Politico has put its hands on the pandemic response plan that had been developed by NSC staff during the Obama administration.  The plan got tossed onto a shelf and the pandemic response team was disbanded in 2018 despite warnings from experts.  This new reporting publishes the now ignored guide and you can read it here.  Trump’s talking heads responded to Politico that the plan was “dated” and superseded by newer plans at CDC.  The Obama plan was finished in 2016.

Trump has claimed that “Nobody ever expected a thing like this,” which, of course, is a lie.  Plenty of people foresaw the potential of a global pandemic, but the massive turnover in the Trump administration and his obsessive effort to erase the Obama administration’s accomplishments have literally risked all Americans’ very lives.  Trump must be held accountable for this massive failure.

Mike Pompeo pushed a new Trump talking point at the virtual G-7 meeting yesterday and today, wrecking the meeting that ended (again) without a joint statement at its conclusion.  The issue?  He insisted on renaming the Coronavirus “The Wuhan Virus”.  The other 6 countries were having none of it.  Yep, he really did that.

All week the Washington Post opinion writers have been talking about the lying, distortions, and pure misinformation pouring into Americans’ ears from Trump’s daily briefings diatribes.  As we’ve all known from the beginning of his run for the presidency, Trump’s trademark is his bombastic lying, but now such lying is actually killing people.  From “it will disappear,” to “it’s completely under control,” to touting drugs that haven’t been approved or tested to now pushing to “restart the economy”, he’s gone from laughably moronic to downright dangerous.

It’s time for the media to pull the plug on Trump’s WH rallies.  Bloomberg News has done that, showing the briefing WITH THE SOUND TURNED OFF recapping only factual information along with other market news. The other networks should start doing similar.  Since Trump can’t do his idiotic rallies right now, the ONLY tools he has is Twitter and network television, so he dominates the briefings spouting bullshit and propaganda and muzzling healthcare experts.  It’s got to stop and stop now.  Governors (and Joe Biden) have stepped into the vacuum left by Trump’s idiocy and the networks should certainly carry those briefings.

At one of our most precarious times, voter stupidity has put a moronic megalomaniac in the most powerful job in the world.  Other countries have leaders grappling with COVID-19; we have a clown thinking he’s running a television gameshow.

By now you’ve heard that Rand Paul has tested positive for the Coronavirus and is quarantined.  He says that he suspected he might be infected because of all of his exposure in recent days from those who are also testing positive.  Even though he suspected he had it, he did not self-quarantine, and was indeed continuing close proximity meetings with other senators.  He also went swimming yesterday morning in the Senate pool at their gym (which, BTW, had been closed).  That’s right, DR. Rand Paul has exposed God knows how many people AFTER he thought he was exposed, and AFTER he was tested.  Senators Mitt Romney and Mike Lee have both now self-quarantined due to their prolonged and close exposure to Paul.  What an asshole.

Jesus.

If you have ANY doubts that the Coronavirus pandemic is “not that bad”, or even “a hoax”, read this dispatch from northern Italy.  If it doesn’t send chills down your spine, you’re not paying attention.

As if he didn’t have anything better to do, Trump has started restricting Chinese press in it’s access and reporting in the US. In retaliation, China has expelled the NY Times, Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal.  So.  Here we are in the middle of a global pandemic where the press is THE most important outlet for information, so what does Trump do?  Start a pissing contest with the largest country in the world.  Jesus.