[SpecialOlympian]

I'm still fucking lolling that the president held a press conference so the MyPillow guy could say he's making masks from whatever shitty foam he uses in his Fox News daytime TV adverts. Maybe Trump can use the power of the presidency to tap the Shamwow guy and we can make absorbant, military grade rags that soak up viruses.

The president had the MyPillow guy on to praise him and the MyPillow guy's backstory is literally, "I was so good at doing crack all of my crack dealers held an intervention for me after I did crack for 14 days with no sleep because they knew I was destined for better things."

Like there's no way that actually happened, it's just a bullshit Evangelical redemption story aimed at audiences who have never done anything fun but feel guilty regardless.

[Julian658]

OK Julian. Let's put to rest your nonsense about Godstud. As an American you do not have access to a single news source he does not have on the same computer we are both staring at now. Fox, CNN, MSNBC, WSJ, Guardian, PBS, Daily Standard; all are just as accessible to him as they are to you. In fact, he has access to sources you have obviously ignored. The foreign press is not automatically wrong. Sometimes they have the objectivity that can only be acquired by what we called in the military "the 1000 meter view".

He is not, what you would describe as a liberal. In fact, he(or was) is a policeman of sorts. He is a man who has, through his own good offices, created enough wealth to live abroad and build a whole new life for himself. Of all of the folks on POFO he is one of the best informed.

Now. Here is a direct answer to your question.



Very bad question. So let's take it apart.


If I was the president of course I would have done FAR more than Trump has done. Far more. Why? Because it is in my education and training to have studied events like this for a very long time. I know what is required and would have acted very quickly. I do not fault President Trump for not knowing what to do. I fault him for ignoring the people who do know what to do.
Yes. I would have interdicted traffic from every area with cases. It is not a 100% solution and only works for those who are honest enough to play by the rules but I would have tried. Trump did the right thing when he excluded travel from China.

Yes. Far sooner than Trump did. In fact, he has yet to impose anything. I would have used existing law and imposed social distancing and quarantine where appropriate.

Yes. And I would have taken control of that production and sent the ventilators where my experts said they were most needed. The absolute cluster fuck of Trump's inaction and leaving states to compete (based on price) for ventilators without regard to need is sickening. That alone should have Trump replaced by congress. It is a human tragedy laid at the feet of one man and one man only. THERE SHOULD BE NO FREE MARKET FOR VENTILATORS IN THE US AT ALL! The should all be sent to the feds for distribution by need.

Here is where you get into stupid questions. First you got this backward.



I would have begun massive testing as soon as possible with an wartime emergency rate of production of testing kits. All kinds. By long before now we would also have hundreds of thousands of antibody test kits. They are easy to make and we would not only know how many people have had the disease without knowing but we would also have thousands and perhaps tens of thousands of people with immunity to work with patients and provide plasma treatments.

THEN THEN THEN



What caused the disordered crash of the stock market more than anything else was uncertainly based upon the inaction of the federal government and the OBVIOUS disinformation put out by the President and his sycophants. IF the federal government had acted quickly and with authority the certain slowdown of the economy could have been controlled. The stimulus program was far to little and far to late. The president could have used emergency powers to slow the crash of the market. He could have pumped this two trillion into the economy, through the consumer, which could have slowed the decline much faster. But the fact remains that stock markets crash on uncertainty faster than they do on bad news.



We don't know that. We did not test anyone. We were not watching. Many people may have died of the "flu" or "viral pneumonia" before the first case was tested. But. IF we had robust surveillance and testing we could have done far more effective contact tracing which could have dramatically slowed the spread of the disease.



You do not know how stupid this question is. Not because it is an invalid question but because, at this moment in history, it is one of the word's all time most important who gives a fuck. I don't care about this right now. I don't want my government even thinking about it. I don't give a fuck about the Second Amendment or the Ten Commandments at the courthouse. I don't care about affirmative action, states rights or the price of hookers on 10th avenue. Wake up son. People are dying in vast numbers. We are about to lose more people in the next few months that we lost in four years of world war. And you want to talk about transgendered athletes? You need to get your head out of your ass.

