left side of this page tell her story and are open for donations in her honor.

As a Buddhist, the word 'namaste' often popped up in Toni's comments.  One word which meant many: "I honor the place in you in which the entire Universe dwells, I honor the place in you which is of Love, of Integrity, of Wisdom and of Peace. When you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, we are One."

Love, Integrity, Wisdom & Peace. No better words could honor her spirit, and no better words to inspire us all.

We are all feeling isolated.  Disconnected by social distancing.  Frightened by circumstances we did not create.  Paralyzed by the fear of all the unknowns that are before us.  But I also know that this community is still here for one another.  This has always been a collection of the better angels on our shoulders.

And like Toni, we have always understood that in reaching out to help others we are also reaching in with an extraordinary gift to ourselves.

Please help if you can.  People are not just hungry for food, they are hungry to be reminded that we rise and fall and rise again - TOGETHER.

Namaste,

Linda

We're #1! We're #1!

NOTE:  As of this morning, roughly 15 hours after I wrote this post on 3/26, the USA maintains its leads, with numbers now standing at 86,012 infected, 1301 dead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As of this afternoon, the "We're Amurica, dammit" crowd should be very pleased indeed.  Foam fingers for displaying "We're #1!" pride should be selling out faster than Charmin. 

Why, you ask?

Did we finally reach the international pinnacle of education rankings?  Did we summit the Kilamanjaro in quality of life?  Did we outstrip all other countries for safest place on the planet?

Silly goose, of course not.  (Incidentally, the USA is 38th in math, 13th in quality of life, and 128th in terms of safety.)

No, what houseproud United Staters are celebrating today is that we are kicking ass and taking names in the COVID-19 Olympics!  That's right, as of this afternoon, the United States has taken the gold in coronavirus cases at 82.404.  We have now bypassed the previous record holders, Italy and China and are on pace to continue lapping every country because of our incredible stupidity at the highest levels of power!

Yesterday evening when I wrote, the number was 60k+ with 838 deaths.  I amended that piece this morning when we awoke to 68k+ and 1001 deaths.  This afternoon, a mere 24 hours later, we are at 82,404.  And deaths are mounting right along with positive tests results.  Working number tonight?  1,175.

You might still be well.  At least visibly.  And that 1,175 may not seem threatening to you in a country of over 330 million people.  But every single one of us has the potential to be carrying this virus with no symptoms, light symptoms, distributing it those with whom we refuse to distance ourselves. 

Yesterday I wrote from an anecdotal perspective of those patients being admitted through ERs.  Alone, no loved ones allowed to go with them, hold their hands, calm their fears.  Last night, a friend who has been self isolating with her husband as they both have had all COVID-19 symptoms, lived this scenario out.  Her husband has not been faring as well as she in terms of fighting it back and getting through it.  His breathing compromised, fever, cough, all of it going on for 10 days unabated, the hospital finally took him.  Alone.

She watched as he was taken in, not allowed to even enter the building with him.  She spent last night, heart in a vice, with no contact with him.  This morning he was waiting for a specialist as his CT scan "doesn't look good" and shows signs of coronavirus.

What is happening is REAL.  To REAL people.  And it is terrifying.  I have spent this day thinking about her situation, imagining if it were me.  I have three grown children spread across this country.  They are the very air I breathe.  My husband is my light, love, my safe place.  Them fighting for their lives alone?  The mere thought is devastating.  Thinking that I would not be able to get to them, to do what a mother is always there to do?  It literally takes my breath away and tears sting my eyes.

Yet we still see an administration acting like it is not so bad.  Governors comparing it to the common cold.  TV talking heads downplaying it.  Hell, one of FOX's airheads (I do not care to know this imbecile's name) this morning literally lectured her male co-dullards about how they did not understand what this situation is doing to women.  And no she was not talking about a mother's heart, a spouse's fears.

She was talking about not being able to return items in 30 days, get our hair or nails done because salons are closed.

I am not making this up.

"All my friends are saying you know, this is not a priority.  People are dying and I realize that, but they can't get their nails done."

