Virus thread, the political one.

[Sbti]

From dear leader,(who has advised Dr. Fauci with his expertise) on the governors call when the governor of Montana told him testing was a problem:

"I haven't heard about testing in weeks. We've tested more now than any nation in the world. We've got these great tests and we come out with another one tomorrow that's, you know, almost instantaneous testing. But I haven't heard about testing being a problem."

[htwoopup]

United States of America is making huge leaps in manufacturing capability and plus teaming the private-sector and public-sector.
Remarkable news from well-known firms like Jockey, Honeywell, MyPillow, and others to build hundreds of thousands of masks.
Ford Motor Company is offering their capability and mechanical expertise for ventilators, respirators, and other medical hardware.

Yes, Jockey and others are making masks. BUT those masks are NOT medically sound as they are NOT made out of the proper materials.

US fashion brands making masks expose a failure of the health system — Quartz

I could give more examples as to where this administration is claiming “wins” in working towards solutions that are, at best, spurious but I really didn’t want to go down the rabbit hole of this thread.

In my experience, I have never seen a team in Washington from either party that so overplays positives and so buries negatives....yes, they all do to some degree but never over the top with the consistency of this crew.

[davids]

From dear leader,(who has advised Dr. Fauci with his expertise) on the governors call when the governor of Montana told him testing was a problem:

"I haven't heard about testing in weeks. We've tested more now than any nation in the world. We've got these great tests and we come out with another one tomorrow that's, you know, almost instantaneous testing. But I haven't heard about testing being a problem."

I will give our President this much: He is consistent: He will always bullshit. He will always deflect. His comments will always be about him and only him.

This next comment applies not only to DJT, but also to all those who value the free market over everything: The idea that states are being forced to outbid each other for essential medical supplies is grotesque. This idea that the marketplace (and in this instance, profits for the companies making these scarce live-saving items) results in the best outcomes is fucking crazy.

If there is justice in this world, the people who hold these values should be forced to judgment and lose their roles in our society. Valuing the "economy" over human life is inhuman.

[cash05458]

Watching the Prez up there yesterday and the trotting out of the my pillow guy to talk as he did...even bible crap and my pillows of course...realized how this country has no semblance of class left on any level...not that we have had it for a very long time so it didn't surprise me...but man, just no real character or what I would call honor left in this thing...I mean that virus aside...simply, no nobility left publicly...what an odd zoo we have become...public wise we are totally sadistic, then in private complete masochists...

[mzilliox]

President Trump is working closely with other scientists on the Hydroxychloroquine + Azithromycin + Zinc treatment.
There are increasing signs that this popular anti-malaria drug is effective with getting this dangerous virus under control.

You just plain lie now? President Trump is not closely working with anyone on anything in the medical community and we all know this. i can't believe you would advance a pure lie now. this is delusion sir.

[HorsCat]

You just plain lie now? President Trump is not closely working with anyone on anything in the medical community and we all know this. i can't believe you would advance a pure lie now. this is delusion sir.

IMO, he is trolling (as others have suggested), plain and simple.

Dr. Fauci, just this morning, on using chloroquine to treat the disease: "You have to hearken back to the facts. There is no definitive evidence that this works."

[Sbti]

Why is the private sector making this stuff anyway? The nurses are just going to steal it out the back door anyway. There's something going on here. Many people are saying this. Someone should look into this.

[cash05458]

the other day when talking about these miracle drugs...Trump: "hey, we might get lucky...you never know"...yep, that inspires confidence (not that we should need him giving us confidence to be honest...but still)

2 trillion on 22 black...roll the house...fingers crossed...

[cash05458]

I can't stand trump...so don't take this wrong...but it ain't like obama would have done much different...the problem is the whole medical system....so many greedy hands shoved into the cookie jar...being prepared doesn't generate the massive costs they all want...and that goes for both dem and rethug pols...the point being when you run a heath care system for huge profit for all those greedy hands in that jar, you are going to get this sorta stuff...being prepared is bad for your investors and shareholders...rather, let it happen, and then reap...that's the american way...

[lumpy]

it ain't like obama would have done much different

Except he unquestionably did much different, and successfully. How Obama'''s Handling Of Ebola Compares With Trump'''s Handling Of Coronavirus

[cash05458]

my point is that via the insurance rape stuff led to this as well...he wanted to keep the massive profits involved for all involved...i.e his backers, just like trumpo...again, I am no trump fan...but to think dems would somehow have done a far better job? nah, disagree...the whole system has been set up with help from both sides...and you prolly couldn't find a worse system to deal with something like this...it's 4th world: too many hands in that cookie jar for basic common sense when things like this occur...

[lumpy]

my point is that via the insurance rape stuff led to this as well...he wanted to keep the massive profits involved for all involved...i.e his backers, just like trumpo...again, I am no trump fan...but to think dems would somehow have done a far better job? nah, disagree...the whole system has been set up with help from both sides...and you prolly couldn't find a worse system to deal with something like this...it's 4th world: too many hands in that cookie jar for basic common sense when things like this occur...

I think you are making that up out of whole cloth. You may remember that Obama instituted, at massive political cost, sweeping reforms to the health insurance system which were fought by Republicans and the insurance companies themselves, and would have had a public option if it had been politically possible. I just gave you an example of a Democratic administration doing a far better job. "Both sides" is just deliberate blindness.

