Here’s the definition of the word “sugarcoat”: “make superficially attractive or acceptable.” I tried to listen to individual 1 as he FINALLY announced the covid-19 crisis is now a “national emergency” which opens up something like $50 BILLION ($150 per person) available to states who are fighting the virus – like Washington state where I live and where the virus is likely “centered” – we’ll know once they are able to test the people who may or may not have the virus. He just can’t resist giving himself credit, even in the face of universal condemnation as to his response to this crisis. Personally, I don’t think individual 1, even today, knows how serious the issues this pandemic may be causing “we the people” to face.
In Italy, which is the country many are suggesting the U.S. will be “following,” there are not enough hospital beds to care for the number of patients who need them. Being weeks “behind” in the testing process can allow a virus like this, according to the experts I’ve listened to, which is already well beyond what is known due to the lack of testing capability, to grow at a rate which can be exponential. Up until today, the “leaders” have been governors around the country, and it appears individual 1 has FINALLY figured out there’s a problem. I’m guessing it took the stock market to “tank” to get his attention. Listening to his “press conference” today, it’s apparent individual 1 “gets” the lack of testing capability is a problem – and, there appears to be many companies “gearing up” to try to catch up. The question remains: once many more people are tested what is the total of the problem. (To some degree I believe the reason our IMPEACHED so-called president doesn’t want the testing ramped up is because he thinks it will make him look bad.)
Now, Mike Pense is speaking and he’s lavishing praise on individual 1 for his great leadership in this crisis. (That’s me live reporting) This guy is worse than a lapdog! I’ve got to turn this off! Listening to Pense makes me hope individual 1 proves negative to the virus, despite NOT following the “social distancing” we’re all being encouraged to follow, because Pense turns me off even more – although, as I think about that, it almost seems impossible. I’m guessing Pense is ordered to pour compliments over our IMPEACHED so-called president before he’s given permission to speak in public, and, apparently, he willingly accedes.
It should be a surprise to no one our IMPEACHED so-called president thinks in terms of the “short term.” This was clear this past week as he repeatedly has been bashing Jerome Powell of the Federal Reserve for “not doing enough” to protect the stock market. This led to the Fed pumping $1.5 TRILLION into the market this past week, which only temporarily stopped the tanking market. (Did they just print it – they can’t come up with that kind of “cash” for “we the people”) Individual 1’s Oval Office speech last Wednesday caused the market to drop record amounts within the next 24 hours, causing him to give a press conference on Friday which spurred the market on a temporary upsurge. (He FINALLY declared this is an “emergency”) Of course, our IMPEACHED so-called president couldn’t leave “well enough alone” so he “tweeted” Friday’s upsurge as if the problem has been solved.
And, as I’ve stated in my previous few posts I’m learning how to follow the DOW “futures” – which are suggesting more upward pressure on Monday, but I’ve got news for our IMPEACHED so-called president; his short term “itis” isn’t going to solve this problem – meaning covid-19. Let me just give you a few examples of what I’m seeing just around where I live. My son works at one of the busiest restaurants in the city where we live and, today, he was sent home after – get this – 40 MINUTES! In Washington we have a $13 minimum wage (at least where we live) so I said to my son, at least you made gas money. I’m not sure how good that made him feel, but he understand what lies ahead – either hardly any work or, more likely, they’re going to temporarily close the restaurant – and, no work.
When you think about ALL sports leagues SHUT DOWN, people are not traveling – Delta reported today, I think I heard, laying off 40% of their workforce because people aren’t flying, people aren’t traveling, vacationing, movie theaters are closed, Disneyland is CLOSED!, and I could go on and on. “We the people” live in a consumer based economy and this is going to be really bad – as I said, short term moves will only, in the long run, make things worse. The stock market has a lot more losing to do and, it’s likely going to be much worse because of our IMPEACHED so-called president desperately trying to make himself look better than he deserves – and, what he deserves gets worse by the day.
