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Atticus

(15,124 posts)
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 10:57 PM Apr 2020

Let me say this up front: yes, I know how this sounds but---

Last edited Wed Apr 1, 2020, 11:50 PM - Edit history (1)

Has anyone heard a reasonable explanation for the fact that virtually every decision that Trump has made in dealing with this pandemic has worsened the crisis and placed Americans in more danger?

Initially, he had to choose between taking action to protect us or do nothing and let the pandemic gain a foothold in our country. He chose to ignore the problem and gave the virus free rein for weeks.

Thereafter, he chose at several other stages in the viral invasion to ignore or dishonestly minimize the threat we faced, playing politics with American lives.

He has almost totally failed to develop and provide vital testing procedures and supplies to tell us who is infected so they can be quarantined and their contacts traced.

He has declined to use federal authority to compel US companies to produce critical supplies and sell them here for our benefit. Some US companies are producing "PPE's"---personal protective equipment---but sell them overseas while nurses in the US wear garbage bags in place of gowns and reuse the same masks for days.

In February, we shipped over 17 tons of masks and gowns to China, apparently from our national emergency stockpile which is now nearly depleted.

He has refused to coordinate the purchase of ventilators, masks and other supplies, leading to expensive, time-consuming and often futile bidding wars between states shopping for the same items.

He has refused to issue a nationwide stay at home order, resulting in an inconsistent patchwork of conflicting "requirements" state to state.

I could go on and on, but so could most of you. My question is this: given the consistent avoidance of options that would help contain the threat and save American lives, is it not possible that Donald Trump is intentionally choosing to sacrifice tens of thousands of us? I could speculate about several possible motives, but that would be all that it was: speculation. For now, I'm simply asking that question.

I cannot think of any significant decision Trump had made that has helped protect us from this virus and I can't think of any rational explanation for the consistent harm he has done.

