Government Response to Coronavirus 3: Locked Down

[fraurosena]

Love this doctor for speaking truth to power!

 

[JMarie]

59 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

Love this doctor for speaking truth to power!

 

You know he's not getting invited back.

4 hours ago, Audrey2 said:

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but don't I remember Trump whining that he should get at least an extra year because of all the time he spent under investigation? As far as I'm concerned, he's had his "extra year" in golf outings. (Not that I think he should have an extra year at all. I think by the end of his term, he will have been president 3 years + 366 days too many.)

He wanted (gulp) TWO extra years!

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/05/trump-term-mueller-1302643

Quote

President Donald Trump on Sunday floated the idea of extending his constitutionally limited time in office, complaining online that two years of his first White House term were “stollen” as a result of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

“I now support reparations — Trump should have 2 yrs added to his 1st term as pay back for time stolen by this corrupt failed coup,” Jerry Falwell Jr., a conservative religious leader and Trump ally, tweeted in a message reposted by the president.

Trump echoed Falwell’s sentiment in a pair of tweets an hour later, writing online: “Despite the tremendous success that I have had as President, including perhaps the greatest ECONOMY and most successful first two years of any President in history, they have stollen two years of my (our) Presidency (Collusion Delusion) that we will never be able to get back.”

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

 

I knew that.

[fraurosena]

Turns out the cutting them off thing is contagious. 

 

[JMarie]

1 hour ago, AmazonGrace said:

 

 

I knew that.

^^^ Both of the above are why we need national quarantine guidelines.

[urban teacher]

So apparently the temporary hospital in Central Park NYC is Scamarian Ministries. Interesting to see how this will play out.

[JMarie]

Are Samaritan's Purse and Samaritan's Ministries two different organizations?

[GreyhoundFan]

4 hours ago, urban teacher said:

So apparently the temporary hospital in Central Park NYC is Scamarian Ministries. Interesting to see how this will play out.

I posted the following in the politics forum. True to his nature, Graham is being a complete and utter POS.

 

Edited April 3, 2020 by GreyhoundFan

[apple1]

9 minutes ago, JMarie said:

Are Samaritan's Purse and Samaritan's Ministries two different organizations?

Yes. The temporary hospital is Samaritan's Purse. Not part of the healthcare cost sharing thing.

[feministxtian]

Surviving the lockdown in Sin City. It is rather discomforting to see Las Vegas Blvd deserted. Store fronts are boarded up, darn near everything is closed. Waiting to see the fall out, so many people are out of work now. There's a moratorium on evictions and utility disconnections for the next 90 days (I think). They're trying to get the homeless off the streets but their initial brain-dead, idiotic idea was to paint 6ft square lines on a parking lot...The hotels are vacant...but the fat cat idiots would rather leave them empty than to score some city/county $$ to house the homeless. Not sure what the current figures are, but as the largest city/county in the state, we're probably "number 1" in the state for cases. 

People are taking the lockdown seriously here. Crime is down about 25%, car accidents are down because people aren't driving (people here are assholes behind the wheel). Many restaurants have gone to take out/delivery. 

I'm hanging in there, can't wait to get the hell out of the house. We're shut down until April 30 at the earliest. I think all schools including colleges are shut down for the rest of the year. Son is having trouble with his classes and the online learning. It's not the way he learns...

[Audrey2]

23 minutes ago, feministxtian said:

Surviving the lockdown in Sin City. It is rather discomforting to see Las Vegas Blvd deserted. Store fronts are boarded up, darn near everything is closed. Waiting to see the fall out, so many people are out of work now. There's a moratorium on evictions and utility disconnections for the next 90 days (I think). They're trying to get the homeless off the streets but their initial brain-dead, idiotic idea was to paint 6ft square lines on a parking lot...The hotels are vacant...but the fat cat idiots would rather leave them empty than to score some city/county $$ to house the homeless. Not sure what the current figures are, but as the largest city/county in the state, we're probably "number 1" in the state for cases. 

