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NanceGreggs

(27,818 posts)
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 04:57 AM Apr 2020

An Ill Wind

“It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good” – and as ill a wind as Covoid-19 is, it blew Donald Trump a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to resurrect a presidency that has been nothing less than disastrous.

Between the scandals, the lies, the inane tweets, the public displays of his ignorance and downright stupidity, followed by impeachment and the polls showing him losing to Biden by increasing margins, the Trump “pResidency” was headed for the dumpster.

But fate smiled on The Donald and afforded him one last chance to rise to the occasion, and prove that he could be the leader his country wanted – and that his party desperately needed in order to be voted back into power in November.

Had Trump swung into action when he learned of the coronavirus and immediately launched a no-holds-barred assault on its spread, had he gathered experts in the field and actually listened to them, had he delegated responsibility for its oversight to the scientists and followed their lead, had he united the country he himself had worked so hard to divide, he might have saved his own ass while saving countless lives.

Instead, what The Dotard-in-Chief chose to do was highlight his own incompetence, double-down on his lies, seek revenge on the governors and mayors who took matters into their own hands when he proved his own ineptitude, and continued (as usual) to blame others for his own failures.

Instead of rising to the occasion, Donald Trump has demonstrated – beyond all reasonable doubt – that he doesn’t have the common sense to raise himself out of the mud he has wallowed in for the past four years, even when doing so was his one-and-only shot at convincing voters that he deserves another four-year term.

One has to wonder why such an unprecedented golden opportunity to prove one’s worth at the eleventh hour would be squandered so completely, why soundbytes like “It’s all a hoax, it’s under control, it will magically disappear” were regurgitated by people who knew those statements would be disproven in a matter of days – if not hours.

The truth is that those who “didn’t see this coming” DID see it coming. And despite that foreknowledge, they chose to prepare self-serving, damage-control spin rather than prepare a nation for what was inevitably to come.

I hope that all Americans have noted that at the moment the universe – inexplicably and unpredictably – gave Trump & The Republicans enough rope to escape their current political problems, they chose instead to use it to hang their own countrymen.

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An Ill Wind (Original Post) NanceGreggs Apr 2020 OP
First rec. n/t Mister Ed Apr 2020 #1
Trump and his administration were warned about this clear back to Jan. 2017 and did nothing Botany Apr 2020 #2
Tragically, his simple lie may have more "legs" than the more complex truth. pat_k Apr 2020 #3
Not sure the estimated number of deaths was inevitable if malaise Apr 2020 #4
Trump can't help himself even in the face of a pandemic. Mental health experts say that trickyguy Apr 2020 #5
+1000 llmart Apr 2020 #24
Anyone who actually followed Trump's "career" would have seen this coming... TreasonousBastard Apr 2020 #6
tRump has done nothing Scarsdale Apr 2020 #7
From the beginning they wanted to control the message, not the disease. gibraltar72 Apr 2020 #8
He still has time to save his presidency. kentuck Apr 2020 #9
He has the time leftieNanner Apr 2020 #32
At some point we had to know that his main advisors being underpants Apr 2020 #10
their goal was to wipe out the government from the inside...make it lean hkp11 Apr 2020 #27
Plus some of them are eagerly anticipating the Rapture! leftieNanner Apr 2020 #33
He didn't rise to the unique occasion LastDemocratInSC Apr 2020 #11
This tragedy of epic proportions gademocrat7 Apr 2020 #12
Kick and recommend. bronxiteforever Apr 2020 #13
He has what all pukes have, Fox news Lag. pwb Apr 2020 #14
NanceGreggs kpete Apr 2020 #15
Half full or half empty.......... MyOwnPeace Apr 2020 #16
Those from a separate reality Fyrefox Apr 2020 #17
Americans almost always rally in a crisis. Only stupid tRump could not grasp that & run with it. .nt Bernardo de La Paz Apr 2020 #18
trumpie doesn't have the common sense that god gave a goat. Haggis for Breakfast Apr 2020 #34
And I might add the old saying PCIntern Apr 2020 #19
K&R spanone Apr 2020 #20
It Really Makes Me Wonder 🤔 Chicagogrl1 Apr 2020 #21
Trump can't fight this threat. Because of his in ability to admit he is NOT the "stable genius".... usaf-vet Apr 2020 #22
Well done, Nance! calimary Apr 2020 #23
Excellent post la-trucker Apr 2020 #25
It's "Full Steam Ahead" for the dead-enders Ponietz Apr 2020 #26
The Evil That Men Do dalton99a Apr 2020 #28
Good on you, Nance. K&R for the post and the discussion. crickets Apr 2020 #29
When discussing the Trump Administration markbark Apr 2020 #30
Great post, Nance! Martin Eden Apr 2020 #31
Thank you for so eloquently stating Cha Apr 2020 #35
I still wouldn't have voted for him. Doing his job for the first time just to be reelected SammyWinstonJack Apr 2020 #36