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Let me say this up front: yes, I know how this sounds but--- (Original Post) Atticus Apr 2020 OP
believe me, I've thought along those lines often (since the day he was installed). NRaleighLiberal Apr 2020 #1
Yep tiptonic Apr 2020 #24
Keeping with Nazi principles wnylib Apr 2020 #101
No need to THINK DENVERPOPS Apr 2020 #46
+1000 lindysalsagal Apr 2020 #57
Putin-y? Perhaps. It's more likely something more homegrown... dchill Apr 2020 #55
Could be both advice he is given by Russian cutouts and Trump's own financial self interests joost5 Apr 2020 #63
Adam Schiff wants a 9-11 type inquiry. I want a tribunal. FightingIrish Apr 2020 #2
I want something involving a gallows. dchill Apr 2020 #64
I'd opt for a guillotine, but that blood would need EPA cleanup..... lastlib Apr 2020 #70
IKR? dchill Apr 2020 #72
Hear hear!! n/t BComplex Apr 2020 #75
Me too Joinfortmill Apr 2020 #97
He is an ignorant idiot edhopper Apr 2020 #3
Following orders from Vladimir. blm Apr 2020 #4
That could be it wryter2000 Apr 2020 #76
Killing Americans bdamomma Apr 2020 #80
His gut? Walleye Apr 2020 #5
He listens too intently to his closed circle of other old white males. Baitball Blogger Apr 2020 #8
Good point. He started taking the covid seriously when he saw bodies being hauled out of a familiar Walleye Apr 2020 #19
He's exactly what people voted for -- An ignorant white winger. Hope that changes in Nov. Hoyt Apr 2020 #6
November is DENVERPOPS Apr 2020 #49
He is mentally ill and we all suffer from the affects of HIS illnesses. BigmanPigman Apr 2020 #7
The virus kills. tRump made it the Trump Catastrophe. . . . .nt Bernardo de La Paz Apr 2020 #77
I suspect the facts will eventually reveal a thoroughly corrupt administration, more concerned sop Apr 2020 #9
I agree there must be a money angle for him sand his cronies MLAA Apr 2020 #28
That was the embedded cause behind much of the Neo-Con programs run under Shrub. Ford_Prefect Apr 2020 #102
Crooks and grifters MLAA Apr 2020 #103
Can I please C&P to FB? SlogginThroughIt Apr 2020 #10
No problem. nt Atticus Apr 2020 #20
I'd say Trump is trying to kill as many Americans as he can RussBLib Apr 2020 #11
He is a sadistic monster FuzzyRabbit Apr 2020 #35
"Broken record" here, but: cruelty is the whole point for 100,000,000 fellow-citizens FiveGoodMen Apr 2020 #69
Thing Rebl2 Apr 2020 #88
Putin must me lovng this. Flaleftist Apr 2020 #12
+1 uponit7771 Apr 2020 #17
Putin is directing this. dewsgirl Apr 2020 #83
This is like asking why some religious people... Buckeye_Democrat Apr 2020 #13
It doesn't matter what the facts are. BigDemVoter Apr 2020 #14
All of these psychological explanations are making me sick. world wide wally Apr 2020 #44
He's telling us who he is - a killer eleny Apr 2020 #15
THANK YOU !!! If it was random stupidity there would be some decisions in America's favor ! uponit7771 Apr 2020 #16
He has no conscience. If it doesn't help him, other wealthy males and big business... CousinIT Apr 2020 #18
I've only got one, and its a long shot customerserviceguy Apr 2020 #21
"... is intentionally choosing to sacrifice tens of thousands of us?" Talitha Apr 2020 #22
He's a psychopath. They thrive on chaos. The more dead the happier he'll be. littlemissmartypants Apr 2020 #23
To paraphrase a line in the movie Support Your Local Sheriff: I've been around tRUMP now abqtommy Apr 2020 #25
I've thought about it and the answer to everything about Trump is this - he is: Dan Apr 2020 #26
As The Man Said, Sir The Magistrate Apr 2020 #27
All of these things are true, republicans could step in and change it immediately. They're not: onecaliberal Apr 2020 #29
They are all in in it together... Trueblue Texan Apr 2020 #89
I think so too. onecaliberal Apr 2020 #90
What about his fav? " I shutdown flights from China " California_Republic Apr 2020 #30
Two explanations: Miguelito Loveless Apr 2020 #31
I totally agree duforsure Apr 2020 #58
Republicans and big business execs actually want the spiky curve, not the flattened one. tclambert Apr 2020 #32
I see correlation between your post here and another thread I read earlier, liberalla Apr 2020 #33
Sure, there's a rational explanation. He's the personification of evil. n/t pnwmom Apr 2020 #34
He's erratic caraher Apr 2020 #36
It's hard not to conclude that. People keep underestimating the ecstatic Apr 2020 #37
What you said... dhill926 Apr 2020 #42
Narcissistic personality disorder CloudWatcher Apr 2020 #38
Your OP sounds like the Declaration of Indepndance.... world wide wally Apr 2020 #39
That was clear since Trump was elected. procon Apr 2020 #40
Trump looking out for Trump kurtcagle Apr 2020 #41
60 million+ voters think he's doing a fantastical amazing NoMoreRepugs Apr 2020 #43
Also, there is no rational explanation why he is being allowed to continue in his job. ooky Apr 2020 #45
I read something yesterday.. Tucker08087 Apr 2020 #47
he doesn't care Demovictory9 Apr 2020 #48
He's never made one good decision ever Cozmo Apr 2020 #50
They remind me of one huge, dysfunctional family. murielm99 Apr 2020 #51
He's doing what Putin expected of him. Lock him up. Apr 2020 #52
I think it goes beyond gross incompetence. TXPaganBanker Apr 2020 #53
rec. MerryBlooms Apr 2020 #65
This ahlnord Apr 2020 #71
+1000 smirkymonkey Apr 2020 #92
+1 uponit7771 Apr 2020 #99
My deep red state of Montana can't get PPE or tests because our Maru Kitteh Apr 2020 #109
I was wondering if he's trying to postpone dawg day Apr 2020 #54
Laissez-faire life, laissez-faire death. KY_EnviroGuy Apr 2020 #56
I sincerely believe that he thinks lapfog_1 Apr 2020 #59
He needs to be stopped now Meowmee Apr 2020 #60
incompetent. pansypoo53219 Apr 2020 #61
It's difficult to believe anything but the worst of him, and from him. calimary Apr 2020 #62
trump wants to know what's in it for him before every action, it's all that matters. MerryBlooms Apr 2020 #66
He is a Monster of the greatest degree bluestarone Apr 2020 #67
It's clear that Trump is deliberately murdering Americans. lagomorph777 Apr 2020 #68
"Putin's goal is to destroy America." FiveGoodMen Apr 2020 #73
Same as everything else ThoughtCriminal Apr 2020 #74
It's his natural Turbineguy Apr 2020 #78
The ability to plan is quite beyond him wryter2000 Apr 2020 #79
Always takes me back to the GOP stillcool Apr 2020 #81
Always takes me back to the GOP stillcool Apr 2020 #82
He thinks he and only he knows the answer. underpants Apr 2020 #84
I think it comes down to fearing the impact on the economy. aikoaiko Apr 2020 #85
Like Sen Murphy said, he has not done a thing. Pepsidog Apr 2020 #86
Definitely seta1950 Apr 2020 #87
The Rabid Religious Right wants the virus to spread TrogL Apr 2020 #91
Thank you Atticus for tying the threads together live love laugh Apr 2020 #93
Of course you may use it. nt Atticus Apr 2020 #94
you are 100000000000000000000000% correct. trueblue2007 Apr 2020 #95
Yes, quite possible Joinfortmill Apr 2020 #96
I have believed for quite some time that Trump takes his marching order from Putin. Lonestarblue Apr 2020 #98
Dr rand Paul Smackdown2019 Apr 2020 #100
Bio Warfare Experiments no matrix Apr 2020 #104
This message was self-deleted by its author no matrix Apr 2020 #105
It is an entirely logical conclusion to draw from the established facts. byronius Apr 2020 #106
Atticus, You Have Something There! McKim Apr 2020 #107
He's too busy trying to make money off of this nini Apr 2020 #108
The Reason Is Quite Simple... DAngelo136 Apr 2020 #110
Please also remember that all decisions made by trump also havor Putin and Russia Gothmog Apr 2020 #111

