NBC News is reporting that Trump was not diagnosed with COVID-19 on Thursday night but on Wednesday morning. KNOWING he was infected, Trump held rallies in Minnesota and New Jersey and was a walking super spreader. More to come.
Trump has announced that all Medicare recipients with be receiving $200 cash cards to “buy their prescriptions”. It’s yet another brazen example of Trump’s mafia tactics, this time trying to buy votes from seniors. AND, it’s yet another subversion of the rule of law and use of taxpayer money to personally benefit himself. How’s he doing it? He’s using a provision in the Social Security Act that allows agencies and even the private sector to test programs to improve Medicare. That provision is NOT intended to just give away money to buy votes. This provision allows for demonstrations of new programs, but requires extensive review and approval; as well such demonstrations are supposed to be revenue neutral. In bypassing the law, the administration is waving away questions saying that his executive order on prescription drugs (which doesn’t actually do anything) magically makes this $6.6 billion vote buying scheme “revenue neutral”.
The lawless Trump corruption train continues barreling towards the abyss as this latest brazen attempt to rig the election in his favor with him shouting from stages all over the country that it’s actually Democrats doing the rigging.
I’m so tired.
In a very Trumpian show of Trump’s Trumpiness, Trump held a ceremony at the White House this week hailing himself as Great Peacemaker in his quest for the “deal of the century” claiming to achieve Middle East peace. This whole charade is really just being held to whip up outrage in his base when he again doesn’t get the “Noble” Peace Prize he wants so badly, but knows he’ll never receive. The whole thing is really just an arms deal, not a peace deal. To sign with Israel, the UAE is receiving fighter jets and drones. Bahrain is getting new missile defense systems. Israel, already the recipient of billions in war toys, has a new shopping list that includes Osprey tilt rotor helicopters, and other war machines.
The real problem with this “peace” accord? It leaves out the Palestinians. Israel is not at war with the EAE or Bahrain. They’re at war with the Palestinians, and have been for over 70 years. Not one concession was made in these “accords” that help the Palestinians. Like all other things Trump, this deal is 100% showmanship, 0% substance. Trump is using US tax money AND kicking off a new arms race with his new “peace” accords. This “peace” is just pouring gasoline on the fire.
Social media is still laughing about the Trump boat parade turned mass shipwreck Saturday on Lake Travis. The memes are making the rounds and some of my favorites are Poseidon For Biden, Klan overboard!, Lake Travesty, and Make 
America Sink Again. The real irony of the day, though, were the metaphors for Trump’s America…it was the perfect Libertarian event; poorly organized, and poorly managed. No one knows how many boats participated, how many where swamped, and how many people went into the water. The clearest metaphor, though, was how people acted – the wealthy, in flag festooned boats as long as 60 feet sped through the water with no regard for the every day folks in smaller boats in the parade. The resulting wakes are what caused heavy swell that engulfed those smaller boats, sinking at least 4, and swamping an untold number.
The wealthier people did what they wanted, without regard to their effect on others. Those others lost, but no one knows how many because, Freedumb. Just like today’s economy under Trump.
One of the best videos of the day, though, was by comedian Brent Terhune, who plays a MAGhat of the first order. Here he tearfully describes the loss of his beloved boat, the SS MAGAritaville.
Trump lies about his enemies’ mental states and physical health in a continuous stream as long as those lies serve his purposes, whatever those are. Well, karma turned on him yesterday, this time self inflicted. Here’s how the story has evolved:
Remember last November when Trump made a rushed and unexpected trip to Walter Reed Hospital? The trip was not scheduled, and he was accompanied by the White House physician. We asked about the trip, a spokesman said the trip was for preliminary tests before Trump’s annual physical. We all knew THAT was a lie, but no one really figured out the real reason. Well, now we know and it’s not good; for Trump I mean. Here’s how the story is playing out…
Yesterday a new book titled Trump v. The United States by NY Times reporter Michael Schmidt was published. It is an investigative look at the chaos of the Trump WH and how he is actually threatening the very survival of democracy in the US. In the book, though, Schmidt mentions that during said November trip to Walter Reed, Pence was put on standby to take over in case Trump needed to be put under anesthesia for a surgical procedure. That story had not been picked up by any major news agency, and then Trump tweeted this:
So, Trump denies reports that he had a series of mini strokes, when, in fact NO ONE WAS REPORTING THAT. Maggie Haberman of the NY Times then tweeted:
So, Trump, frantic to kill any story that happens to be true about his health, actually outed himself. As you would expect, the Twitterverse exploded, and one doctor even gave a plausible argument that Trump is actually displaying signs that he has had a stroke:
The fact that Trump has had a series of strokes explains a LOT of his physical issues including slurring of words, his difficulty walking down the ramp at West Point, and trouble drinking water with one hand. Everyone in the United States (except for Trumpists) know Trump is in terrible physical condition. He is at least 40 pounds overweight, he eats junk food every day, and even had to ride a golf cart during a walk of world leaders during a G7 meeting in 2017. The possibility that he’s had a series of strokes explains all of those unanswered questions about Trump’s health.
Karma is a bitch, to be sure.