This country is facing the greatest threat it has ever faced. Bar none. Innocent people are dying a horrible death and we are doing fuck all to save them. Trump should order every textile factory in the country to make PPE. He should have every machine shop, factory and supply company making ventilators and other medical equipment. Every construction company in the country should be building hospital beds in every city town and village. And the government should be paying. We should be rapidly training technicians to staff these hospitals and clinics. We could train 100,000 nursing assistants with specific skills to treat this disease in 8 weeks. The army could EASILY do it. We could even institute the draft if necessary to do it. And every pharmaceutical company that is making boutique and expensive erectile dysfunction and repackaged psoriasis remedies would be making tons of any drug that even showed promise. Even before clinical trials are finished we would have millions of doses and if we have to throw them away, oh well. Shit happens.

And we could stop this disease in its tracks with strict social distancing. We can force the states to do it by withholding all federal aid until they do.

And what if some of this is overreacting? Well. We save a couple of hundred thousand lives and get a big bill for it. But we are left with a robust capacity to handle this when it comes roaring back. And it will.

So drop your childish bullshit about transgendered athletes and cats with PTSD. We are facing a serious situation and we need serious people to handle it. Do you understand that youngster?

And that is what it is like to get your ass handed to you by someone who learned leadership at the tip of a drill sergeants boot.

You honestly believe you could have done all of that in January? Really! I admit Trump should do more, but he is worried about the economy because a recession will mean he does not win in November 2020. He is putting his aspirations ahead. He is also listening to big corporations. And he is a massive optimist that thinks it will be over soon. I could care less about Trump, but I think he played a role in the economic growth of the last three years and that worked out quite well for me. Like you, I do not care one bit about the issues of race, gender, abortion, feminism, etc. I only care about equal opportunity, economic development, and no discrimination. IN any way I hope Trump follows your suggestions. But, this is easier said than done.

I post here to have a dialogue. I could care less about upmanship and nasty comments.

Lastly every European leader messed up.

I asked the question about transgender women because the extreme left just like the extreme right has cognitive dissonance. In fact, one could say the cognitive dissonance is worse on the left as they feel compelled to punch all the holes in the lefty card. Including the one that says a dude with a penis and XY chromosomes is a real woman.

[SpecialOlympian]

I'm absolutely loving how Kaisershcarm feels the need to jump in and defend a racist orange moron by saying that the "Pandemic Response Team" is an actual federal thing and not just a rotating cast of sycophants Trump parades in front of a camera to verbally fellate him.

[Patrickov]

Poll: 15% of Sanders supporters will vote for Trump if Biden is nominee; 80% would back Biden

80% keeping on their side is immense loyalty for me. This seems to be a proof that my prediction is in fact wrong, at least for now.

[Julian658]

I'm absolutely loving how Kaisershcarm feels the need to jump in and defend a racist orange moron by saying that the "Pandemic Response Team" is an actual federal thing and not just a rotating cast of sycophants Trump parades in front of a camera to verbally fellate him.

I dislike Trump, but I Hate the idea of having a left wing SJW president that is obsessed with group identity politics.

[SpecialOlympian]

I really can't stress this enough. This person has a significant impact on policy now because he advertises on Fox News a lot:

https://www.mypillow.com/

He's a grifter who sells packing peanut sized chunks of memory foam in a cloth bag for $40 each + $10 shipping and handling. But he praises Trump, and that's the only qualification one needs to be part of the Pandemic Response Team. His talent as a businessman is admittedly genius in finding a way to politicize pillows so idiots can buy "trump pillows" to support the president.

I dislike Trump, but I Hate the idea of having a left wing SJW president that is obsessed with group identity politics.

Your trolls are lazy and uninspired and you have nothing original to say so you rely on political buzzwords you barely understand.

[blackjack21]

Seriously, you need better lies.

President Trump shut off travel to China when there was believed to be only 1 person in the US with Coronavirus and no deaths. Trump acted faster than Obama. That's the truth. You just can't deal with Trump being awesome.