NRaleighLiberal

(59,922 posts)
1. believe me, I've thought along those lines often (since the day he was installed).
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 10:59 PM
Apr 2020

something fishy, for sure (if not Putin-y)

DENVERPOPS

(8,640 posts)
46. No need to THINK
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 12:56 AM
Apr 2020

Everyone should KNOW Trump's marching orders are coming directly from Putin. It is soooo clearly apparent it is ridiculous.

Putin was high up in the KGB when the cold war took Russia down.

He has been hell bent ever since to rise in power and exact a vendetta personal revenge on the United States. His only aim has been to destroy America. Period.

A Russian friend says he talks to the people back in Russia, and they are laughing daily at how Putin is playing Trump and succeeding.

They all say it is amazing that he has done it, with no hands on involvement and without firing a single rocket or missile.........

Was it Pelosi who said: ALL ROADS LEAD TO PUTIN ??????????????

Everyone laughed, when during the debates, Hillary said: THERE IS A HUGE RIGHT WING CONSPIRACY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WASF

dchill

(38,234 posts)
55. Putin-y? Perhaps. It's more likely something more homegrown...
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 01:47 AM
Apr 2020

Conservative Republican, Tea Party, Libertarian, Nazi, MAGAT...

ALL synonyms for immature, selfish, greedy, immoral.

Or just plain "owning the libs" to the death.

joost5

(421 posts)
63. Could be both advice he is given by Russian cutouts and Trump's own financial self interests
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 10:08 AM
Apr 2020

in keeping his properties open for business, which are all heavily reliant on travel and tourism.

Rich people surrounding Trump don't give a single shit about the greater good or society, except to the extent they preserve their profits and privileges.

lastlib

(22,895 posts)
70. I'd opt for a guillotine, but that blood would need EPA cleanup.....
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 11:58 AM
Apr 2020

...so gallows probly would be better.

wryter2000

(46,008 posts)
76. That could be it
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 04:00 PM
Apr 2020

Vladimir wants us destroyed, so he's telling Trump all the wrong things, and Trump is too stupid to realize it. Trump doesn't get anything out of screwing this up. Quite the contrary.

bdamomma

(63,562 posts)
80. Killing Americans
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 04:21 PM
Apr 2020

for Putin's pleasure and revenge.

This POS needs to arrested. He is our biggest threat. Or even better tRump needs to contract it.

Baitball Blogger

(46,532 posts)
8. He listens too intently to his closed circle of other old white males.
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 11:17 PM
Apr 2020

If you look at the "patchwork" of inconsistencies that his decisions create, you'll see that the laws fall hardest on those he knows the least, and are softest with those he knows the most.

Walleye

(30,573 posts)
19. Good point. He started taking the covid seriously when he saw bodies being hauled out of a familiar
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 11:44 PM
Apr 2020

Hospital in Queens. He said he knew it very well. The BBC showed it and said something like, “there you see, in the money capital of the richest country in the world, corpses being loaded with a forklift into the back of a lorry.” A bit starker than our newscasters reported it.

DENVERPOPS

(8,640 posts)
49. November is
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 01:02 AM
Apr 2020

SEVEN MONTHS AWAY.....at the rate he is going, and the way he is making things accelerate, I seriously doubt we can make it that long.......