Botany

(70,582 posts)
2. Trump and his administration were warned about this clear back to Jan. 2017 and did nothing
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 05:20 AM
Apr 2020

I don't know by what mechanism or if we even have one but Trump
needs removed now that we are in our darkest hour. Some of us will not
make it out but America and the world will get to the other side but only
after a horrendous cost. We could be looking @ 10s of millions of dead and
hundreds of millions of cases of this disease and a time frame much longer
then Trump's 2 weeks and then things will start getting better.

Right now we are seeing some really good work in using the antibodies of
those who have recovered from C-19 in treating people with the disease
but right now a vaccine for C-19 coronavirus is sometime in the future.
However if Trump had not fired the global pandemic response team from
homeland security in 2018 and the CDC's epidemiologist who was in China
with the job to be on the lookout for just such a disease as C-19 we would
be much further down the road to holding C-19 in check and then beating
this monster.

America's road back from this crisis must start with removing Trump now.

BTW NanceGreggs you got talent!

We are now all equals and we are now all slices of bread and the only question is who becomes toast.

pat_k

(9,313 posts)
3. Tragically, his simple lie may have more "legs" than the more complex truth.
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 05:25 AM
Apr 2020

Endless drumbeat: China travel ban kept Chinese virus out. Simple lie beats more complex truth.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=13212725

trickyguy

(769 posts)
5. Trump can't help himself even in the face of a pandemic. Mental health experts say that
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 06:38 AM
Apr 2020

his malignant narcissism is the worst kind of personality disorder and uncurable.

Their advice is to avoid someone who displays these traits. And that's a tall order when
it's the POTUS who's having the problem.

His minions are guilty of other disorders that cause them to follow Trump off the cliff.

llmart

(15,552 posts)
24. +1000
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 10:13 AM
Apr 2020

Best reply on this thread.

Nance - I love your writing. However, on this one I have to admit that you lost me on how Trump had "choices" but only because a malignant narcissist acts from impulse not cognitive thinking. They don't have the ability to think anything through. He isn't smart; he isn't introspective; he has no ability to think through the consequences of his actions. He acts on impulse, thrives on the chaos he causes and the attention he gets.

What malignant narcissists are good at is identifying the people who are gullible enough to go along with their wishes. The identify them and then target them for their narcissistic supply.

As trickguy said, most mental health professionals will tell you to run as fast as you can to get away from someone with this mental disorder, and no, it isn't easy when that person holds the highest office in the land.

TreasonousBastard

(43,049 posts)
6. Anyone who actually followed Trump's "career" would have seen this coming...
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 06:46 AM
Apr 2020

Given a choice, he would inevitably make the wrong one. And, to make things worse, he had absolutely no concept of management and expected profit to come from chaos. Too often it did, and he made profiting from failure and bankruptcy a fine art.

So here we are, with a president who spent his entire life showing us how bullshit beats competence every time.

Until when it counts.

Scarsdale

(9,426 posts)
7. tRump has done nothing
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 07:18 AM
Apr 2020

but damage from the first day he took office. People are constantly cleaning up after him. It has to get tiresome. Toddlers grow up eventually. Not the orange toddler in the WH. The gop has proven once again that they have no qualified candidates to competently take the position as president. Their candidates are getting worse each time. Who will be next, I wonder? Jared has done such a crappy job of running the country, probably HE will be next in line? He has been put in charge of EVERYTHING. The only good that came of any of his projects was that he got the Saudis to pay off his family debt. He is in charge of this virus presently, and he has done as good a job as usual. His father in law could not have done any better. Strangely, he does not appear at any of these TV rallies for tRump. Like a cockroach, he comes out in the dark, I guess.

kentuck

(111,110 posts)
9. He still has time to save his presidency.
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 07:28 AM
Apr 2020

If he works with the Congress to protect the workers of this country and provides for their safety and general welfare during this epidemic.

It would require him to work closely with Nancy Pelosi, which seems almost an impossibility, knowing his character flaws.

leftieNanner

(15,150 posts)
32. He has the time
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 07:15 PM
Apr 2020

But he is incapable of doing what would need to be done.

And he won't even take Speaker Pelosi's phone calls, let alone work with her. And she would absolutely do her best to work with him if he would reach out.

underpants

(182,880 posts)
10. At some point we had to know that his main advisors being
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 07:29 AM
Apr 2020

Bannon Jared and Hannity had to have a downside

I really freaking out Nancy. Not that we’ll watch but to think that 100,000* people are going to die in the next month or so.