People are taking the lockdown seriously here. Crime is down about 25%, car accidents are down because people aren't driving (people here are assholes behind the wheel). Many restaurants have gone to take out/delivery. 

I'm hanging in there, can't wait to get the hell out of the house. We're shut down until April 30 at the earliest. I think all schools including colleges are shut down for the rest of the year. Son is having trouble with his classes and the online learning. It's not the way he learns...

Thank you for checking in. I think we've been hanging out in different forums, and I had been wondering about you and your family.

I'm glad you brought that up about online learning. Despite those who think that's the future and that the virus will move us in that direction, not every student learns well online and not every teacher teaches well online. I would hate not getting the feedback from the students during the lesson- asking them to signal, write on a whiteboard, and check for understanding. I know from your posts that you do really well in math, but I would have struggled with an online math class.

[feministxtian]

1 minute ago, Audrey2 said:

Thank you for checking in. I think we've been hanging out in different forums, and I had been wondering about you and your family.

I'm glad you brought that up about online learning. Despite those who think that's the future and that the virus will move us in that direction, not every student learns well online and not every teacher teaches well online. I would hate not getting the feedback from the students during the lesson- asking them to signal, write on a whiteboard, and check for understanding. I know from your posts that you do really well in math, but I would have struggled with an online math class.

The kid is really struggling with the online learning in all his classes. He needs the in person part of learning to ask questions and clarify things. I never had a problem with online learning...but that's me. 

I know we're all in the same boat world-wide but damn...I'm gonna lose my shit with this shelter in place crap. I'm bored out of my skull. Love the kid dearly but part of what made it work was that he was gone at school 4 days a week. Its finally warming up here and I broke the shorts out...They're too big. It took me a little while to de-fur my legs...they've been covered pretty much the last 4-5 months. #1 son's b-day is tomorrow...I wish like hell I could go up there. My granddaughter (his daughter) has been sending me pictures she's drawn using art stuff I got her for Christmas. I asked her to save the drawings until Grandma comes for Auntie's wedding (my daughter). I also sent her a care package with more paper and other stuff. 

welcome to the meanderings of my mind...

 

[Audrey2]

I've always been an introvert and a huge reader. When I was in elementary school, I read a book with a hermit in it and thought it would be interesting to be a hermit. I WAS WRONG!

I've been reading a ridiculous amount and watching a couple of things online.

@HerNameIsBuffy, I get the cat thing. I live by myself and one cat constantly wants to be close to me. As I was using the restroom tonight, I actually told him I'd get his supper when I was done using the litter box! And, my state's stay at home order has just been extended until May 4!

I'm so grateful for all of you on Free Jinger. Seriously. You are my contacts with a larger world.

[AmericanRose]

10 minutes ago, Audrey2 said:

And, my state's stay at home order has just been extended until May 4!

Fellow Washingtonian?! ?

[GreyhoundFan]

20 minutes ago, Audrey2 said:

I've always been an introvert and a huge reader. When I was in elementary school, I read a book with a hermit in it and thought it would be interesting to be a hermit. I WAS WRONG!

And, my state's stay at home order has just been extended until May 4!

 

I am an extreme introvert and have been reading up a storm, but there's a difference between choosing to stay home and being forced to stay at home.

I live in Virginia. Our stay at home order goes until June 10...

[GreyhoundFan]

It's his MO: "Commander of confusion: Trump sows uncertainty and seeks to cast blame in coronavirus crisis"

Spoiler

In the three weeks since declaring the novel coronavirus outbreak a national emergency, President Trump has delivered a dizzying array of rhetorical contortions, sowed confusion and repeatedly sought to cast blame on others.

History has never known a crisis response as strong as his own, Trump says — yet the self-described wartime president claims he is merely backup. He has faulted governors for acting too slowly and, as he did Thursday, has accused overwhelmed state and hospital officials of complaining too much and of hoarding supplies.

America is winning its war with the coronavirus, the president says — yet the death toll rises still, and in the best-case scenario more Americans will die than in the wars in Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan and Iraq combined.