You are not a centrist when it comes to Trump

Trump is a centrist himself. No fiscal conservative would sign spending bills the way Trump does.

We have a number of posters that say this or that, but constantly defend the indefensible.

You haven't criticized China's response much or Italy's for that matter. You're just obsessed with Trump and you're trying to convince us that your obsession with Trump isn't politically motivated when it obviously is.

I strongly doubt that the pandemic response team would have had any effect on the CDC messing up its tests. This was an error by the CDC staff who actually produced these kits.

I'm pretty sure @late already believes that himself. This "pandemic response team" is part of the national security council--that is, they are merely advisers. They do not make policy unless they have a role in some other agency. They are not confirmed by the Senate to be part of the council, etc. They merely advise the president. National Security Council

The National Security Council (NSC) is the President's principal forum for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and cabinet officials. Since its inception under President Truman, the Council's function has been to advise and assist the President on national security and foreign policies. The Council also serves as the President's principal arm for coordinating these policies among various government agencies.

What caused the disordered crash of the stock market more than anything else was uncertainly based upon the inaction of the federal government and the OBVIOUS disinformation put out by the President and his sycophants.

It was caused by leveraged hedge funds getting margin called unexpectedly and having to sell positions they didn't want to sell to raise money.

Trump should order every textile factory in the country to make PPE.

They are. The major issue is that we don't have much of a domestic textile industry anymore.

So drop your childish bullshit about transgendered athletes and cats with PTSD. We are facing a serious situation and we need serious people to handle it.

Trump is president precisely because the American people do not trust the Washington establishment anymore. Transgendered athletes, etc. is the sort of weird shit they've been pushing as their latest wedge issues. Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and Adam Schiff have already called for investigations into the response to Coronavirus--having politicized the entire thing very early. I understand your frustration, but the fact of the matter is that people simply don't trust the establishment and with good reason.

The question that begs an answer is: Was Trump supposed to close the borders, force private corporations to build ventilators, mandate forced social isolation, and do global testing in January 2020? Truthfully, I don't think any Western leader would have done so.

Truthfully, no Western leader did so. It has been pointed out that state governors like Cuomo were advised to purchase ventilators and didn't do so. This isn't really a partisan political issue. It's non-preparedness because the probability of such an event is extremely low. A metropolitan area like New York City should have its own plan, stockpiles, etc.--not simply relying on the state or federal government. That much is painfully obvious now.

I traveled in January and saw tons of Asians wearing masks in the airports. No one else used masks!

I think that cultural change will be coming to the West pretty soon.

It has nothing to do with our government institutions.

You're just wrong about that. Most of our politicians aren't trained in science. It's just a fact. They take the advice of others. FDA/CDC fucked up the testing regimen. Trump had nothing to do with those decisions. New York City thumbed their noses at Trump's travel ban, and people suggested that avoiding subways and parades was racist. It's not surprising that the epicenter of the worst outbreak is New York City. By contrast, the first cases were in California and we implemented shelter-in-place early, and the virus propagation is much lower here as a result.

Ohh and the pandemic response team is very important and could have saved countless lives.

The NSC is just advisory. It doesn't have any physical equipment, etc. That's FEMA, the military, the CDC, etc.

Whose fault was that?

John Bolton. It matters very little.

Lastly every European leader messed up.

And non-Americans here aren't even the slightest bit interested, because their national health systems haven't done a better job at all. So they can't credibly push government-run health systems as a superior system as Italy's national health service has clearly demonstrated. And most importantly, these people are not at all critical of China where it all started and could have been stopped. So much for the worker's paradise.

[Drlee]

@SpecialOlympian I'm still fucking lolling that the president held a press conference so the MyPillow guy could say he's making masks from whatever shitty foam he uses in his Fox News daytime TV adverts. Maybe Trump can use the power of the presidency to tap the Shamwow guy and we can make absorbant, military grade rags that soak up viruses.

The president had the MyPillow guy on to praise him and the MyPillow guy's backstory is literally, "I was so good at doing crack all of my crack dealers held an intervention for me after I did crack for 14 days with no sleep because they knew I was destined for better things."

