I pride myself on one thing in writing my opinions on this
blog, and that is I try not to devolve into hysteria, no hair on
fire rants. There is enough of that, and you can find it on
hundreds of other blogs, both from the conservative side
and the liberal left. But I have been isolated at home for
fifteen days as of today. I do go outside and walk everyday
it doesn't rain. I am in constant contact with friends and
family thru the computer and phone. But I miss the social
interaction that come with face to face meetings. So, you
will excuse me if I go off on a tangent, I ask your forbearance
in advance.
Sociopath - a personality disorder manifesting itself in extreme
antisocial attitudes and behavior, and lack of conscience.
This is a clinical definition, I am not a clinical psychiatrist,
I have not dabbled in psychiatry, ever, even a little bit. But
I am not a medical doctor and yet I could tell when my child
was ill enough to require the services of one. I am not a mechanic,
but I know when my car is not running as it should, I have to
take it to the shop to be repaired. If my roof is leaking, if my
furnace won't go on, if I burst a pipe and water is everywhere,
I know enough to diagnose the problem and call on someone
with the expertise to fix the problem. We are in desperate need
of intervention here.
In 1990, in an interview with Playboy Magazine, Donald Trump
told an interviewer, "Life is what you do while you are waiting
to die. You know, it is all a rather sad situation," Trump was
speaking of a pending bankruptcy he was facing; he was
$3.4 billion in debt.
The interviewer asked, "Life or death?"
Trump replied, "Both. We're here and we live our 60, 70, or 80
years and we're gone. You win, you win and in the end, it doesn't
matter a hell of a lot. But it's something to do - to keep you
interested."
These are the words of a man who cares for nothing or nobody,
a self-described fatalist. His remark after the 9/11 Trade Center
attack was that he now had the tallest building in Manhattan. It
was a lie of course but, it gave us a look into Trump's personality
even then. His reaction to the 2008 economic collapse, was one of
joy, thinking of its potential profit to him. He told Barbara Walters,
"When bad things come, then I'll get whatever I want."
In an interview with Fox news, as late as 2014, Trump was asked
about how America was doing in the recovery, he was ebullient.
He said, "You know what solves it?" speaking of the economy,
"When the economy crashes, when the country goes to total hell
and everything is a disaster. Then you'll have a, you know you'll
have riots to go back to where we used to be when we were great."
he said laughingly.
Donald Trump has no feeling for the everyman who is hurting.
He appears to be totally ignorant of suffering of any kind that
does not affect him personally. It is not that he doesn't care, it
is that he is incapable of caring. He has a striking disassociation
with the truth, he lies as easily as he breathes. He doesn't know what
is true because the truth has no value to him. In the face of over-
whelming contradicting facts, he continues to insist he, and only
he, is right.
Trump's Self-aggrandizement knows no limits, and he demands adulation
from those around him. He surrounds himself with sycophants who bow
and scrape or face dismissal. It is as though he needs this constant
idolization or he will begin to doubt himself. And this is the man who is
now in charge of the greatest test our country has ever faced. Greater
indeed than all the wars, save the Civil War, because we are fighting this
enemy on our own soil.
And we, as Americans, are facing this enemy without a general, because
our supposed leader is fighting another enemy. The president is more
concerned with the state of the stock market then the state of the virus
attacking us. Trump was told in January that there was a danger of the
virus - which was rampant in China - spreading world-wide and eventually
reaching America. He was told that as a country, we were woefully
unprepared for that eventuality. He dismissed that notion.
For months Trump did little to prepare, and in fact, played down the idea
that America could be affected by a 'Chinese Flu'. While the number of
cases increased exponentially and the death rates rose, Trump re-tweeted a
photo of himself playing the violin. This is who trump is, and who he has
always been. In times of crisis, we can rely on his apathy to human suffering.
Only when aides told him his cavalier attitude to the pandemic, might cost
him dearly in November, did he finally appear to take charge.
He takes to the airwaves almost daily now - surrounded by the nodding heads
of his closest allies who then take the mic to echo his sentiments - and gives forth
with exaggerations and misinformation, which must then be recanted by scientists
and medical professionals. But the damage has been done, those ardent Trump
believers discount any advice but that which was expressed by their dear leader.
And now, in the most dangerous of all pronouncements, Donald Trump has told
the nation it is time to get back to normal. Go to work, go to church, get out again!
The medical community, as a whole, has said this is the worst thing that we can do
at this time. The number of new cases of Covid-19 reflect the infection rate from
7 to 10 days ago. Assuming the rate of infection can double, triple or worse we are
looking at a ten-fold increases of new cases. Enough to cripple our ability to care
for those who are the sickest. And what about the other reasons for hospitalization?
Heart attacks, strokes, accidents, all of these need hospital care also. Who will do the
triage necessary to decide who lives and who dies?
Trump, who is a notorious germaphobe, who eschews human contact of any sort, is
unperturbed about the coronavirus, even though he is in the age group that is
considered more likely to die if infected. But then he considers himself untouchable,
he laughs this off the same way he laughed off his impeachment. One thing for certain
if the United States is to survive this attack, we need more than medical and economic
intervention, we need to get rid of the reason for the collapse in the first place.
I'm just sayin'.
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