The economy is the strongest ever and will rebound in no time, he says — yet stock markets have cratered and in the past two weeks a record 10 million people filed for unemployment insurance.

As Trump has sought to remake his public image from that of a skeptic of the pandemic’s danger to a savior forestalling catastrophe and protecting hundreds of thousands of people from a vicious contagion, he also has distorted the truth, making edits and creating illusions at many turns.

Trump’s machinations have a dogged showman’s quality, using his omnipresence at daily White House news conferences — which sometimes stretch two hours or more and are broadcast to millions — to try to erase memories from his two months of playing down the crisis. He sometimes scolds reporters who question his version of events.

The result is chaotic. Leaders from Maine to Oregon and from Dayton, Ohio, to Austin say their constituents are whipsawed by the contradictory messages emanating each day from the presidential lectern, which exacerbates efforts on the ground to enforce social distancing and mitigate the spread of the virus.

“People are confused about whether this is really serious. People are confused about how long this may last,” Austin Mayor Steve Adler (D) said in an interview. “We’re trying to get as much containment as we can by limiting the number of physical interactions taking place, but they’re hearing it’s not a big deal, it’s going to be over soon, and getting community buy-in becomes a harder thing to achieve.”

In Trump’s pinballing statements, Americans have been subjected to a parade of claims and musings about medicine, a topic about which past presidents have avoided speculating in deference to the Food and Drug Administration’s official role addressing safety and efficacy matters.

“He at times just says whatever comes to mind, or tweets, then someone on TV is saying the opposite,” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said in a recent interview. “It’s critically important that the message is straightforward and fact-based for the public.”

White House spokesman Judd Deere defended Trump’s handling of the pandemic in a lengthy statement and furnished a list of 115 specific actions the president or his administration has taken, including limiting travel, expanding testing access and supporting health-care providers.

“During these difficult times, Americans are receiving comfort, hope and resources from their president, as well as their local officials, because this is an all-of-America effort,” Deere said in the statement, which stressed the federal government’s collaboration with state and local governments.

Trump has often sought to rewrite history. He now says covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, is nothing like the seasonal flu because it is far more contagious and “vicious,” as if pretending his many previous flu comparisons never had been uttered. And he now says he has known since it was first detected in China that the coronavirus was horrible and would become a pandemic, as if he could halt the playback reel of his past comments minimizing the threat.

The first coronavirus case in the United States was reported on Jan. 21, and the virus was ravaging China and then Italy and other parts of Europe. But although Trump restricted travel from China in late January, a decision he says saved lives, Trump did not begin fully engaging with the crisis until late February. The president did not release guidelines for social distancing and other ways citizens could slow the spread until March 16, well after the virus already had spread across the United States.

When confronted with his earlier attempts to play down the coronavirus, Trump has either snapped at the reporters asking the questions or argued that he was merely trying to offer hope to people.

“I don’t want to be a negative person,” Trump said Tuesday. “It would be so much easier for me to come up and say we have bad news. . . . But I’m a cheerleader for our country.”

Ever mindful of his reelection prospects, Trump has looked to avoid personal accountability for shortcomings in the response. “I don’t take responsibility at all,” the president said in reference to testing failures while speaking March 13 at a news conference in the White House Rose Garden during which he declared a national emergency.

Trump alternately has blamed China for first spreading the virus; New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) for being slow to contain what would become by far the biggest U.S. outbreak; governors generally for requesting federal help procuring ventilators, masks and other equipment and for not showing appreciation for assistance; hospital workers for hoarding supplies; and the media, first for allegedly overhyping the dangers and then for allegedly not giving him adequate credit for the steps he has taken.

In a pair of tweets Thursday, Trump wrote: “Massive amounts of medical supplies, even hospitals and medical centers, are being delivered directly to states and hospitals by the Federal Government. Some have insatiable appetites & are never satisfied (politics?). Remember, we are a backup for them. The complainers should have been stocked up and ready long before this crisis hit.”

