Trump is Thinks Health Care is His ‘Biggest Decision’: Not True, Again.

Charles Deluvio from Upsplash

President Trump’s biggest decision has already been made. He choked. He ignored the facts. He chose to concern himself with his own self interest.

Let’s get to the facts: First, the Governors not the President decided what each state will do regarding ‘opening up the economy.’ Trump can say whatever his hunch/ guts/ mind thinks and he can influence the easily persuaded in the Fox News Universe, but he cannot legally change social distancing.

Second, Trump can take whatever ‘miracle drug’ he wants. He can say ‘What do you have to lose?’ In our case many reports have already surfaced that his organizations has something to gain financially. He likely didn’t know that, but hey, when you do not divest yourself or put your business in a blind trust as the Emoluments clause in The Constitution mandates then what are Americans to think? Of course, he has been allowed to get away with this by his Republican cronies in government.

Third, hydroxychloroquine is not the singular answer according to experts Jonathan Chait in the New York Magazine 4/12/2020 just indicated several pressing facts: “Trump’s former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb wrote a Wall Street Journal column urging the rapid development of coronavirus treatments, citing several promising examples, but conspicuously omitting the president’s favorite example. On Twitter, Gottlieb cautioned that hydroxychloroquine is not the wonder treatment Trump believes it to be…”

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the most qualified voice in terms of diseases made it clear. “The data are really just at best suggestive,” he says. “There have been cases that show there may be an effect and there are others to show there’s no effect.”

Trump has become the leading actor in a Greek Tragedy of his own production.

The one thing that is true about Trump is that he has already mismanaged this crisis. Period. Easter Sunday’s edition of The New York Times made the case which a chorus of its top reporters in a headline on page 1, above the fold. “Despite Timely Alerts, Trump Was So to Act.” * It is a lengthy, biting news report that counters every possible excuse that Trump and his accomplices mutter, such as the pandemic warnings came early and often; China trade deals were a priority over understanding the health crisis there; the consequences of the crisis were not elevated, rather the focus was on Trump’s re-election. What it all adds up to is his legacy mattered more to him than being truthful, honest, and prepared.

One final fact: On 60 Minutes Easter Sunday, Trump’s Trade advisor, Peter Navarro had the gall to claim that no other president could have done a better job than Trump. Seriously? I imagine Navarro, who has never won an election to any office, has not kept tabs on the fact that “swine flu (H1N1), Ebola and Zika happened during Barack Obama’s presidency.” Let me pass along to Mr. Navarro this tidbit of news.

Rueters reported. In terms of the handling of Zika, “As part of his response to the Zika virus, President Obama “called on Congress to provide emergency funding to combat this disease, including to: speed the development of a vaccine; allow people — especially pregnant women — to more easily get tested and get a prompt result; and ensure that states and communities — particularly those in the South that have experienced local outbreaks of dengue and chikungunya in the past — have the resources they need to fight the mosquito that carries this virus.”

When the Swine Flu came calling, Rueters laid out this fact, “On May 2, 2009, President Obama in his weekly address to the nation reminded Americans of the CDC’s recommendation that “schools and childcare facilities with confirmed cases of the virus close for up to fourteen days.”

Finally, the response to Ebola was explained, “It is true that the 2014–2016 Ebola (EVD) outbreak in West Africa coincided with Obama’s presidency. But only 11 people were treated for Ebola in the U.S. during the 2014–2016 epidemic.” Why? Because that President Obama was truthful, honest, and prepared.

If Harry Truman could claim that the buck stops here — at the Resolute Desk, then Trump, who utters nonsense like “I take no responsibility at all.” has become the leading actor in a Greek Tragedy of his own production. And the hopefully Joe Biden will be the lead actor with a strong supporting cast four years hence. I am sure he will be reading the FEMA and Obama protocols for disaster preparedness that Trump so arrogantly ignored.

*The New York Times of April 12, 2020.