* at least, IF we do everything everything right

hkp11

(275 posts)
27. their goal was to wipe out the government from the inside...make it lean
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 11:23 AM
Apr 2020

Drumpf, bannon, jared, Hannity, Pompeo, Bolton, etc wanted that and that's what we got. their extreme right-wing conservative policies broke our government from inside - they should be responsible for the US coronavirus deaths, along with the repukes

leftieNanner

(15,150 posts)
33. Plus some of them are eagerly anticipating the Rapture!
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 07:16 PM
Apr 2020

So, in many ways, this is a feature not a bug.

LastDemocratInSC

(3,649 posts)
11. He didn't rise to the unique occasion
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 07:38 AM
Apr 2020

Because there was nothing, in his opinion, that required correction. He thinks he is always right, always smarter, incapable of making errors of judgment. So he and his supporters spend their time twisting themselves into pretzel shapes to accommodate these lies.

He perceives the world inaccurately; he distorts reality using a lens that gives him the image of himself that he desperately needs. He is mentally ill.

pwb

(11,288 posts)
14. He has what all pukes have, Fox news Lag.
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 07:50 AM
Apr 2020

After about a month the lies wear off and they don't know what to do .

MyOwnPeace

(16,937 posts)
16. Half full or half empty..........
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 07:56 AM
Apr 2020

Certainly plenty of proof and truth in what has been said here, but I do have one different perspective:
Some see it as a final chance that he could do something right.
I believe it was a chance to prove that he could bullshit his way through another fustercluck and somehow escape yet again.
As was stated, there was plenty of past evidence and lots of believers that there was no way IQ45 could handle this.
However, instead of proving to many that he could somehow get it right, he went out and, I believe, proved to many more that he is indeed the legendary "Emperor with no clothes."

Either way - one would think that there's NO WAY he gets out of this with a win in November.
But then again, whoever thought he'd win the first time?

Fyrefox

(300 posts)
17. Those from a separate reality
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 07:56 AM
Apr 2020

Astonishingly, Trump's supporters still think that he is doing a great job in this crisis as in all else. Trump praises himself unceasingly, and finds greater fools to admire him...

PCIntern

(25,584 posts)
19. And I might add the old saying
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 07:59 AM
Apr 2020

from the field of Jazz:

A clarinet is an ill woodwind that nobody blows good.

Chicagogrl1

(420 posts)
21. It Really Makes Me Wonder 🤔
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 08:03 AM
Apr 2020

Is tRump doing this on purpose? There are so many clues. Could the ineptitude be calculated? Interesting how this virus is hitting blue states the hardest. Things i contemplate in the middle of the night.

usaf-vet

(6,207 posts)
22. Trump can't fight this threat. Because of his in ability to admit he is NOT the "stable genius"....
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 08:33 AM
Apr 2020

.... he sees when he looks in a mirror. And he is NEVER the smartest person in a room.

He and the GOP have spent years stacking the deck to keep him and themselves in office.

The only thing they were not able to fix beforehand. To not fix by a constant stream of lies.

The thing that only science can repel is a little biological enemy who is nonpartisan and attacks and kills without consideration to party affiliation. An enemy that cannot be bribed or threaten into submission.

He has called it a hoax but the progression of the infections and the deaths are undeniable even to Faux news.

Even though the numbers are so bad his narcissism lets him believe that his re-election is still in the bag because the Russians are still interfering with our elections to favor their installed puppet. They did it in 2016 they can do it in 2020.

markbark

(1,562 posts)
30. When discussing the Trump Administration
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 01:24 PM
Apr 2020

Never ascribe to incompetence that which can be explained by malice

Martin Eden

(12,875 posts)
31. Great post, Nance!
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 01:32 PM
Apr 2020

Crisis has 2 parts: Danger and Opportunity.

Trump squandered opportunity and endangered all of us.

Cha

(297,665 posts)
35. Thank you for so eloquently stating
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 04:19 AM
Apr 2020

exactly what happened.

I don't watch trump but I saw in a Biden Ad on him that DT called it a "..Democratic Hoax... " It really does show how stupid he is and his henchmen/women.. did not any of them know more than trump.. to save him from himself and save themselves?

SammyWinstonJack

(44,130 posts)
36. I still wouldn't have voted for him. Doing his job for the first time just to be reelected
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 11:03 AM
Apr 2020

Nope. But no worries, tRump isn't capable of doing what is right because he's only ever interested in getting even, settling a score.

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