Trump spent his first three years in office systematically discrediting and attempting to dismantle parts of the federal government’s national security, intelligence and scientific apparatus. He has harbored suspicions of career experts in part because he does not consider them sufficiently loyal to him personally, at times tuning out their advice and steadily working to erode their trustworthiness in the minds of his supporters.

Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) attributed Trump’s difficulty controlling the coronavirus to his lack of experience in public service and his perspective that government is too big. The president, she said in an interview, “doesn’t understand that in this moment of crisis, this is exactly when we need our government to work.”

“This is that moment when the American people need their government, but if you don’t embrace and appreciate the nobility, the responsibility, the heavy, heavy responsibility and weight, then you see what happens,” Harris added. “You have a president, frankly, who has been a bit frivolous in the way he has approached this job, as it relates to this pandemic.”

Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine who caucuses with the Democrats, said that leaders need credibility and competence at moments of crisis but that Trump lacks both because of his lack of preparedness.

“People say, ‘Oh, who could have predicted this?’ Well, it was predicted, specifically, to the administration when they took office that this was a possibility,” King said.

King criticized Trump for disbanding the National Security Council’s pandemic team as well as a State Department program designed to identify outbreaks and other emerging threats around the world. “When you take those kinds of actions in light of warnings, it’s hard to say they weren’t warned,” he said.

Trump’s defenders say he is being unfairly criticized. “Everyone is winging it,” said former North Carolina governor Pat McCrory (R). “We’re facing something we’ve never faced before. The entire world was slow to react.”

Trump seeks to play the role of commander in chief navigating a crisis that has consumed his presidency, and indeed has won plaudits for some quick interventions to marshal resources, but has acted more often as a commander of confusion.

“He has communicated like he’s negotiating with everyone, which is the craziest thing,” said Ezekiel J. Emanuel, chair of the department of medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania and an adviser to former vice president Joe Biden, Trump’s likely Democratic opponent.

One vivid example of this leadership style was Trump publicly musing last week about reopening the economy by Easter, or April 12, which most public health experts warned was far too premature.

“These things have to be empirically driven, not driven by him waking up and going, ‘You know what? Easter would be a good time,’ ” Emanuel said. “That’s not how you make policy or how anyone would run an organization.”

Message inconsistency has been a feature throughout Trump’s presidency, from his zigzagging positions on foreign and domestic policies to his up-and-down personal relationships and rivalries. This is caused in part by the president’s proclivity to speak his mind at any given time, something his followers hail as a virtue. It also is attributable to his lack of ideological conviction, which makes him susceptible to being persuaded by advisers both inside and outside the government, often on the basis of self-interest.

“This is not the first time this president has looked schizophrenic, because there’s a long history of him vacillating between incompatible messaging and policy directives,” said a former senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to offer a candid assessment. “This is no outlier. This is a result of a more ad hoc approach to governing.”

In the midst of a pandemic that affects every American and that knows no boundaries of geography, class or race, Trump — who has personalized his office, polarized the public and smeared the media more than any president in recent memory — has struggled to assert national leadership and summon broad credibility. And his lack of clear and factual information has left governors and mayors to step in, making varying decisions for their localities that have resulted in a patchwork response.

“People here are looking to us to talk about what’s going on in Ohio,” Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said in an interview. “We tell them exactly what we’re seeing — everything we know, when we know it.”

Asked whether Trump has sent confusing signals, DeWine responded with a simple, “No.” But then the governor went on to explain that Trump’s Easter float “did not impact what we were seeing in Ohio or my conversations with people in the state. It just didn’t impact it.”

In Dayton, a working-class city of about 140,000, Mayor Nan Whaley (D) described the challenges of keeping folks informed as their lives are uprooted.