At this point in time “we the people” shouldn’t be focused on the market, but on what we can do to try to keep the “curve” of this pandemic to be as “flat” as possible. (So far that doesn’t like likely, but thank God for the many governors around the country taking action) Of course, at this point in time we have no idea how many Americans have the virus – and, it is true reports suggest 80% of cases will be relatively mild – it’s the other 20% people are worried about – especially older people like me who have underlying medical issues who are the most vulnerable. My daughter’s a nurse and she’s really worried about me. I called her up and said, “I’m worried about you” – she’s on the front-line of the pandemic. She’s a hospice nurse and she’s dealing with many patients in nursing homes. I’m proud of her (she’s working really hard right now) and I’m praying she stays safe.
I listened to an economist from Harvard the other night and he suggested we are on the cusp of another depression, but almost certainly another “great recession.” I’ve been saying since day one of individual 1’s administration I have ZERO confidence he is capable of dealing with a crisis. Many beside myself have referred to him as UNFIT for office. Of course, he’s got a CULT following and it will take this to get worse than I want it to get in order for them to maybe rethink their loyalties – especially with outlets like Fox “news” still suggesting this pandemic is the result of the “liberal media” that wants to take down their IMPEACHED so-called president.
In individual 1’s press conference on Friday he claimed he saved “thousands of lives” by his actions to close the borders and then LIED about the FACT he closed the pandemic operation in the National Security Council which was started by President Obama after dealing with the Ebola crisis – which, by the way, was EXPERTLY dealt with. (His supporters actually believe him) He actually called the reporter (an African American woman) who asked the question “nasty” as he looked at Tony Fausti and tried to “pass the buck” to him for the BLUNDER he admitted to many months ago – because “I don’t like spending money on things that aren’t needed, we can get them back when we need them.” (Of course, then they turned that reporters mike off so she couldn’t ask a follow up question)
Actually, while I was writing the above words I had a news program on my computer and, sure enough, along came a person who seemed to verify the reason America has been so slow in providing testing (it’s still a MAJOR problem) is because individual 1 didn’t want the public to know how many people had the virus because he felt that made him look bad. Of course, like everything else with our IMPEACHED so-called president this short term thinking is leading to long term consequences – for, example, many business leaders are wondering how long it will take for our economy to recover once this epidemic is “on the other side?” We will undoubtedly, at a minimum, be in economic recession (we likely already are) for the rest of this year and, of course, there’s an election coming, so brace yourself for the barrage of incoming LIES coming from individual 1 and his sycophants.
Here’s the bottom line here, you can’t wish away a pandemic like this and if you attempt to do so, well, you only make it worse – as we are seeing “up close and personal.” I keep thinking, a few weeks ago republicans in the Senate, facing incontrovertible evidence that our IMPEACHED so-called president was continually putting his own self interest above that of the nation, had the opportunity to end this nightmare and chose to take the “chicken’s” way out. (Except, of course, for Mitt Romney) Of course, convicting individual 1 wouldn’t have stopped this pandemic, but maybe Pense would have done a better job – although, I’m not confident in that either – but, just sayin……… As they say, “He couldn’t do it any worse.”
To me, individual 1’s actions are making it crystal clear “we the people” should be taking a second look at Bernie Sanders before the democratic nominating process is over. If there was ever a better “advertisement” for the need for a universal health care system this should be it. And, I’ll say this again, I believe “Medicare for All” would be around HALF as expensive as the system we have with much better outcomes. To all those out there who think it would be “more expensive” – well, today, while driving home from Costco (without TP AGAIN :o) I had my xm radio on (as usual) and on came individual 1 – very happy because the Fed just announced they’re dropping rates AGAIN, now down to, well, ZERO. And, that’s not all!
Just last week they pumped $1.5 TRILLION into Wall Street to “prop the market up” and today they announced they have nearly ANOTHER trillion to pump in “the coming weeks” to buy up bad debt, essentially. This is the “American way” since the “Free market” economists in the mold of Milton Friedman gained a foothold several decades ago – and, that’s pile up more debt. And, apparently, if you’re one of those two big to fail banks you’re “good” no matter what. I believe I read today they are simply negating the “Dodd-Frank” legislation which was aimed at preventing another financial meltdown. I have to wonder, where is the 2.5 TRILLION coming from?
