Trump’s Virulent Ineptitude

Thursday, March 12, 2020

Last night, President Trump was offered a chance to demonstrate basic skills at communicating essential information to the American public at a time when normal routines have been completely disrupted by the emergence of an opportunistic virus. I say “opportunistic” virus because it seems to have waited for the precise moment in contemporary history when power-hungry politicians in major nations have consolidated their grip on day-to-day operations in the bureaucracies in capital cities. The reluctance of these politicians, whether in China, Russia, or the United States, to be held accountable for their statements and actions has only facilitated the outbreak and spread of the caronavirus.

The best article that surveys the latest deplorable performance by Trump is at the following link:
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgxwHMGNlsLVvQhLWMtjPscmRBvCS

As this article points out, there were three major “clarifications” issued by the White House after the speech. These clarifications are of a magnitude that raises questions about Trump’s basic competence. The first job of a president in this kind of situation is to get the facts correct. And he couldn’t even do that. Who the hell is running things at the White House? Trump requested that networks suspend their regular programming in order to provide him with a platform to convey crucial information about our government’s response to this crisis. He read his speech off a teleprompter. Nothing was improvised. It was meant to be a definitive alert on which we could build ideas for our adjustments to this health crisis. Instead, we were given information that was not at all accurate regarding both travel, economic activity, and health coverage by insurance companies.

I expect politicians to be liars, but inept liars who can’t even get the first version of their story to be consistently aligned with actual facts deserve to be put out of office as soon as possible. As I look back at all the people who have served as president since World War II ended, there is not a single one who could not have handled the current federal government’s response to this pandemic much better than Trump. Compared to Trump’s fumbling errors, President Gerald Ford’s “WIN” (Whip Inflation Now) program appears to be a well-thought proposal for economic stabilization.

It is ten long months before someone else will be permitted to be in charge of the federal government. We can only hope that local officials will rise to the occasion and enable those who are extremely vulnerable to the rampage of this virus to have a fighting chance to survive until then.

Friday, March 13, 2020

UPDATE: President Trump finally declares a national emergency and releases long-awaited funds that will help state and local governments deal with this systemic challenge.

“”To unleash the full power of the government I am officially declaring a national emergency — two very big words,” Trump said at a press conference.

At first, I felt incredibly insulted by Trump, which was hardly a novel experience, but it seemed like he was lowering the bar even further than I ever dreamed he could. Where does this man get off, that he believes he is entitled to talk to me as if I were a six year old? “two very big words.” Say what?

And then I realized that maybe the extended delay in declaring a national emergency was because No. 45 actually didn’t know the meaning of the words “national emergency” and he had to look them up. Perhaps it seemed to take forever and ever for him to find the words in the dictionary. It’s probably not a book he has spent much time using in his life, and its arrangement of words might well be very unfamiliar. At last, though, he decoded them and realized that the current situation matched the dictionary definition.

“two very big words…”

Cue Bob Dylan singing the line: “Is there a hole for me to get sick in?” Trump makes me want to vomit in disgust at the thought of having to endure someone so pathetically obnoxious as president of this country.

Comments are closed.