“I have people in my city texting me what the president said, and they go, ‘Well, what you’re saying isn’t true because the president says the opposite,’ ” Whaley said. “Every day is a different message from the federal government and there is no consistency, other than from Dr. Fauci,” she added, referring to Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Trump also has given confusing signals about what he prioritizes in economic stimulus packages, which has left him somewhat isolated from congressional leaders as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin takes the lead crafting policies.

When asked if she and other members of Congress look for cues from Trump, Harris was dismissive. “There are a number of us who really aren’t looking to the president for guidance on what the American people need,” she said.

 

[fraurosena]

Update from Europe and around the world:

• There are now more than 50.000 confirmed corona related deaths around the world. There are more than a million confirmed cases, of which more than 210.000 patients have recovered. The US is the hardest hit country in the world, with 226.378 confirmed cases and 5334 deaths.
• Mexican brewery Grupo Modelo has put a temporary hold on brewing Corona beer and other brands. Not because of the name association, but because beer-brewing isn't considered an essential job in the fight against the corona-virus.
• People in Berlin who don't keep to the social distancing rules or other corona-measures will now be fined. 
• Chinese authorities have reacted to criticism of the unsafe face masks they delivered: according to them they clearly stated beforehand that the masks weren't meant for medical use.
• The Disney company is sending all its non-essential employees on unpaid leave. Disney has been hit hard by the corona-crisis. The twelve parks the company owns worldwide have been closed, their cruise line has been shut down and many movies the entertainment giant was supposed to release this year have been postponed. It's unclear just how many employees will be sent home.
• Zoom's CEO has reacted to the criticism they've had. It became clear this week that the app secretly shares data with Facebook, that you are sharing your Windows-password if you click on the wrong link, and hackers can get in easily. CEO Eric Yuan explains that Zoom wasn't created with the idea in mind that so many people world wide would be making use of it and that they have fallen short in regards to privacy and safety for their users, for which he apologises. He claims they are working on fixing the problems.
• There are almost 5400 corona-related deaths in France.
• The number of deaths in Italy has risen slightly to 760 in a day (it was 727 the day before). In total 13.915 people have died. Italy remains the hardest hit country in Europe.
• More than 2000 German doctors and nurses have been contaminated with the virus on the job, according to estimates by the Robert Koch Institute (the German CDC equivalent). They say this is a modest estimate; the actual numbers are probably much higher.
  German hospitals have announced they are enlarging their capacity in order to be able to treat the rising number of corona patients. However in many places there is a shortages of PPE's. 
  Germany has more than 77.500 confirmed cases; 940 people have died.
• Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has asked Belgians and Germans not to visit the Netherlands during the Easter weekend, but he hasn't banned them outright. Easter is a popular period for short holidays in the Netherlands.
• China is advising diplomats to stay away from Beijing. According to the Chinese ministry of Foreign Affairs there have been confirmed cases amongst diplomats. 
• The WHO is raising the alarm on the situation in the Middle East. The number of confirmed cases has doubled in the past week, going up from 32.000 cases to more than 58.000 cases. They are calling for countries in the region to amp up their corona-measures  and tackle the spread of the virus aggressively.

Personally:

I'm getting fed up with lying in bed most of the day. My back is still too painful to get around and having such limited mobility is driving me up the wall. I don't mind being at home all the time; I'm used to that as I work from home. But I miss being able to potter around in my yard, doing my crafting, and walking the dogs, amongst other things. 

There are 19 hospitalised cases in my county, 6 where my parents live, and 16 where my son and DIL live -- which, if I remember correctly, are mostly the same numbers as yesterday.

 

[WiseGirl]

10 hours ago, feministxtian said:

in person part of learning to ask questions and clarify

I'm a teacher. I need the in person part to answer questions and clarify. I hate this there is no relationship with this online teaching and we worry so much about the kids that are living in unsupportive homes. My social worker friends are really, really concerned. 

@HerNameIsBuffy and @Audrey2 no cats here but the dogs. Everywhere I go there they are. I had to break up a fight last night even they are sick of staying home.

@fraurosena thanks for your daily updates.  I now know why our school district told us no more Zoom. 