I seriously believe that they know they already have the election corrupted otherwise they wouldn't be so confident and so flagrantly screwing the entire U.S. population.

(Except, of course, the Uber Rich Republicans, any and all Republican Politicians, the leaders of the Republican Party, His entire Republican administration, himself and his family.....)

BigmanPigman

(51,368 posts)
7. He is mentally ill and we all suffer from the affects of HIS illnesses.
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 11:05 PM
Apr 2020

I think there should be a mandatory mental and physical check-up before being allowed to take office.

He clearly has a combination of serious personality disorders: sociopath, narcissist, sadist....not good for us.

sop

(9,846 posts)
9. I suspect the facts will eventually reveal a thoroughly corrupt administration, more concerned
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 11:18 PM
Apr 2020

with profiting financially and politically from this crisis than actually helping people. Trump defiles everything.

Ford_Prefect

(7,772 posts)
102. That was the embedded cause behind much of the Neo-Con programs run under Shrub.
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 08:30 PM
Apr 2020

Profit for his enablers and political allies- a substantial portion of which found its way into GOP political coffers. It was another money-laundering scheme. Also, it enabled the MIC to control foreign policy and arms purchasing to a degree they had previously only dreamed of. In turn that also empowered and emboldened the Right-wing in Israel, along with the faction of Saudi and Qatari princes who wanted to run their regional competition out of business with profits and power to further their agendas.

RussBLib

(8,950 posts)
11. I'd say Trump is trying to kill as many Americans as he can
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 11:22 PM
Apr 2020

If I didn't know better. But I don't know better.

FuzzyRabbit

(1,956 posts)
35. He is a sadistic monster
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 12:22 AM
Apr 2020

Nearly every decision he makes is designed to create as much misery for as many people as possible.

From taking babies out of their mothers arms and putting refugees in cages, to taking away food stamps from thousands of families, and nearly every other decision he makes, he tries to be as cruel as possible.

Cruelty is the whole point of his existence. He looks somewhat human, but he is a monster.

FiveGoodMen

(20,018 posts)
69. "Broken record" here, but: cruelty is the whole point for 100,000,000 fellow-citizens
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 11:50 AM
Apr 2020

We have much bigger problems than this one asshole.

Rebl2

(13,236 posts)
88. Thing
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 05:16 PM
Apr 2020

is he’s also killing people that support him by his do nothing attitude. As far as I’m concerned he still has that same attitude. It’s just all about him.

Buckeye_Democrat

(14,844 posts)
13. This is like asking why some religious people...
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 11:24 PM
Apr 2020

... deny science and allow their children to die from untreated medical problems.

They’re not living in reality, and Trump doesn’t live in reality either. He’s such a narcissistic that he often favors his own idiotic notions over evidence, doubling-down if and when he’s challenged.

None of this is new. His biographers shared his severe character flaws with us long before the election.

He’s NOT a genius with some overall scheme in mind, other than trying to satiate his own need for attention and power.

Edit: This interview of the “Art of the Deal” author (link below) is one of the better articles about Trump’s severe flaws. (Other biographers made similar statements about Trump during interviews, but they seemed less concerned... as if the USA’s political system would just bail him out of any real trouble.)
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/donald-trumps-ghostwriter-tells-all

BigDemVoter

(4,149 posts)
14. It doesn't matter what the facts are.
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 11:25 PM
Apr 2020

They lie through their fucking teeth about EVERYTHING. This epidemic shows what they are--goddamned traitors.

Pussy-Grabber should DEFINITELY be put on trial for treason along with that worthless Barr Hog and that piece of shit, Pence.

world wide wally

(21,714 posts)
44. All of these psychological explanations are making me sick.
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 12:39 AM
Apr 2020

I don't give a fuck if he's driving so shitty because he is blind.
It's time to get off this crazy train

CousinIT

(9,087 posts)
18. He has no conscience. If it doesn't help him, other wealthy males and big business...
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 11:33 PM
Apr 2020

...he's not going to do it. And he IS PUNISHING BLUE STATES by outbidding them for supplies, dicking with their orders and cancelling them, deliberately sending them the wrong supplies, or simply sending them to another country who bid higher for them.

NO. CONCIENCE.

(aka psychopath)

customerserviceguy

(25,183 posts)
21. I've only got one, and its a long shot
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 11:51 PM
Apr 2020

One of the books that had a great influence on Trump's young life was Norman Vincent Peale's "The Power of Positive Thinking". The premise of the book is pretty much that outcomes depend heavily on outlook.

