Election 2020

[Rommie]

My brother just got a (socially distant) picture with Jill Biden! Just on his bike ride, saw a sheriff's car and it turns out the Bidens are doing a train ride home via stops in Western PA today, and turns out his podunk town was on the route. Just pure dumb luck!

I thought that was cool. Also hilarious as SIL is a huge Biden fan, so of course my brother was the one to run into her.

[SciFiFisher]

Well, that is very awesome that your brother had that opportunity Rommie.

[lady_*nix]

Yeah I'm just going to put this here.

noidea.jpeg

[SciFiFisher]

[lady_*nix]

Well. Trump got the 'rona.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... oronavirus

I think the word they're looking for is "hubris".

[pumpkinpi]

From Twitter:
Wednesday evening the president attended a fundraiser with top Minnesota GOP leaders and candidates for office inside the home of Marty Davis in Shorewood. Are they being asked to quarantine? @StarTribune @wccoradio

Maybe that's good for MN politics?

Sorry, that's mean.

MrPi was recently in a deal with Marty David. Didn't know he was a rabid trumpster.

[Rommie]

I have a ton of very normally respectable friends on the left who are *insisting* this isn't true because "I don't believe a word he says."

I find that just as petty as the right wing theories honestly, because frankly it's just not that unbelievable that a man who literally mocked Joe Biden on Tuesday about wearing a mask and we know holds giant indoor gatherings with zero precautions. Honestly, a large part of me thinks the shocking part is that it took him this long to get it. And finally, it seems amply clear that the White House probably knew Hope Hicks was positive and Trump was exposed but ignored it, which doesn't exactly scream competent conspiracy.

I won't breathe easy until we hear Biden's results though.

[lady_*nix]

Yeah I noticed eeeeeeveryone is saying he's lying, and uh... I find that super unlikely TBH. His constant bullshit artistry has primed us to assume he's lying about everything, justifiably, but this one's a bit too obvious. He's an aspiring dictator, not an infallible evil god (though TBH he does a convincing portrayal of the latter).

Edit: this is a place I disagree with people like Kendzior. Effective kleptocracy isn't incompatible with total incompetence - the original Nazi regime was incredibly chaotic and incompetent at governing, even though it almost conquered Europe, ruled with an iron fist etc. Same for the Soviet Union. Authoritarians always claim they make the trains run on time, but IRL they're really bad at wielding power constructively. Trump being a terrifyingly effective idiot is completely in keeping with the history of fascism.

That said I'm not literally a scholar of kleptocratic dictatorships, so YMMV.

[Rommie]

Yeah I honestly don't believe even Trump would want to put the breaks on his campaign like this one month out from an election. We all know how much he loves campaigning over governing. Do people really think he's ok just giving all that up?

But yeah, that's indeed the point of disinformation- make it so people can no longer trust what's real and what's not.

[lady_*nix]

Joe and Jill Biden have tested negative. (For now.)

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/liv ... d321a6b0db

[Rommie]

GOOD.

Senator Mike Lee also announced he was positive today, and he met in a non-distanced way with Barrett really recently (plus a ton of other people). Honestly if the breaks need to be hit on so much politically I wonder if they can still force something through before November- it was already very likely too tight without a ton of people staying home.

Obviously they still can post-Election more easily, but one thing at a time.

[lady_*nix]

https://twitter.com/AndrewFeinberg/stat ... 7359525888

Per @PressSec
, @realDonaldTrump
has received an experimental COVID treatment that is still in trials and not available to most Americans.

Polyclonal antibodies, 8 grams (!!!) thereof.

I know this kind of thing is SOP with any President, as the most powerful man in the world, "leader of the free world" etc. etc. But gods, it fills me with such rage to see him supported with every measure known to science while better people get nothing at all. Fuck antibodies, I wouldn't even want to waste morphine on this scumbag.

[SciFiFisher]

It seems that Trump may have had the virus earlier than they admitted. He was flown to Walter Reed Medical Center Friday 10/2/2020. Coronavirus usually starts manifesting symptoms 5-14 days after exposure. He definitely has the rona if he is agreeing to being admitted to the hospital. I don't know if this will give him the martyr effect and cause more people to vote for him? It definitely does not bode well for his insistence that it was a hoax created by the D team to make him look bad.

[lady_*nix]

Yeah I mentioned this in the COVID thread. If it's true it also means he was interacting with people normally, no quarantine and no mask, after being explicitly told that he'd tested positive. The man is an absolute monster, he literally does not care for anyone but himself.

[lady_*nix]

https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1 ... 4134140929

Breaking: Trump completed 2nd dose of remdesivir Saturday night. Liver and kidney functions normal. 5 day course will continue.

Dexamethasone started Saturday.

DISCHARGE PLANNED FOR TOMORROW (Monday).

...

2) Worried—Trump’s new treatment with DEXAMETHASONE is serious. The WHO makes clear that dexamethasone is only for “patients with severe and critical #COVID19”!