Stay safe everyone and thanks for the safe social distancing outlet. Off to work now (aka upstairs) not to be confused with the gym (aka the garage). So many places to go.

 

[formergothardite]

14 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

 

I got back on FB when this started and I have seen people every Sunday post about going to church in the parking lot. And all these people are parking in cars close together and rolling down their windows so they can hear the pastor.   It completely defeats the purpose closing churches. I did comment that the cars are parked too close together on one of these posts and then I got bunches of hateful replies from church members basically telling me I hate Jesus. Church people are going to keep spreading this if the members don't take is seriously. 

[feministxtian]

@formergothardite someone suggested this (the cars) to the pastor of my church. He knocked it down saying that it would still violate the "less than 10 people" rule here in NV. So...streaming it is. Shit here is real. Like, businesses are being fined and shut down involuntarily for not obeying the closing/gathering rules. Its at the point where if you call for delivery (food), they leave it at your door and ring your doorbell. 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

My daughter was told they were going back to work this week in defiance of the state wide order.  She reported them as did many others (she works for a chain) and one that tried to open was told they would be forcibly closed by the police if they continued.  So they are now complying.

She was shocked that a business would do something so blatantly illegal.  I hate seeing her lose her innocence...I remember when I thought honest and legal was the default of every business as well.

[GreyhoundFan]

My mom said something funny this morning. "At least Jared has found a way to unite us all. We're united in despising him."

"‘Why is Jared Kushner in charge of anything?’: Trump’s son-in-law sparks outcry, confusion after coronavirus briefing debut"

Quote

On Thursday, Vice President Pence introduced a new face to the podium at the White House’s daily coronavirus press briefing.

This person, Pence said, has recently been directed by the White House coronavirus task force to take on a central role in the administration’s response to the ongoing pandemic: working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to oversee the distribution of much-needed medical supplies to states battling a rising number of covid-19 cases.

“We’re grateful for his efforts and his leadership,” Pence told reporters.

Minutes later, Jared Kushner, Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, stepped up to the microphone.

After touting his work to address medical supply chain issues, Kushner, in his first appearance at a coronavirus briefing since joining the administration’s effort several weeks ago, pushed back against criticisms that the federal government isn’t doing enough to assist hospitals in hot zones where resources are stretched thin. The 39-year-old went on to accuse some governors and U.S. senators of requesting supplies without knowing exactly what they need and suggested that local officials should be more resourceful in terms of finding equipment within their states before reaching out to the federal government.

“The notion of the federal stockpile was it’s supposed to be our stockpile,” he said at one point during the briefing. “It’s not supposed to be state stockpiles that they then use.”

The health crisis, Kushner said, has revealed which leaders are “better managers than others.”

“Some governors you speak to, or senators, and they don’t know what’s in their state,” he said, later adding, “Don’t ask us for things when you don’t know what you have in your own state. Just because you’re scared, you ask your medical professionals and they don’t know. You have to take inventory of what you have in your own state and then you have to be able to show that there’s a real need.”

While Kushner spoke Thursday with an air of authority, his rare on-camera moment appeared to only spark questions and pointed commentary about whether he is qualified to handle his critical duties. Kushner, a former real estate developer-turned-newspaper publisher, has no medical background and did not have any experience in government before Trump’s election in 2016.

“Why is Jared Kushner in charge of anything?” tweeted CNN legal analyst Shanlon Wu.

Sunny Hostin, one of the co-hosts of ABC’s “The View,” was equally flummoxed.

“Is this a joke????” Hostin wrote on Twitter alongside a clip of Kushner speaking at the briefing.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment late Thursday.

Kushner’s involvement in the coronavirus response has been the subject of multiple media reports in recent weeks. As The Washington Post reported on March 18, Kushner assembled his own team of government allies and private industry representatives to work alongside the White House’s official coronavirus task force. Dubbed by some officials as a “shadow task force,” Kushner’s team has reportedly complicated the administration’s response by “adding another layer of confusion and conflicting signals,” according to The Post.

