OK, folks, it is seriously way past time to STOP airing Trump’s “briefings” on the Coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe.  During today’s briefing episode of The Apprentice, WH Edition, Trump actually aired a video that is nothing more than a North Korean style Dear Leader propaganda video that took snippets of actual news reports way out of context to make him look good.  Real networks immediately cut from their coverage, accurately reporting what Trump was doing.  The worst part was him standing to the side of the stage gloating and mugging for the cameras as the bullshit spewed from the WH video system.  We are WAY past time for the 25th Amendment.

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, Democrats have desperately tried to get vote by mail passed in states that don’t have it in time for the November presidential election.  It’s a non-starter with Republicans lead by Trump.  At the same time, the Postal Service is losing $2 billion per month with reduced volumes of mail.  Democrats tried to put a $15 billion bailout in the relief bill, but Trump threatened to veto the entire multi-trillion dollar bill if it included any money for the Post Office.  The bill finally got passed with a $10 billion loan, by Mnuchin is holding it up in Treasury, and Trump fired the IG assigned to oversee the distribution of funds from the relief bill last week.

Republicans have been trying to kill the US Postal Service for decades, trying to privatize it and hand it over to some of their largest donors.  In 2006, the Republican controlled Congress passed a law that required the Postal Service prefund 75 YEARS of anticipated pensions, totaling $72 billion.  They then diverted that money to paying down federal debt caused by GWB’s slashing tax cuts.  Even though the Postal Service is no longer a full federal agency the Congress still controls its budget, continuously starving it for funding.

Even as the COVID-19 pandemic has caused mail volume to plummet,  Republicans, lead by Trump, have stonewalled any support to keep the service alive, and without funding, it will run out of cash in September.  At the same time, Democrats are trying to introduce voting reforms that allow vote by mail for the November elections.  Of course, Republicans are also stonewalling that.  About 20 states already allow voting by mail.  Why in the world would Republicans want to kill the Postal Service?  That answer is now crystal clear – no Post Office?  No voting by mail.  Trump’s plummet in the polls can be offset by making it almost impossible to vote during the pandemic.

Yep, Republicans figured out many years ago that reducing turnout through voter suppression, as well as radical gerrymandering, improves their chances of hanging on to power.  This effort is that strategy on steroids actually taking away Americans’ Constitutional right to vote.

Trump’s approval ratings, which always hover around the low 40s, has risen in the last month as many Americans rallied around him as he thrashed around trying to make the Coronavirus pandemic go away.  He started daily briefings for the first time in over a year and his approval went up.  Now an interesting effect of his daily exposure is occurring – people (who don’t pay much attention) are figuring out that Trump actually is doing a terrible job with the crisis.  I believe they’re figuring that out because every day, Trump:

• Lies, lies, lies.  His incessant lying results in his staff having to continuously crisis manage, backtracking on his bombastic claims of everything from cures to numbers, to non-existent vaccines and tests.
• Is permanently radically partisan.  He attacks everyone who criticizes him and airs old grievances daily.
• Cuts off the experts to spout conspiracy theories and bullshit.
• Insults the international community, WHO, NATO, and many others including his usual targets, China and “shithole” countries.
• Insults the press, refuses to answer a straight question repeats “fake news” every minute.
• Holds his “briefings” at the 5 pm newshour so his ratings are higher.  He sometimes blathers for up to 2 hours, providing very little actual new information. It wrecks news programing throughout the country.

This worked for a few weeks, but Trump is wearing pretty thin with millions of Americans.  His ratings are falling in new polls, and Biden is rising against him in key states like Florida.  I can’t watch it, but Trump is inadvertently damaging his re-election prospects by putting his incompetence and cornered badger personality every day on national television.  Even most loyal Trumpists have backed away from their idiotic boasting and taunting of normal Americans who are watching this debacle slack-jawed in disbelief.

Trump’s “winning” has now erased ALL of the stock market gains since he took office.  Unemployment this morning is 13% the highest in almost 100 years.  We are struggling with a global pandemic without the benefit of a strong pandemic response team because it was dismantled.  We are struggling with confusing and often conflicting information.  Our infection rate is understated because there is virtually no testing available.  Those who had it and have recovered have no way of confirming their illness because no serum antibody test is available.  The CDC is paralyzed by politicized appointments and slashed budgets.

Trump couldn’t do a better job of destroying the US economy if he tried.  The silver lining here, though, is that he’s putting his corruption, incompetence, and hatefulness of full display for hours every day.  Doing that is actually starting to get through to Americans who normally don’t pay attention.

I was talking to a reporter today from a local network affiliate who expressed frustration at Trump’s successful hijacking of the evening news by holding his Coronavirus “briefings” every single day during that time.  During said “briefings” Trump stumbles from one irrelevant subject to another, lies in a continuous stream, attacks previous administrations, insults everyone who dares disagree with him and has now taken to cutting off medical experts from answering key questions asked by the media.  Very little important information comes from these briefings and the incessant lying has become a serious threat to Americans’ very lives.

It’s long past time to cut Trump off.  His oxygen is media coverage.  He’s a gameshow host who doesn’t know shit about actually running anything successful except attracting media coverage.  It’s time to cut off that oxygen and send the clear message that 1) HE doesn’t control the media, and 2) The media’s obligation is to provide actual useful information that is TRUE to their audiences.  I don’t care in the slightest about Fox and OAN suckers.  They’re on their own.  I’m talking about normal Americans who desperately need information that can help them make their own decisions for their own lives.

It’s time for the networks to wake up and cut Trump off.  Report what happened, but take away his stage.  Take back control of the news hour.  In other words, get off your ass and do your goddam job and stop being intimidated by the biggest bully in the history of the US.

Trump has been pushing (against all of his medical expert’s advice) that everyone try malaria drug hydroxychloroquine sulfate, falsely claiming twice that the FDA had cleared it for use against COVID-19.  We now know why – the largest manufacturer of the drug is Novartis.  In 2018, Novartis agreed to pay Michael Cohen (you know, Trump’s personal attorney who is now in jail) $1.2 million dollars for access to Trump.  What a coinquidink that Trump is now hawking their drug from the WH briefing room.

This presidency can’t end too soon.

Over the last hour, Trump has been bragging on Twitter about the “ratings” his WH briefings are getting.  Let’s be clear here…2/3 of Americans are confined to their homes.  There were 3 million new unemployment claims this week.  There are over 100,000 confirmed cases (most of any country in the world), God knows how many actually infected since we don’t have testing available.  Millions of Americans are terrified.  And what is Trump doing this morning?

BRAGGING ABOUT HIS FUCKING “RATINGS”.  This is all just reality television for him to stroke his own festering ego.

The level of loathing I have for this cretin cannot be described in English.