In the week that seemed like a lifetime the only constant was the increasingly erratic behavior of the President. One way or another the President saw to it that he was the center of attention, oblivious that he was seventh millionth positive Covid case in the United States but certain that he was the most important of the thirty - six million on G-d’s earth. Having decided that three days of hospitalization was enough already he discharged himself from Walter Reed. Then following another costly helicopter ride, he, breathing heavily, announced to the world, from the balcony of the WhiteHouse in a style that would have made Mussolini proud, that Corona virus was a piece of cake and that the over two hundred thousand dead in America shouldn’t let it get the better of them.
Then there was an eagerly waited debate between the Vice Presidential candidates which answered some very important questions but other than a fly on Pence’s head the encounter had to take a backseat to the POTUS who by his recurrent attention seeking absurdities just could not be ignored. With his last disastrous debate barely a week ago he sought to miss this one out because it was going to be virtual and they could turn his mike off. But there is a whole week for him to play the reluctant virgin on that one so watch this space.
WAITING FOR TRUMP’S OCTOBER SURPRISES - SO FAR NONE BUT THERE WAS ANOTHER PRESIDENTIAL COVID BREAKTHROUGH TREATMENT
Teflon Trump, who was expected to drop some October “Surprises” on Vice President Biden including revelations about his wicked son Hunter and crooked Hillary, has been rocked by a succession of bombshells that have knocked him senseless, putting him behind Biden in the polls by double digits with four weeks to go to the election. Short of money he is ranting and raving in and out of isolation from the WhiteHouse Bunker. His campaign and administration are in total disarray quarantining their good selves all as a result of self inflicted wounds resulting from Trump’s denial, criminality, incompetence, recklessness in the management of Covid. He has one arrow to his bow, the appointment of a Supreme Court Justice. McConnell agrees it is a priority in the Senate even though only twenty - four percent polled agreed. The rest saw the priority as creating another Covid relief package which the Head of the Federal Reserve Bank claimed was crucial for the future of the country. Trump created a storm when he withdrew his “team” from negotiations with Nancy Pelosi on a relief package so he quickly changed course within six hours.
With his desire to be the main event, especially with the competition of the Vice Presidential Debate on the horizon, he then issued another rambling video where he claimed that his infection with Covid was a “Blessing from God”. He announced a new cure for the virus. He pronounced this with the same conviction that he had done with Hydroxychloroquine and bleach - Regeneron was the answer. Unsurprisingly he had a memory lapse that he had informed the world that he had already taken a course of the anti malarial medicine which he had previosly credited for him not contracting the disease. Regeneron had cured him immediately which begged the question why his doctors had administered Remdesivir which is normally given later in the disease process to severe cases of Covid. The indication being for a victim who requires supplemental oxygen and or a ventilator. Remdesivir has shown promise in cutting the death rate of those severely ill patients from twenty - eight to twenty - three percent and for limiting the duration of hospitalization. As for his dexamethasone steroid administration it is contraindicated early on in the disease process because it hampers the immune system. It is given much later when the body produces an overwhelming uncontrollable immune response which can result in death. So none of this makes medical sense.
But one was not going to get answers from his medical team who wouldn’t even share when the "First Patient" had last tested negative for the virus. The team was led by a forty year old emergency physician whose chief qualification for the position was that he did whatever Trump told him to do. He accepted that he had lied about the president’s oxygen levels because he was not about to change the President’s upbeat narrative about Covid. Presumably the President like everyone else was not allowed to hear what he told Bob Woodward in February this year about the dangers of Covid. He offered no explanation for the reasons for administering of the medications and why and when. The lung studies the blood work all of a sudden were the subject of patient privacy and not national security or public health.
If this election was a boxing fight the referee would stop the fight as Trump is punch drunk and is so far behind on points. A drug test that followed would show him high on steroids which give a feeling of well being. Those that are blaming his irrational behavior on steroids have dangerously short memories. This is all just par for course. Olivia Troye former Pence Homeland Security Advisor and chief representative on the Coronavirus task force who resigned out of disgust stating that Trump could have saved lives and working at the WhiteHouse was “terrifying” sees no difference of the Trump of then and the Trump of now. Trump’s behavior since the diagnosis has however illustrated that he is still nothing but a petulant verbal two year old that is difficult to reason with. Incidentally it was Trump who suggested that the participants to the presidential debates be tested for performance enhancing drugs of which steroids are considered the number one culprit. Biden might follow up on that. Jay H. Ell is pretty sure that is the dexamethasone that is making him feel that “good” and good luck trying to get him off it.
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF COVID 19 IN PATIENT TRUMP TO A THIRD YEAR MEDICAL STUDENT
A third year medical student who might have been doing her clerkship at Walter Reed would have noted the circumstances under which the patent became ill. He had defied the simplest of preventive measures. She would note to her classmates that he is the leader of a highly influential cult that appears to believe that the pandemic was a “hoax”. To be a card carrying member of the group you have to show your man/womanhood by never wearing a mask in his presence and joining him at scoffing at those that do. Apparently the top brass of the group had gathered maskless at what was turning out to be a super spreader event.
Her note would continue - the patient was brought to the hospital by helicopter because he had drops in oxygen levels at this early stage of his illness. He was obese and seventy - four - bad prognostic indicators. He was very angry and kept mumbling that he was fine and wanted to go home. Soon a phalanx of doctors marched in and shooed her out, warning her to mention nothing about the incident and who had let her into the room in the first place? Her interest had been perked so she stood behind the door as the newly diagnosed victim of Covid gave orders to the doctor as to what treatment he wanted. She resolved to look "Regeneron" up as she had never heard of the drug. She startled as he yelled at the young doctor in charge, “Only you can speak to the media and keep it upbeat in sync with my messaging on Covid!”. She was beginning to get the message that this was not the place to be if she wanted to graduate peacefully. One thing was for sure was that he must be one important guy with a helluva great insurance - you had to be somebody to be put in the presidential suite. She would suddenly develop a new found interest in politics and take her nose out of her medical books when she learned that that the cult leader was the President of the United States.