[cash05458]

political "blindness" as you accuse me of...well, whatever you think is fine by me...but pol. blindness is thinking giving everyone coverage with 6000 dollar deductions and costs skyrocket is some sorta solution...the system is what it is...you do realize insurance companies are making more money now than ever yes? as is pharma? obama and the dnc certainly helped with that...trump continues it...but if you want to take this star wars good guy bad guy model....dems wear the white hats and the rethugs the black ones...by all means, go that way...

[Mark Kelly]

On the (possibly naive) assumption that Blue Jays is neither trolling nor lying, eg he genuinely believes these assertions and wishes to put them forward because of that belief, I find myself wondering at the mindset that could countenance the idea that a man who is not even a particularly smart property developer and has no training in the field could suddenly have developed the expertise to be "working closely with other scientists" on drug development.

The most likely answer is frightening in and of itself: it is a mindset where expertise isn't important, where everyone's opinion is equally valid, despite some being the result of careful reasoning based on years of painstaking work while others are hunches formed in a whirl of disinformation.

I can only hope that one good thing to come out of this debacle will be an appreciation of just how dangerous that mindset has become.

[Matthew Strongin]

On the (possibly naive) assumption that Blue Jays is neither trolling nor lying, eg he genuinely believes these assertions and wishes to put them forward because of that belief, I find myself wondering at the mindset that could countenance the idea that a man who is not even a particularly smart property developer and has no training in the field could suddenly have developed the expertise to be "working closely with other scientists" on drug development.

The most likely answer is frightening in and of itself: it is a mindset where expertise isn't important, where everyone's opinion is equally valid, despite some being the result of careful reasoning based on years of painstaking work while others are hunches formed in a whirl of disinformation.

I can only hope that one good thing to come out of this debacle will be an appreciation of just how dangerous that mindset has become.

Very well said. I deal with this mindset in my day job on a regular basis and it's frustrating. When applied to a global pandemic, it's downright terrifying and dangerous.

[Blue Jays]

Awesome news today! NeuroRx, a US-Israeli pharmaceutical company, and Relief Therapeutics, a Swiss drug development company, announced they received a go-ahead from the FDA for phase two trials for a drug that could help address COVID-19. USA, Israel, and Switzerland are working together towards a solution.

The two companies announced the FDA issued a “study may proceed” letter — which does not amount to a full-fledged drug approval — for the substance to be tried on COVID-19 patients. Aviptadil, is apparently a synthetic form of a neuropeptide hormone that works to enable communications between neurons in the human nervous system. Keep your fingers crossed.

[monadnocky]

On the (possibly naive) assumption that Blue Jays is neither trolling nor lying, eg he genuinely believes these assertions and wishes to put them forward because of that belief, I find myself wondering at the mindset that could countenance the idea that a man who is not even a particularly smart property developer and has no training in the field could suddenly have developed the expertise to be "working closely with other scientists" on drug development.

The most likely answer is frightening in and of itself: it is a mindset where expertise isn't important, where everyone's opinion is equally valid, despite some being the result of careful reasoning based on years of painstaking work while others are hunches formed in a whirl of disinformation.

I can only hope that one good thing to come out of this debacle will be an appreciation of just how dangerous that mindset has become.

It's akin to the propaganda from the DPRK. We're not far away from news reports of another of Trump's all-holes-in-one golf game, or how he is lending his expertise on artillery to the troops, or perhaps how a triple rainbow was spotted over Mount Rushmore on his birthday.

There is very little distance between obsequious adulation and worship. I fear that we're heading towards the latter.

[ides1056]

The "everything is relative" treatment of many issues began in earnest during the Reagan administration, which would trot out "experts" and argue everything to a draw and call it a day. The result was that the quality of the argument became the justification for the point made, not whether it was right or wrong.

Some things are right, some are wrong.

If you don't believe in science, then throw yourself out a window and defy gravity.

[j44ke]

There were missed opportunities of continuity that were the result of the standard inefficiencies of bureaucracy - especially those created by change-overs in administrations where goals are different and individual egos prevent recognizing intrinsically good ideas and good programs simply because they originated with the "other guy" - and the machinations of capitalism. For example, this article re: the attempt to build a supply of ventilators for the national emergency-response stockpile run aground for a number of reasons, including the company with the contract got bought by a larger company potentially to prevent the smaller company's products from competing with their own:

The U.S. Tried to Build a New Fleet of Ventilators. The Mission Failed. - The New York Times

These sorts of things have forever been the frustration of and with US government, especially as it interfaces with foreign humanitarian aid, where projects die every 4 to 8 years just because the administration changed. Friends who have worked in Africa on obvious problems like malaria, heart disease and HIV started to dread US elections, because a fully-funded effective effort could disappear overnight.

Our system just doesn't plan ahead very well. And even when it plans ahead, it doesn't protect the assets that plan produces from private sector predation. That's a systemic problem, non-partisan.

[crumpton]

Excellent. Having a person like President Trump who loves America, the American people, and the American experience is crucial.
We will prevail together. Keep following social distancing guidelines, keep washing your hands, keep as healthy as possible.

Hiel Cheeto much?