We have “free markets” until Wall Street needs the GOVERNMENT to “bail” them out. I have to assume we’re going to be piling up much more debt. And, of course I don’t know this for certain, but I’m guessing the House bill aimed at “Main Street” won’t have anywhere near two and a half TRILLION dollars in the bill. (Individual 1 wants to ROB the Social Security trust fund – which has already been borrowed – of nearly a TRILLION dollars and, hopefully, democrats won’t fall for it) The bottom line here is there’s going to be “hard sledding” ahead and piling on more debt and wishful thinking will likely just make it worse, in the long term.
The appropriate solution passed us by a few weeks ago – and, in my mind, every-time individual 1 gets in front of a microphone he’s just making another commercial for whoever ends up being the democratic nominee for November’s election. This upcoming recession is going to be severe at best and, as one economist I’ve already talked about said the other night, it could end up being a world wide DEPRESSION. I’ve seen reports the American economy is already in recession and it will be interesting to see how much DEBT individual 1 “throws” at this pandemic.
Early on, when “we the people” realized what a bumbling IDIOT he is – and, now I’m focusing on his response to this impending crisis – to brace yourself for a MOUNTAIN of lies – blaming EVERYONE but himself. Just the other day I heard him say with his own mouth he takes no responsibility for the HORRIBLE response by the federal government to this impending pandemic – despite months of warning. He even stood before the American people and LIED about dissolving the PANDEMIC team from the CDC – the team put in place by President Obama for just this type of occasion. And, he LIED about the response to the H1N1 flu by “Joe Biden” which tells you he knows what is lying ahead politically. (I guess we can be thankful he didn’t blame it on Hunter Biden!)
I’ll end with: Individual 1 is still going after Hillary Clinton as if he wants to put her in jail. The first thought which came to my mind when I read that this morning (I believe in the NY Times) “Be careful what you wish for.” Why? Well, there’s an old saying which I find to be a “truism,” and it says “What goes around comes around.” I’ve read Comey’s book, I’ve read McCabe’s book, I’ve read every book I can get my hands on which deals with the FBI’s “intervention” into the 2016 election (I believe Comey is why we’re talking about all of this – he’s the reason individual 1 is in office), not only regarding Mrs. Clinton but also regarding individual 1.
I’ve read Mueller’s report TWICE and, believe me, it’s a challenging read – but also very informative and, also, a bit scary – because it clearly exposes William Barr to be individual 1’s “Roy Cohn” (who, if you don’t know, was a DIRTY mob lawyer who died in disgrace of AIDS after being disbarred for unethical practices – he was Joseph McCarthy’s lawyer and that should say all you need to know – Oh yes, I’ve seen reports he was affiliated with Roger Stone as well). Now, I’m reading “DEEP STATE Trump, the FBI, and the Rule of Law” by James Stewart and I just finished “DARK TOWERS Deutche Bank, Donald Trump (that word was hard to write), and an epic trail of destruction” by David Enrich. Trust me, individual 1 will be facing WAY more than he can “throw” at Hillary Clinton once he’s out of office next year.
I’m not trying to be arrogant suggesting it’s going to happen for sure by next year, but I have to say he’s done such a TERRIBLE job regarding the covid-19 crisis that, to me, would be enough – although, as I said, his followers (the CULT) don’t believe he LIES to them so he’ll be LYING at an even more frequent pace (if that’s possible) – but, he’s going to be “leading” America into an economic disaster “area” in the coming months. And, so far, his solution is to try propping up Wall Street with more “liquidity.” That means, as I said, MOUNTAINS of debt. And, that’s NOT going to solve the problem – just make it worse for the “long term” for sure. But, as usual, I digress.
Getting back to individual 1’s legal liabilities once he’s out of office, well, you should read some of these books. First, I have to add, that in EVERY one of them – relating to the investigation of Mrs. Clinton – they point out the EVIDENCE is overwhelming that, while Mrs. Clinton was careless and made a mistake by having her own email server (just as the previous Sec. of State Colin Powell had – of course, as far as I know there’s never been an investigation of General Powell), there was nothing even suggesting there could be anything more than some kind of misdemeanor charge against her. Nothing which had much of a chance of “winning” in court based on years of previous rulings in areas relating to “negligence” with classified information – which didn’t appear to be what happened anyway to any extent suggesting an indictment.