Like there's no way that actually happened, it's just a bullshit Evangelical redemption story aimed at audiences who have never done anything fun but feel guilty regardless.

My favorite post of the month.

[SpecialOlympian]

Imagine you're so fucking stupid you're the president of the United States of America. The wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth. And with that power you pull the MyPillow guy out of your television into your real life because he buys a lot of ads on Fox News and he's as real to you as Chuck E. Cheese or Smokey the Bear.

God damn, being Trump must own. Like right now the president is wondering if Lou Dobbs is a real person or an animatronic puppet like the Cryptkeeper from Tales From the Cryptkeeper. And with his awesome power he can find out.

[Hindsite]

I do not fault President Trump for not knowing what to do. I fault him for ignoring the people who do know what to do.

I fault President Trump for not sticking to his predicted Easter resurrection of the nation's economy. Those medical experts don't know shit about the economy. Now our Georgia governor thinks he must issue a shelter in place order for all Georgians. That's bullshit. I miss going out to eat at restaurants.

[Patrickov]

I fault President Trump for not sticking to his predicted Easter resurrection of the nation's economy.

To be fair, the fault maybe that
1. He made a reckless prediction, and
2. Things simply didn't go his way.

For once I think this is not as serious a fault as the quote above suggests, as I did not take that prediction too seriously because that prediction should not be taken too seriously in the first place.

[Hindsite]

To be fair, the fault maybe that
1. He made a reckless prediction, and
2. Things simply didn't go his way.

For once I think this is not as serious a fault as the quote above suggests, as I did not take that prediction too seriously because that prediction should not be taken too seriously in the first place.

I did.

[Patrickov]

Imagine you're so fucking stupid you're the president of the United States of America. The wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth. And with that power you pull the MyPillow guy out of your television into your real life because he buys a lot of ads on Fox News and he's as real to you as Chuck E. Cheese or Smokey the Bear.

God damn, being Trump must own. Like right now the president is wondering if Lou Dobbs is a real person or an animatronic puppet like the Cryptkeeper from Tales From the Cryptkeeper. And with his awesome power he can find out.

Seriously this series of rant is not helping matters and should not continue endlessly unless it can induce some kind of protest actions. I also don't like Member Drlee approving this to babble on.

If this series of posts have the purpose to flood away pro-Trump messages, I suggest taking a more reasonable approach -- in that I can help refuting any irrational pro-Trump messages wherever I think appropriate.

[Patrickov]

I did.

Which is why I chose to spend a good five minutes to make my case that it is unnecessary and does not help matters.

[Drlee]

That's bullshit. I miss going out to eat at restaurants.

You go right ahead and go out to eat. Go visit friends. Volunteer at a hospital. Darwin would understand completely.

[Hindsite]

You go right ahead and go out to eat.

I can't because the restaurants are all closed. It is complete bullshit.

[Patrickov]

I can't because the restaurants are all closed. It is complete bullshit.

Well, then I think Volunteering at a Hospital, if they accept that is, is a genuinely good suggestion.

If nothing else, at least one can claim one has tried.

[Julian658]

I don't know why any of you are engaging with Julian when he is a lazy and shitty troll. Like he's not even trying. If he is trying then he's 17 or something.

Honestly this forum needs a rule about how if you're not going to engage in good faith you should at least do so in a way that's entertaining or thought provoking. It would absolutely be arbitrary, but that's how good forums are run. You make arbitrary decisions to encourage better posting.

You have hair like James Brown and I loved James Brown. So I will let your insults go. I will say James Brown had more class that you.

[Godstud]

I fault President Trump for not sticking to his predicted Easter resurrection of the nation's economy.

Do you realize that if you ignore the problem, then a lot more damage to the economy will occur AND a million people will die?

There is no way you can come out of this without damage to the economy, but you can come out of this will a lot less people dying.

[Hindsite]

Well, then I think Volunteering at a Hospital, if they accept that is, is a genuinely good suggestion.

If nothing else, at least one can claim one has tried.

I'm retired. I am not going to volunteer at a hospital where it is the most likely place to get sick because all the sick people go there. That would be a stupid idea.