WATCH:

"all my friends are saying you know, this is not a priority, people are dying and i realize that, but they can't get their nails done" pic.twitter.com/UnkqFdvvmp

— Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) March 26, 2020

This is literally what is being sold to millions of easily swayed viewers - Be inconvenienced!  Demand your nail salons open back up!  God forbid you can't return your jeggings to Walmart by the date on the receipt!

Again, I cannot stress enough - even if it has not come to your doorstep yet, it is lurking in your town.  And when it hits, it is going to hit like a tsunami, especially small towns where healthcare services are already threatened by economics.  Red state governors are already joking about how this is only really hitting blue states, as if it is some liberals only virus.  To quote your favorite Crayola colored King:

So what is going to happen in all of these red states and small Amurican towns, completely unprepared, filled to the brim with MAGA hat wearing acolytes who have been told over and over it is not so bad?  They are going to become hotbeds of coronavirus, and people are going to die with their stupid red hats on their stupid empty heads.  Their grandparents are going to go without ventilators because there are none to be had in Bumfuck, USA.  Their children are going to succumb. 

All because they have spent years believing that dim, cowardly, bullying, narcissistic, trainwreck of a human instead of listening to experts. 

This is the aftermath of Jonestown.  909 dead bodies, a third of them children.  They, too, spent years believing a dim, cowardly, bullying, narcissistic, trainwreck of a human.

So as you continue to go about your life, disbelieving the doctors; as you continue to bitch and moan about Talia's Talons being closed and your nails needing did; as you continue to mingle, go to church, and hang out with buddies - keep that picture in mind.  They may have drank Flavor Aid, but you are drinking COVID-AID - both dealt out by men who would not even cross the street to piss on you if you were on fire.  Your time to prepare is pretty much gone at this point.

There are only so many resources in the biggest of cities - nurses have been photographed wearing Hefty trash bags as their hospitals have run out of protective gowns for them.  Doctors who have been treating patients nonstop are dying.  Refrigerated trucks are being pulled up to hospitals to contain the overflow of dead bodies.  How is your little hamlet going to fare?

This is real.  It is happening.  And when COVID-19 knocks on your door, this is the foam finger it will be wearing.

Doctor, Doctor, Give Me The News

Today's Trump rally COVID-19 briefing once again had the Orange Emperor front and center whining about how he is being mistreated, how the media is out to get him, and how the whole thing is about hurting his re-election bid.

Yes, Donald, the entire world, tired of your shitshow, got together and not only created but spread a deadly virus just to make you look bad.  Or worse.  Face it, you look bad on any given day.

Accurately reporting on your refusal to take this seriously as far back as December; updating coronavirus patient numbers and the death toll daily; hearing from governors how you still have not activated disaster funding for them, how they are running out of masks, ventilators; detailing for the public how you and your GOPer cronies tried to shove a $500 BILLION slush fund with zero oversight into the relief bill; hell, people daring to die - it's all done with an eye to hurting YOU, you festering 'roid on the asshole of humanity.

I wrote yesterday how Trump's entire life has been about riffing and grifting - griffing.  Basically bullshitting his way from one failed endeavor to the next, pocketing money along the way and leaving ruin in his orange wake.  To paraphrase the western saying, Trump has always been "all asshat, no cattle."  He bluffs, he bullies, he bankrupts and then emerges to start the cycle anew.

Only this is not something he can bullshit his way out of.  The emperor has no clothes.  His narcissism will not save him.  He is not intellectually equipped to understand, much less assist in this pandemic.  People are on both economic and literal life support because he wasted two months wishing this away. 

Ahhhh, remember those innocent, halcyon days when he said "There are 15 cases and the 15, within a couple of days, is going to be down to close to zero."?

That was exactly one month ago.

According to the CDC, updated this afternoon, the United States stats are as follows:

Total cases: 68,000+

Total deaths: 1001

I'm not a math scholar, but even I know that 68,000 is a far fucking cry from FIFTEEN.

In the past 24 hours, in one New York hospital alone, THIRTEEN people died of COVID-19.

Yet there he stands daily, obfuscating, whining, bitching, spreading dangerous misinformation, pulling dates out of his corpulent ass, and LYING.  Anyone really believe in the Easter miracle Saint Trump is talking about?  How he wants "the churches packed on Easter"?