During Thursday’s news conference, Kushner rebuffed a question about leading the “shadow task force” and stressed that he is “serving really at the direction of the vice president.” He added that he consistently communicates with key members of the official task force, including Deborah L. Birx, the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator, and Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Kushner struck an optimistic tone as he praised the federal government’s ability to meet the increasing demands for supplies, such as masks and ventilators. By early Friday, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. had topped 245,000 with nearly 6,000 reported deaths.

“We’ve done things that the government has never done before, quicker than they’ve ever done it before and what we’re seeing now is we found a lot of supplies in the country,” he said. “We’ve been distributing them where we anticipate there will be needs and also trying to make sure that we’re hitting places where there are needs.”

The allocation of resources, Kushner said, is based on data submitted by cities and states. But Kushner made a point to note that many of the requests are influenced by predicted estimates, which he said are “not the realistic projections.”

“What you have all over the country is a lot of people are asking for things that they don’t necessarily need at the moment,” he said.

Kushner’s remarks were shared widely by conservatives Thursday, but many critics argued that he had no business addressing the public at a time when people’s lives are at stake.

Chief among the concerns of Kushner’s detractors was his apparent lack of qualifications.

In a scathing op-ed titled, “Jared Kushner Is Going to Get Us All Killed,” New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg described Kushner’s current role as “dilettantism raised to the level of sociopaths.”

“Kushner has succeeded at exactly three things in his life,” Goldberg wrote. “He was born to the right parents, married well and learned how to influence his father-in-law. Most of his other endeavors — his biggest real estate deal, his foray into newspaper ownership, his attempt to broker a peace deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians — have been failures.”

Similar criticism dominated the conversation on social media.

“Jared Kushner isn’t qualified to run a lemonade stand, let alone tell governors how to manage critical supply chains,” tweeted actor George Takei, a vocal Trump critic.

But conservative writer Michelle Malkin seemed to suggest that Kushner’s Thursday appearance may have been a unifying moment for the country.

“America is finally united: NOBODY likes Jared Kushner,” Malkin tweeted. “NOBODY wants him in charge. NOBODY.”

 

[JenniferJuniper]

Donald Trump has given me some insight into the depth of my feelings, I will give him that.  I never knew I had the capacity to hate someone as much as I hate him.  Hate isn't even the right word.  I hate hot peppers.  I despise Donald Trump with every molecule of my being.

10 hours before my father was due to move into assisted living we got the call that a resident had tested positive and the entire facility was locked down.  I'm very glad they caught it before he moved in, but he is entirely unsafe here and there are no other alternatives.  And I'm thinking of the relatives of the 75 residents who would have been my father's neighbors and what they must be going through.  Not able to visit, no ability for anyone to get tested.

No, Trump didn't cause the pandemic.  But he purposefully ignored it for as long as he could get away with it and had previously acted to drastically weaken our ability to respond.  For personal and political reasons.  What a disgusting excuse for a human being.  (I'll leave innocent orangutans out of this.) 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

22 minutes ago, JenniferJuniper said:

10 hours before my father was due to move into assisted living we got the call that a resident had tested positive and the entire facility was locked down.  I'm very glad they caught it before he moved in, but he is entirely unsafe here and there are no other alternatives.  And I'm thinking of the relatives of the 75 residents who would have been my father's neighbors and what they must be going through.  Not able to visit, no ability for anyone to get tested.

We had a similar situation, but it was two days before mom was supposed to move her husband into memory care and all facilities in the state went on full lockdown. His dementia is getting worse, making it very difficult for mom to manage at home, but at least he's not likely to get coronavirus at home. The facility where she was going to send him has told her that they've had no cases and it looks like the state may allow them to admit one person every 2-3 weeks. She's worried, obviously, that he'd be more prone to coronavirus there and it would be unbearable for her not to visit, but she's worn to a nub taking care of him. I reminded her that in this case, there are no good options, she has to select the least bad choice.

[GreyhoundFan]

I have no words.