It is even conditionally recommended by WHO to *not* give it to non-serious patients.

Yeah steroids are only for very sick patients - in people with less severe COVID they kill the immune response and worsen symptoms.

So, either they're lying about giving him the steroid, have no fucking idea what they're doing... or are lying about how good condition he's in. Guess which makes the most sense.

[pumpkinpi]

https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1312781014134140929

Breaking: Trump completed 2nd dose of remdesivir Saturday night. Liver and kidney functions normal. 5 day course will continue.

Dexamethasone started Saturday.

DISCHARGE PLANNED FOR TOMORROW (Monday).

...

2) Worried—Trump’s new treatment with DEXAMETHASONE is serious. The WHO makes clear that dexamethasone is only for “patients with severe and critical #COVID19”!

It is even conditionally recommended by WHO to *not* give it to non-serious patients.

Yeah steroids are only for very sick patients - in people with less severe COVID they kill the immune response and worsen symptoms.

So, either they're lying about giving him the steroid, have no fucking idea what they're doing... or are lying about how good condition he's in. Guess which makes the most sense.

If the president tells them to lie about his condition, I can't imagine they would go against that.

[lady_*nix]

I guess not. Having no spine, conscience, or sense of dignity seems to be a prerequisite for working with the Trump administration.

[SciFiFisher]

He seems to bring out the worst in people.

[lady_*nix]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/liv ... 5d569e4f94

While Trump said that contracting the virus has allowed him to understand the virus, he chose to get into a car with other people even though he is contagious, something that multiple health experts have pointed out puts others at risk.

I was worried he'd pull a "If I die then you're all dying with me" move at some point, but expected it to involve nukes rather than sharing a virus with everyone close to him. So uh I guess things could be worse? For now?

[Rommie]

Just because you get cancer doesn't mean that makes you an expert on treating it. Previously lacking solidarity I'd believe, but the concept of solidarity is not exactly in their vocabulary.

The NY Times overview of what we know right now did suggest that either his symptoms are quite serious, or he's acting like a VIP patient who insists on getting all the treatments. I could frankly believe either way. It's also of course disturbing as hell that in a normal patient driving around in your motorcade would count as a side effect of the hormones that might be impairing your judgement, but with Trump we can't tell if that's actually happening or if he's just acting par for the course.

Also, wow is it crazy to see that picture of where everyone sat on the lawn for Barrett's nomination and see circles around those who got it. (I'm sure there are going to be more, and there are more who just haven't disclosed it publicly- we only know about Kellyanne Conway because her daughter told TikTok, for example.) I can't help but think my dad is right that we really are living in alternate universes when I look at photos from that event.

[pumpkinpi]

Also, wow is it crazy to see that picture of where everyone sat on the lawn for Barrett's nomination and see circles around those who got it. (I'm sure there are going to be more, and there are more who just haven't disclosed it publicly- we only know about Kellyanne Conway because her daughter told TikTok, for example.) I can't help but think my dad is right that we really are living in alternate universes when I look at photos from that event.

Can you point me to the picture with the circles?

[Rommie]

I can't find it quickly now, but this is basically the same info in a slightly more complicated way- https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/0 ... ies-425041

Red is for known positive cases, and includes the white house press secretary who announced she's positive today.

[pumpkinpi]

Every person in that picture is a FUCKING IDIOT! Even the ones wearing masks. They don't provide (much) protection from anyone who might be (that is WAS) sick around them. If they had any sense they would be wearing a mask and 6 feet away.

And isn't this a situation where the president and VP shouldn't be in the same place?

[lady_*nix]

Yeah I still suspect that he's been suddenly confronted with his own mortality, thinks he's going to die soon, and wants to take all his toadies down with him. He seems like the type.

[Rommie]

I think "he's just a complete idiot" is still a more reasonable explanation- they actually believe the propaganda being pushed on Fox News et al. I kinda assumed (like probably many) that they were callous about the rest of America but very careful themselves- like, I am damn sure Putin is not showing up at events like this, forced everyone who came close to him in recent weeks to take his shady vaccine, etc. The idea that they literally have all the resources of the most powerful government on the planet and still act so recklessly is so insane.

Speaking of, then when he does get it he goes on his crazy joy ride outside the hospital, takes his mask off while actively shedding the virus, etc. I would be so livid as a doctor because those guys have spent how much time wanting people who are sick to not go outside, and Trump is now selling coronavirus as this Fountain of Youth disease where you'll feel 20 years younger. Meanwhile, if you watch the videos of him breathing yesterday, he's clearly still a very sick man. I can't imagine anyone believes the party line right now about his health unless you're already the base who's going to vote for him. And anyone with half a brain knows the thing you should be doing if you're having trouble breathing is give your body time to heal.

I mean in some macabre level you might be right, lady_*nix, in that he thinks he's gonna die from this so he's more worried about the image he projects than working on getting better. But if he wants to project strength, I don't think that's really working.