Trump was trying to talk the virus away from our shores in pretty much the same way that Mike Pence believes you can "pray away the gay".

When you look at how unlikely it seemed in June of 2015 that Trump would get the nomination, and then win the election in the Electoral College, he must have believed that he "thought" it into being, and he had the same sort of delusion in dealing with C-19.

Talitha

(6,450 posts)
22. "... is intentionally choosing to sacrifice tens of thousands of us?"
Wed Apr 1, 2020, 11:53 PM
Apr 2020

Definitely yes. Since the very beginning of this hell we're now living in, I've felt that everything he does is intentional.

He's pure evil.

littlemissmartypants

(22,332 posts)
23. He's a psychopath. They thrive on chaos. The more dead the happier he'll be.
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 12:01 AM
Apr 2020

Psychopath/sociopath, a twisted mind that thrives on inflicting the worst pain possible. That's our president.

abqtommy

(14,118 posts)
25. To paraphrase a line in the movie Support Your Local Sheriff: I've been around tRUMP now
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 12:08 AM
Apr 2020

for three years and I haven't seen him do one rational thing yet...

Dan

(3,522 posts)
26. I've thought about it and the answer to everything about Trump is this - he is:
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 12:11 AM
Apr 2020

A Jonah!!!

A Jinx!!!

I thought about all his bankruptcies - I mean Casinos.

Who would have thought that he could fuck up the nation.

onecaliberal

(32,373 posts)
29. All of these things are true, republicans could step in and change it immediately. They're not:
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 12:15 AM
Apr 2020

Trump is a psychotic soulless sack of shit and republicans are aiding him. The death toll is already unbearable. People are dying horrendous deaths alone.

Trueblue Texan

(2,342 posts)
89. They are all in in it together...
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 05:39 PM
Apr 2020

...and Putin is holding the reins. They are ALL compromised. If Trump goes down, they all do.

duforsure

(11,880 posts)
58. I totally agree
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 04:19 AM
Apr 2020

He has others doing things to prop the market up , and to use to profit from , and putin is giving him orders what to do to help him look good so trump can lift the oil sanctions for him. Putin has trump doing things so they can get this done for putin , and this is all PR to do that . trumps intentionally weakening this country for putin , and probably unable to pay his russian debts now. Putin also has gotten some republicans compromised now to, and working to get more.

tclambert

(11,077 posts)
32. Republicans and big business execs actually want the spiky curve, not the flattened one.
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 12:17 AM
Apr 2020

Sure, the flattened curve saves lives, but it lengthens the time we can't get back to business as normal. The spikier curve gets the business outage over faster and will get the stock market back to normal sooner.

If your moral compass only functions on the profit motive, what do a few million lives matter? They're mostly retirees anyway, who drive up your company's pension costs, and cost more in Social Security and Medicare. Take them out of the picture and you lose some customers while saving on retirement costs. Most important, you get business up and running months earlier.

liberalla

(9,131 posts)
33. I see correlation between your post here and another thread I read earlier,
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 12:20 AM
Apr 2020

also an excellent read.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213211477

Media's Taboo Topic: Why's Trump Doing This?


caraher

(6,276 posts)
36. He's erratic
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 12:27 AM
Apr 2020

At the beginning it was sheer incompetence and inattention. But he's brought malevolence to bear by the way he's playing Hunger Games with state requests for supplies, demanding governors grovel and express personal gratitude for any crumbs of help he sends their way, and using the crisis to continue to destroy public institutions like the postal service and EPA. And he is also setting himself up to be viewed as a savior by the MAGAts by contrasting the very worst case projection of deaths (in the millions) with what we can do despite his incompetence (~100,000 dead) and claiming credit for the difference.

He lacks the wit and discipline to have engineered the whole crisis, but does have the shamelessness and depravity to turn it into a tool for his own purposes.

ecstatic

(32,532 posts)
37. It's hard not to conclude that. People keep underestimating the
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 12:29 AM
Apr 2020

level of evil and cruelty this guy is capable of. We choose to blame his actions on stupidity and this allows him to get away with basically everything.

He's using the same playbook as hitler and it looks like people won't get it until it's too late.

CloudWatcher

(1,829 posts)
38. Narcissistic personality disorder
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 12:30 AM
Apr 2020

You really don't need to overthink it. Everything is all about him.

He has no empathy, no concept of service, no motive even to help or harm us. He just wants to do whatever he thinks will make him look better.

Combined with an IQ approaching double-digits, and a drug problem that would kill an elephant, he's just on a "drunkards walk" through the possible things he might do on a daily basis.