THE VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
The importance of the Vice Presidential debate was drowned out by the President’s tiresome need to be center stage and his awareness that his defeat was becoming more and more inevitable. The debate’s significance was whether or not Kamala Harris was acceptable to be the next President - the elephant in every room bearing in mind the age of Biden. Pence had a difficult enough job defending the impossible - Trump’s record but had behaved in an fashion that would once again allow parents to permit their children to watch the nightly news. The bar was not too high for him although under other circumstances his ignoring the moderator and interrupting Kamal albeit in a low key fashion would have evoked far more criticism. To sum up he has the same policy as Trump, a true believer, but he sells it in a far more civil tone. In fact his apparent normality has a chilling effect on Jay H. Ell.
Senator Harris for her part was a model of propriety. No way was she going to allow the narrative that she was a loudmouthed woman to come through. She navigated the smears that she was Rosa Luxemberg, with a touch of humor. She was forceful when she needed to be, spaced her refusals to be “lectured” by the Vice President, hammered home the advantages the team had on coronavirus, healthcare and the mismanagement of the economy.
The Democratic nominee was rewarded for her display with ending up with far more favorables than Pence. There was a consensus that she had “won” the debate. What was startling in the CNN poll was that she led the Vice President by thirty percent of women and two percent of men. The Ipsos poll put her ahead in every parameter. This debate will not change the polling figures, they never do, but mission accomplished by Biden’s running mate and a sporting effort by Trump’s echoer in chief.
But the debate had barely ended before it was out of the news.
TRUMP TAKES OVER
Trump was not to be denied the limelight for long calling into FoxNews the next morning lambasting Harris as a “monster” and a “communist”. He bemoaned the fact that Attorney General Barr had not yet arrested Barak Obama, Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton for spying on him in 2016. He then punted a new theory as to where he could have contracted Covid. He had held a small gathering for Gold Families the day after the jamboree for his new Supreme Court nominee. They all wanted to kiss and hug him and how could he say no? There is no way logistically that this theory is rational but who cares. In fact as the events evolve the irresistible inference is that the President himself could be the index patient for all these infections. Some of the Gold Star family members that attended his supposed "kiss in" are now voluntarily quarantining.
The night before Trump’s Fox psychotic ramble was noteworthy where in another video he babbled on incoherently for five minutes on the wonders of Regeneron, the monoclonal antibody treatment that he had been administered. This would be available to everyone free. It was a cure as far as he was concerned - maybe he was immune now. He would order Regeneron and the similar drug made by Eli Lilly to be available to everyone, for free. Now there is a limited amount of this monoclonal antibody and the best hope is that is that there will be two hundred thousand doses available by the end of the year. It is unstable at normal temperatures and most important the FDA have not as yet registered for any use let alone regular use.
Then the bipartisan Electoral Commission finally put their foot down - next week’s Presidential debate would be a virtual one. Trump immediately stated he would be no show because in that situation they could turn off his mike. He would hold a rally instead! The Commission reckoned that Trump and his entourage could get another super spreader going and stuck to their guns. Biden for his part said he would show but he would accept the ruling of the Commission. Trump put in a counter offer that debates two and three be held a week later and that is where the matter stands at this point in time.
As far as Jay H. Ell is concerned this nightmare is drawing to a close but it is going to become uglier and uglier.
OTHERWISE HOW DID AMERICA ENJOY THE REST OF THE WEEK
The Biden coalition increases daily. In addition to seven Bush cabinet members and five hundred generals the supporting video of the highly respected General Michael Hayden, former head of the National Security Agency could have a profound impact on any Republican waverer. Hayden a life long Republican warned of the dangers of four more years of Trump. He added that Biden was a “good man” although he disagreed with many of his policies.
Mitch McConnell, Republican Majority Leader in the Senate, enabler in chief outside of the WhiteHouse and that is where he wants to remain. He stated that he has not been near the WhiteHouse for months because their Covid precautionary practices don’t coincide with his. McConnell went even further adding that the Trump administration was paying for their lax practices.
The four heads of Intelligence and Security gave an unprecedented warning that there was foreign interference in the election and the voters have to be aware. The message was to stay calm. They also cautioned that the result of the election might not be evident on November 3, but the process is reliable.
The FBI Head had warned that the largest internal threat was the white supremacists. Trump, who disagrees with the Head, tweeted among other dog whistles to the racists the white supremacist cry “Liberate Michigan”. He also has continually attacked Governor Whitmer of Michigan who has criticized Trump’s support of gun carrying supremacists in Michigan. This week the FBI and the Michigan State police arrested thirteen individuals who were plotting to kidnap and assassinate Governor Whitmer. Trump’s response was to criticize Governor Whitmer who had attacked him for his “support” of these terrorists. He countered that it was his law enforcement that had saved ungrateful Whitmer,
Trump’s doctor announced that he would clear him for rallies on October 10, 10 days after the announcement of his diagnosis. The medical consensus and CDC recommendation is that quarantine should be twenty days. Trump’s new line is that Corona virus is a minor irritation and he can prove it.
He is using the smear that Biden, Obama and Clinton spied on him and should be indicted by Barr as a big fund raiser.
Trump as expected is now ready to negotiate a rescue package on Covid agreeing to nearly two trillion dollars. McConnell and the Republicans in the Senate have as their priority the confirmation of the new Supreme Court Justice. Yet another sign that McConnell is beginning to distance himself more and more from the President to give him any chance of retaining the Senate.
No comments:
Post a Comment