The Trump reality show

Trump is clearly fumbling the situation. However, he is absolutley correct that the cure cannot be worse than the problem itself. The next six weeks around the world will be interesting as governments are forced into tough decisions about which group of people to choose to die... those with COVID-19 or those who will be lost in the economic fallout of mass lockdowns. I am not saying which is the correct answer because I don't know.

As for the "China flu". Yeah it was cheeky but not racist. It was also not needed but that's Trump M.O. so no surprises he said it.

Truth is, the world should have been more discriminatory to China at the start of Feb and shut the country off for at least four weeks. I am sure any kind of viral outbreak that happens in the future (in China or not), will see the country of origin more swiftly quarantined.

If you close everything down every time someone coughs in China you won't be too popular.

Best to wait until it's over, gather the facts and figures together to find out what if any mistakes were made, They can then decide what to do next time a similar event happens.

Quote from UK Man

If you close everything down every time someone coughs in China you won't be too popular.

Best to wait until it's over, gather the facts and figures together to find out what if any mistakes were made, They can then decide what to do next time a similar event happens.

Not close everything down, but close the origin of the virus down. Of course, we're not talking about a cough and again COVID-19 is very different because of the way it spreads. Don't need all the data to know the mistake was allowing Chinese people to continue global travel throughout Februaury. The mistakes on that front have already been made, which is why we are all currently in our houses.

Quote from Semigoodlooking

Not close everything down, but close the origin of the virus down. Of course, we're not talking about a cough and again COVID-19 is very different because of the way it spreads. Don't need all the data to know the mistake was allowing Chinese people to continue global travel throughout Februaury. The mistakes on that front have already been made, which is why we are all currently in our houses.

I'm sure they'll be looking at that as well. Especially the time it took between the detection of the virus to when the Chinese released the information to the rest of the world.

Quote from Splinter

...which is something the Orange Monster actually took credit for and never instigated until it was too late.

I don’t want my posts in this thread to be construed as support for Trump… that is definitely not the case! He has handled the outbreak with his usual buffonary and is making the situation worse. This is an example while people were concerned that is inability to be presidential would one day come bac to haunt the United States.

Like day one, the guy simply has no clue.

So much so he is making a mockery of the situation. Many leaders have handled this poorly, but even then, you get the feeling they are making mistakes in the face of very hard decisions. Trump is different, he is mocking the seriousness and showing a lack of empathy, which, of course defines him. Although I don’t deny that he too is faced with tough decisions.

The only thing I agree with him on is that the cure cannot be worse than the disease. Or maybe it can, but a decision needs to be made one way or the other. It’s a question many other governments are ignoring as they buy time.

Sadly, in the US president's daily press briefings, when his epidemiologists and health professionals present the facts, he generally steps back up to the podium and contradicts them. Since he has already trained his followers that the intel community, the press, and scientists are not to be believed ("Only I can fix it!"), there is a large group of people in the US who are also in denial. Without federal leadership, the states are left to fend for themselves and there is absolutely no cohesive plan for dealing with the pandemic on a national level.

LMAO. You will forgiven for double posting when you see this video!
https://mobile.twitter.com/hoa…tatus/1242879985024741382

Quote from Semigoodlooking

The only thing I agree with him on is that the cure cannot be worse than the disease. Or maybe it can, but a decision needs to be made one way or the other. It’s a question many other governments are ignoring as they buy time.

We can only hope, for humanity's sake, something will be discovered to treat covid 19.

Since this thread is called The Trump Reality Show, I’d like to contribute this bit sent by a British friend.

Someone on Quora asked "Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?" Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England wrote the following response:

A few things spring to mind.

Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem.

For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed.

So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump's limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.

Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever.

I don't say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman.

But with Trump, it's a fact. He doesn't even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.

Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers.

And scarily, he doesn't just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.

There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It's all surface.

Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront.

Well, we don't. We see it as having no inner world, no soul.

And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist.

Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that.

He's not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat.

He's more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.

And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully.

That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead.

There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down.

So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think 'Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy' is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:

• Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.

• You don't need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.

This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss.

After all, it's impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum.

God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid.

He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart.

In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump.

And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish:

'My God... what... have... I... created?

If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.

He is a living shitstorm in a dumpster fire.

Last night, he fired the nonpartisan Inspector General in charge of overseeing the emergency spending package passed by Congress for humanitarian relief and help for small businesses, to make sure the money goes to the intended recipients. He will replace that man with someone very grateful and beholden to him for the job.

Imagine not knowing that everyone in the room thinks you're the biggest moron in the room. I am not sure if it's a blessing or a curse to not know you're an idiot and everyone thinks you're an idiot. Ignorance is bliss I suppose.