On the other hand, individual 1 is ALREADY, well, individual 1 in the case against Michael Cohen for the campaign finance violations resulting from individual 1’s paying off two former mistresses to keep “we the people” from knowing about his illicit affairs (while his THIRD wife was delivering him his final – we all hope – child) prior to the 2016 election. Maybe, had we known about Stormy Daniels prior to the election Comey’s ill timed (and unwarranted) remarks 11 days before the election – which, by my observations changed the Five Thirty Eight polling averages by about 4 to 5 points in individual 1’s favor over the last two weeks prior to the election – especially in the “rust belt” states which unexpectedly gave him the electoral college “victory.” (With, of course, three MILLION less votes than Mrs. Clinton)
And, when you read all these books you realize there’s plenty more where those Southern District of New York FELONY charges against Cohen AND individual 1 came from. The state of New York is investigating his organization – some suggesting there could be a RICO charge (look it up) once he’s out of office – Mueller made it clear he was “memorializing” the evidence of OBSTRUCTION in his report in case “down the road” once individual 1 is no longer protected by the so-called “Office of Legal Counsel” memo which says a sitting president can’t be indicted should a prosecutor wish to “follow up.” (10 instances) Plus, there’s so much more. In “Dark Towers” – while, so far, individual 1 has prevented investigators from gaining records from Deutche bank, on the surface it appears to me, there’s a very good reason he’s trying to block this from happening.
It also appears there’s good reason for Deutche bank to fight along side individual 1 to prevent the investigators from gaining information on their “lending practices” with not only our IMPEACHED so-called president, but his son-in-law Jared Kushner – and, by extension his daughter Ivanka. In fact, there’s even evidence suggesting Don Jr. has some potential “sticky” issues with Deutche bank – apparently the ONLY bank willing to loan money to our – well, you know who I mean. The Russian money laundering schemes of Deutche bank (for which the fines nearly took the bank into default) seem to be very close to our IMPEACHED so-called president. The financing of his golf courses, for example, are, or should be, under scrutiny – especially after Eric, his 2nd son, admitted they were getting all the money they needed from Russia. There’s is speculation the Russians “guaranteed” at least some of the money individual 1 squeezed (and, I mean, squeezed) out of the bank.
You’ll remember, Vladimir Putin is and has been one of individual 1’s biggest “cheerleaders” and it should be interesting if one or more of individual 1’s Hotels “heads south” during this impending crisis. There seem to be plenty of moneyed interests willing to spend large amounts of money to stay in his properties – apparently seeking favor – but, even that could face a “downturn” over this covid-19 crisis. People aren’t eager to travel. For example, individual 1 has a loan of around $170 MILLION on the Old Post Office renovation in D.C. which, I believe is due in a couple years (or less) and he needs a LOT of business to make that place profitable – I read an average of $700 a night in the rooms. So, brace yourself for more than the lies. There’s likely to be some kind of bailout for the hotel industry in the not too distant future. Maybe he’s simply able to get his hands on that ZERO percent money being dished out by the Fed. Stay tuned!
Final Thought: My son is a “gamer” (and, he’s very good – beyond my ability to comprehend) and he plays online video games with people all around the world. He is always telling me about how people in other countries are suggesting “we the people” are – well, STUPID. Not only because so many believe the OBVIOUS lying coming from our IMPEACHED so-called president (are you getting my disgust?) but, today he told me of a conversation he had with a young man in Sweden who was getting images of the run on the store shelves in the U.S. This young man was telling my son his parents would NEVER allow him to eat the kind of food he was seeing on the store shelves – what was left there anyway. Like all the stuff with too much sugar in it.
Today, when my son got to work at the restaurant there were four people eating. They had already sent home virtually the entire staff – he didn’t even clock in (not even gas money today). This really is going to be bad. I don’t think you can turn off a consumer based economy for a couple months and not “feel the pain.” – even by BORROWING frantically. I do hope the House bill which will be in the Senate once they all return – hopefully, this coming week – will quickly help these workers, including my son. He says MOST of them are “paycheck to paycheck” and already are in “trouble” financially, because they’re all getting the hours cut – significantly. I’ll be interested to actually see the bill which is produced – I know there was republican input so I’m guessing the bill is not as strong as it could or should be – there will likely be limits on the unemployment benefits which leave some workers in the lurch – I hope not – I hope I’m wrong!