1001 people have lost their lives so far in this country.  And while our population of 330+ million continues to give far too many a false sense of Kevin Bacon level separation security, it creeps closer to each and every one of us by the hour.

That is why only doctors should be at these briefings.  Experts like Dr. Fauci, the infectious disease specialist.  Bring ER doctors to the fore to speak directly to the public and describe what they are seeing, who they are treating, how desperate the situation is.  Bring nurses who are risking their lives daily because too many people are too fucking stupid and filled with hubris to practice social distancing.  And start showing the faces of those we have lost each day.  And with their faces, give us their names, their ages, what they did in this life that they will never do again.  Show us who we are losing, what we are losing.  Hell, let their loved ones stand there and beg you covidiots, through their tears, to pay attention to the DOCTORS, not the Wizard of Con who knows less than nothing.

Tonight, Dr. Fauci took his turn and bluntly stated that "We really need to be prepared for another cycle."  And we have not even reached the crest of this cycle. This is what people need to get through their inconvenienced, selfish, whiny little heads.  There is no magical off switch for this.  Trump saying EASTER! won't make it so.  Social distancing can only accomplish so much because there are far too many who refuse to participate.  And until there is a vaccine, it will continue to spread.  And cycle, and spread again.

Yes, the economy is tanking.  PERSONAL economy especially.  But Trump wants to hide that as well.  Today, at his request, Ohio agreed to stop reporting unemployment numbers because of how it will reflect on him. 

REFLECT. ON. HIM.

He is not worried about how you are going to feed your kids, keep your house, if you have a job.  He is worried about how HE looks.  You filing for unemployment is an irritant to him.  How the hell do you think he views people having the audacity to up and die?

And even the proposed relief bill is not going to magically make the difference it needs to.  Made too much money back in 2018 - piss off.  Did not file taxes, no routing number in the system?  Good luck tracking down your check as it could take up to four months to receive one. 

$1200 in a one time payment for those making less than $75K. 

Contrast that with Canada which has set up relief package that will help workers who are sick, quarantined or have been laid off due to COVID-19; parents with sick family members, children or kids who must stay home because schools and daycares are closed; and who are contract workers or self-employed and losing work or closing up shop due to the virus. Trudeau said workers who still have jobs, but have seen their pay cut, will also qualify.

$2000 per month, for up to four months right now.  Because they are realistic about what their citizens and the world are facing.  They know that this will not *poof* away in a month.  Because they are not willing to cull the herd and sacrifice their citizens to appease the angry stock gods.

What we are facing is, for us, NEW.  A global pandemic likened to the Spanish flu of 1918.  It spread worldwide from 1918-1919 infecting over 1/3 of the global population.  Over 500,000,000 died.  In the United States alone, 675,000 people died.  Look at that number and then look back at how quickly Trump's 15 went to over 68,000 and counting.

ONE MONTH.

If that doesn't sober you the fuck up, what will it take?  Do you have to see your spouse taken from you at the ER door, unable to hold their hand while they struggle on a ventilator - if one is even available to them?  That's what happens.  Loved ones are dying alone because they cannot allow visitors in for fear of more virus spread.  Do you have to lose a child - they are dying.  Do YOU have to find yourself gasping for air in lungs that are knitting themselves together?  Then will you finally concede that maybe, just maybe, getting your healthcare advice from a morbidly obese, fast food eating, never exercises, know NOTHING, malignant narcissist is not the best course?  That maybe those people you have long derided as "elite" because they go to college and have advanced degrees and use big words just might be the ones to steer this ship to shore?

Trump is expert in one thing:  the greater glory of Trump and he will sacrifice everyone in his way to save himself from humiliation, the pain of embarrassment, and any form of comeuppance.

No matter how many red hats you buy, no matter how many times you light the candle at your Trump prayer altar in your home, no matter how many times you pull on your "Fuck Your Feelings" tshirt to own the libs, he cannot, will not save you in the end.

Doctors can.  Ultimately doctors will.  Listen to the smart people.  You might just live to insult the elites another day.

 

Who Needs Miss Cleo?