And yes, it's quite possible that he's taking orders from Putin. But it's all in the context of how to preserve & inflate his image.

procon

(15,805 posts)
40. That was clear since Trump was elected.
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 12:33 AM
Apr 2020

He's hollowed out critical government agencies and fired the experts. Qualified and experience professionals refuse to work in his administration. The government barely functions, leaving people more vulnerable and at risk.

Remember the fate of Puerto Rico. American citizens were left to die. Trump is whittling away at Obamacare, and more Americans are going to die. He cut food programs to feed hungry Americans and took food away from school kids. Trump cut Medicaid programs, making it harder for people to get medical care. More people will die.

He's cut health and safety regulations to the delight of wealthy corporate polluters. Our air is getting dirtier and our water more contaminated, how many Americans will become sicker as these health hazards get worse? Food inspections have been reduced to a voluntary status, and more Americans are getting sick from eating contaminated foods.

The list keeps growing and people keep getting sicker and dying. The reason behind this isn't clear to me. Although, simplistically, it might be nothing more than some dystopian effort to eliminate the unworthy, "the takers" that Republicans are always complaining about.

kurtcagle

(1,594 posts)
41. Trump looking out for Trump
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 12:35 AM
Apr 2020

Trump has sold Crisis Capitalism since well before he was elected. You don't buy a business when it's thriving, you buy it when it's battered and bruised and can be had for a song - and if you were the one doing the battering and bruising, so much the better. The problem is that sometimes you can get caught in the crisis. The problem that Trump faces now is that he can't finesse or buy his way out of this particular problem.

Trump is holding up deliveries to the blue states and trying to make them take the worst of the impact, then will open up the largess of HIS great beneficence, but only to those who bow down in obeisance. At least I think this was how he had expected it would play out. What he failed (and fails) to take into account is that this virus is an indiscriminate killer, and it's likely to hit the red states far worse ultimately. He knows that if he doesn't get elected in November he's facing prison time, and he's been pretty consistent about appealing only to his base because he's lazy - he doesn't want to expand beyond that base, may not necessarily even know how to.

I've noticed that his supporting press has been playing up his epiphany moments, but I think it's actually wishful thinking on their parts, trying to prop up someone who's coming to the realization that he's played the wrong strategy for too long. I also think its finally sunk in that he could actually DIE. Yet even in the face of that, he still continues to play by his old playbook, because he has no clue what to do at this point.

NoMoreRepugs

(9,216 posts)
43. 60 million+ voters think he's doing a fantastical amazing
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 12:38 AM
Apr 2020

better than Obama could have done great and wonderful job of managing this crisis. That might be all he needs to get through the day.

ooky

(8,866 posts)
45. Also, there is no rational explanation why he is being allowed to continue in his job.
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 12:51 AM
Apr 2020

I don't know if this is happening because he is trying to kill us or because he is so stupid, but it does seem reasonable that in either case that it would be stopped. This is like a major corporation's board of directors watching a pathetically incompetent CEO destroy their company and letting it continue to happen while all the directors and the chairman say nothing. It really is that bad and that obvious. It's very strange.

Tucker08087

(621 posts)
47. I read something yesterday..
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 12:57 AM
Apr 2020

I’m afraid I don’t have the link. The article said now that red states are getting cases, he’s concerned he will lose the election. That’s why he’s holding those press conferences. Those are for the MAGA. It’s also why he He was hoping it would stay along the coastlines. I looked up and said, “So I really haven’t been crazy all this time! He’s doing this on purpose. Damn!” So either he was trying to kill us, destroy our economy, or at the very least make sure our lives were crushed by grief and we don’t vote. But it seems to be mostly about the election. But I’m pretty sure he enjoyed it.

murielm99

(30,617 posts)
51. They remind me of one huge, dysfunctional family.
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 01:11 AM
Apr 2020

We have all seen dysfunctional families. The father, trump, is a vicious sadist and narcissist. The wife is ineffectual and she drinks. The children, all raised on cruelty, are trump's inner circle. They try to undercut each other and to curry favor with the father. They are doing this so they can get a larger share of the inheritance.

One of the sons (advisors) is in charge of procuring masks. He makes sure the supply is dwindling and misdirected. Another is in charge of gowns. He sends them overseas instead of making sure that American hospitals have what they need. A daughter is in charge of respirators. She finds broken ones deliberately and sends them to the most afflicted areas. All of them go to papa and brag about their accomplishments. He rewards them with attention and money. All of them, but papa most of all, delight in the distress and pain they are causing the less powerful family members, like the minor children and the cousins who have harmed no one. They delight also in the pain they cause each other. They keep hurting each other and trying to one-up each other. All of them are broken.

