Getting more and more real at Coroanpalooza, the daily press conferences. This was a real Trumpster Fire.
A post or two ago I mentioned how the press is getting fed up with all the lies and distortions. Well, the pace is picking up. There is less likelihood that the press will let these pass any longer, and today hit a new milestone.
Does the name Jon Karl ring a bell? He is the ABC representative at the press conferences and today he couldn’t help himself. The President was going on about no matter what he does it isn’t good enough, that the fake news would complain if the entire population was tested ten times. They would have wanted eleven times. He said there was a lot of bad reporting, when Karl had to blurt out “That’s not true!” Trump made it personal to Karl, saying he was one of the worst and Karl repeated “That’s not true! That’s not true!”
There is history here. Trump has called Karl a “third rate reporter”, “cutie pie”, and told Karl “You’ll never make it”. The Emmy award-winning Karl was surely crestfallen upon hearing this. His new book, “Front Row at the Trump Show”, is just coming out and I am certain this was part of the reason he was feeling a bit more empowered, as the outburst was uncharacteristic. He had not risen to the previous baitings by President Trump. But it was a signature moment, perhaps a turning point. Others second guessed the President’s answers during the presser as well.
Trump asked for it, as the opening of our informative briefing on the coronavirus was an outright assault on CNN and the Washington Post. Trump had accused the Post of misquoting Robert Redfield, Director of the CDC, in an interview that touched on the challenges of flu and coronavirus hitting simultaneously in the fall. As it turned out, Redfield was certainly not misquoted, but it is hard to deny that the Post took liberties with the headline which appeared to have attributed the idea that this would be “devestating” to Redfield’s characterization. He may believe that or not, but it wasn’t in the quote. But Director Redfield finally stood at the podium and said “I was not misquoted.” Trump quickly pivoted to the inflated headline and made it into a blanket condemnation of the press and fake news. CNN became implicated because they reported on the Post story, repeating it unchanged, and since they are the President’s whipping boy anyway, this was too juicy to let go, so he led with it. The Coronavirus Briefing for the benefit of public safety and awareness started with ten minutes on fake news.
Then it got surreal. Director Redfield had brought up the idea of a return of the virus in the fall. Redfield did a pretty good job of creating a very plausible narrative that his quotation was really an appeal for everyone to get flu shots. Taken in context, it is thoroughly plausible. In fact, I think I believe him. So there. But then Trump stepped up and suggested that is a big “what if”. The virus is probably not coming back, he said, and if it does it will be little pockets, we’ll knock those right out. He then invited Dr. Birx to the podium and she did her best dance. (Editorial: I don’t think she’s evil. She’s trying to tell us the truth in a way that doesn’t blow his mind, and maybe she isn’t that good at it. It’s a delicate line.) She spoke about how we’re preparing as if this could happen, but no, no one knew that was the case. It was a non-denial denial kinda thing. She would live to see another day. Trump stepped in and said there may be nothing, I have talked to ten people, it’s gonna be gone.
Then he asked Dr. Fauci to say a few words. He threw the President some tiny bones, but the big point of his message was yes, we would have the virus in the fall and how big a deal it is will be entirely dependent on how we respond to it at that time. It will require a response. Once again the good doctor stood up to the President in real time to his face. Trump took over and said if it is around, which many think it will be gone, he said, but if it is it will be nothing like this. Little pockets. Knock ’em right out. No problem.
We have no idea how that will happen. He makes it sound like it’s a shed on fire. One truck, hose her down. Done.
This is gaslighting. The President and the “Open Now” movement will kill lots and lots of people. Georgia will know this soon. The virus will not magically disappear between now and the fall. It will still be out there seeking the paths of least resistance, the deniers and all the workers forced into an unsafe environment. Just like opening a window during a fire, opening the economy supplies the fuel and the virus will do the rest.
Thanks for trying Dr. Fauci. You fought a good fight but the odds were always against you.
I can’t help but feel, and hope, that this is leading to a McCarthy era-esque declaration of “At long last, sir, have you no shame?” The moment demands it, cries for it. A lone voice cutting through the nonsense that has been so apparent for so long and saying unequivocally what everyone knows but never says. One person that is mad as hell….
Of course, today that might not work, because shame is in extremely short supply. Nazis march with pride through America’s streets, “patriots” emphasize their opinions by toting semi-auto assault rifles to protests, the clear message being if you can kill people you are right. Very limited minds carry misspelled signs to beg for their own demise. Shame is a very deep and dried out well to mine these days. It seems like more of a nostalgic notion rather than a defense mechanism against our worst instincts, our basest motivations.
Movie franchises have become hugely successful by a simple twist. The complete elimination of shame. “Jackass” has become a phenomenon based on this simple little premise. Stevie became an international sensation by simply eliminating the shame gene. Jason became famous because he allowed every cliche about little people to be exploited for our amusement. If there was something you can concoct, a scenario you could imagine that simply required a total lack of self-worth to make it work, you have a perfect formula for another two hours of fantastic entertainment. Super cheap to produce, too. Can’t miss!
I am a big YouTube fan, being constantly amazed by the amount of talent and vision that can be found there, but it is also a repository for the American passion for shamelessness. If fame is now available to anyone with the ability to get views, it is sure to attract people for whom being noticed is everything, the why being a secondary consideration. It is a calculation, a balancing act between the need to be noticed and how far one is willing to go to get there.
These moral dilemmas were long ago put to bed by Donald John Trump. Firmly in the camp that any publicity is good publicity, he has been a media whore since he was quite young. New Yorkers are very familiar with the history of this having been subjected to the daily machinations of The Donald in the local tabloids. America has been thoroughly educated in the lack of shame he has brought to the Oval Office. It will be a very long time before the position will have the gravitas it once had, a very long time for the institutions he has attacked to heal unless some voice cuts through the noise and gives voice to a country crying for, not “reality”, but truth.
It is not terribly surprising that Governor Cuomo has seen his popularity explode as he does a daily briefing that could not be more different than the President’s version. It is data driven, delivered with empathy but without sympathy, straight talk that can be hard. What needs to be done is shared without apology, the difficulty of it acknowledged and honored but not ignored. There is no sense at any time that the Governor is running for anything. There is no pandering to his friends and continual exhortations of the magnificence of his leadership. He’s a worker with a job and he’s all about doing it. It lead to some scattered calls for him to be a late draftee into the Democratic race for the White House, and to his credit he has given that no thought or any of his time.
Watching these two very different events on a daily basis is shocking, and I think this is starting to show in the general population. Joe Biden’s best strategy may be just to stay in the basement and let Trump hang himself. The daily comparison is simply devestating. Joe can’t match up to the power of the bully pulpit wielded with cynical abandon by the President. There is no comparable platform for him, but if the building embarrassment of what is happening in Washington continues to grow, and if that lone martyr stands up and can’t take it anymore, it may not matter.
Trump may have no shame, but ours is becoming very hard to deny.
That just might be a good thing.