One big dysfunctional family. And they are killing us.

Lock him up.

(6,861 posts)
52. He's doing what Putin expected of him.
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 01:12 AM
Apr 2020

When he started to cultivate him, bailing that orangevirus out of his six bankruptcies through his oligarchs:

Killing more and more Americans every day without having to fire a single shot.

TXPaganBanker

(210 posts)
53. I think it goes beyond gross incompetence.
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 01:16 AM
Apr 2020

To get this much wrong, this consistently, it has to be done with malicious intent. Sending all the broken ventilators to LA county, sending 300,000 of the wrong type of mask to Illinois (surgical vs. N95s), sending load after load of equipment to red states that don't need them (Florida received three times what it asked for, Oklahoma got equipment it never ordered). It's worse than doing nothing. It's actively harming the country's ability to respond to the crisis.

ahlnord

(91 posts)
71. This
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 12:15 PM
Apr 2020

This is most certainly true. Malicious intent. We are on 5th Avenue and Trump is shooting at us. We are all Ukraine now. He has proven who he is over and over again.

Maru Kitteh

(28,302 posts)
109. My deep red state of Montana can't get PPE or tests because our
Fri Apr 3, 2020, 12:56 AM
Apr 2020

excellent governor, Steve Bullock ran briefly for the presidency 2020. Oh, and he hates our senator, John Tester too. Tester is the one who lowered the boom on Dr. Feelgood who said DFT could live to be 200 years old.

dawg day

(7,947 posts)
54. I was wondering if he's trying to postpone
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 01:23 AM
Apr 2020

The recovery until September or October so that he can pretend to be Savior justin time for the election.

lapfog_1

(29,147 posts)
59. I sincerely believe that he thinks
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 05:11 AM
Apr 2020

this is affecting mostly blue states that won't vote for him anyway...

He thinks that reducing the number of voters in blue states (and thus making many red state residents "happy" about the deaths in SF and NYC) he was helping his cause.

Note that Red States that ask for assistance from the White House are getting everything they want and sometimes more than they ask for, while blue states (or at least purple states with Democratic governors) get short changed or empty promises.

Is this intentional... YES.

Meowmee

(5,164 posts)
60. He needs to be stopped now
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 05:34 AM
Apr 2020

Removed from office immediately, whatever the reasons. I would like know who if anyone is going to step up to the plate and do it?

calimary

(80,521 posts)
62. It's difficult to believe anything but the worst of him, and from him.
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 09:06 AM
Apr 2020

Most of us have seen and heard and read enough by now to know - it's impossible to believe ANYTHING but the worst of him, and from him.

bluestarone

(16,641 posts)
67. He is a Monster of the greatest degree
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 11:04 AM
Apr 2020

He's worse than an asteroid hitting earth because he actually ENJOYS seeing the numbers rise!! NO question about his EVIL!

lagomorph777

(30,613 posts)
68. It's clear that Trump is deliberately murdering Americans.
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 11:09 AM
Apr 2020

He has been warned every single day that people will die if he doesn't take a specific list of actions. He consistently refuses to do so, and even does the opposite.

Trump is working for Putin. Putin's goal is to destroy America.

FiveGoodMen

(20,018 posts)
73. "Putin's goal is to destroy America."
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 01:28 PM
Apr 2020

That's also the entire GOP's goal.

Destroy it and build the Fourth Reich from the wreckage.

wryter2000

(46,008 posts)
79. The ability to plan is quite beyond him
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 04:03 PM
Apr 2020

He doesn't have any motives other than to get through the next news conference.

stillcool

(32,626 posts)
81. Always takes me back to the GOP
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 04:26 PM
Apr 2020

he'd be gone in a heart-beat if it were not for their full support. Out of all the crap that's gone on, for them...nothing has been out of line. 1-Senator has had 'concerns'. I'd love to know what the end game is..if they have one. Does seem like they have a check-list and are just crossing things off. Making decisions on the fly, and always to benefit they and theirs in some way.

stillcool

(32,626 posts)
82. Always takes me back to the GOP
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 04:26 PM
Apr 2020

he'd be gone in a heart-beat if it were not for their full support. Out of all the crap that's gone on, for them...nothing has been out of line. 1-Senator has had 'concerns'. I'd love to know what the end game is..if they have one. Does seem like they have a check-list and are just crossing things off. Making decisions on the fly, and always to benefit they and theirs in some way.

underpants

(182,064 posts)
84. He thinks he and only he knows the answer.
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 04:39 PM
Apr 2020

It’s a mixture of narcissism and fueled by years inside his own bubble. Everyone kowtowed to him. No matter what he decided it had to be correct.

He doesn’t need briefings. Give him a problem and he instantly will know what to do. Regardless of the outcome no one questioned him.

He also simply doesn’t do negatives. I think that’s internal too. He’s in some weird world where he just wills himself to be right and for years no one ever dared speak up.

The only real counsel that he seems to have taken was from Jared who early on told him it was just a PR problem. You see Jared is always right became Trump asks for his opinion so he HAS to be right or a Trump wouldn’t have asked him in the first place.

aikoaiko

(34,113 posts)
85. I think it comes down to fearing the impact on the economy.
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 04:42 PM
Apr 2020

That's the most direct line. He was in denial that such measures were inevitable.

seta1950

(932 posts)
87. Definitely
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 05:05 PM
Apr 2020

I have had the same question from the beginning, it’s as if he’s working against this country

live love laugh

(12,961 posts)
93. Thank you Atticus for tying the threads together
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 05:56 PM
Apr 2020

in a coherent way. That takes thought and work.

I would like your permission to modify or use excerpts as I do battle with the enemy regarding these issues.

#iamthemedia

Lonestarblue

(9,808 posts)
98. I have believed for quite some time that Trump takes his marching order from Putin.
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 06:48 PM
Apr 2020

And those orders are to destroy as much of the federal government (especially the intelligence services) and the power of the US as possible. I also believe that Trump supports Putin’s goal of weakening the US for personal reasons. The social elite in New York never accepted Trump and his family, most likely because they saw them as the charlatans they are. His resentment at that slight, which his money could not overcome, left a need for vengeance. Then Hillary won the popular vote, further frosting his butt because he knows that millions of people hate him and believe he is a nincompoop. He is known for wreaking vengeance on anyone who displease him. I believe that he actually hates the US and is taking out his vengeance any way he can, including deliberately letting people die.

We all know that Trump is not normal. We just didn’t know how warped he is until now.

no matrix

(17 posts)
104. Bio Warfare Experiments
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 10:16 PM
Apr 2020

Last edited Thu Apr 2, 2020, 11:01 PM - Edit history (1)

Over and over again, the military has conducted dangerous bio warfare experiments on Americans
https://www.businessinsider.com/military-government-secret-experiments-biological-chemical-weapons-2016-9

"Here are some of the other difficult-to-believe germ warfare experiments that occurred during this dark chapter in US history.
These tests were documented in Cole's book and verified by Business Insider using congressional reports and archived news articles."

Experiments.

From the last paragraph of the article:

"And the "War on Terror" raises other concerns, according to Cole.

After the 2001 anthrax attacks, funding for bio terrorism research spiked by $1.5 billion. Then in 2004, Congress approved another $5.6 billion bio terror research project.

These projects are meant to protect society from the dangers of biological agents, but they may have an unintended consequence, Cole says.

"Thousands and thousands of people became familiar with pathogens that they were not familiar with before," he says. "You now have many more people that could potentially do bad with these organisms, and it only takes one person."




Response to Atticus (Original post)

byronius

(7,362 posts)
106. It is an entirely logical conclusion to draw from the established facts.
Thu Apr 2, 2020, 11:43 PM
Apr 2020

If he weren't the tool of a foreign power he'd get at least something half-right.

But his compass points directly south. Constantly.

The only argument against your reasoning is this: it's too obvious.

McKim

(2,412 posts)
107. Atticus, You Have Something There!
Fri Apr 3, 2020, 12:49 AM
Apr 2020

Atticus, you have something there. Remember that old saying from the Bible: “By their fruits you shall know them.” Think about that. I keep a very open mind about your idea and I agree that Trump seems bent on destroying this country. Look how he has destroyed customs, institutions, programs that build and that care for our citizens. He encouraged ignorance and hate, violence and now he pretended to screw up and let the virus have its way with us. He is being supported by a group of henchmen in the whitehouse. Surely some in his administration have a better grip on reality. This leads me to think that this negligence is intentional. The goal is to kill off Democrats and poor people.

nini

(16,670 posts)
108. He's too busy trying to make money off of this
Fri Apr 3, 2020, 12:53 AM
Apr 2020

He'll let people die while figuring out how to make money off of masks, ventilators, etc etc

Someone in his family could get it and he still wouldn't give a shit.

DAngelo136

(264 posts)
110. The Reason Is Quite Simple...
Fri Apr 3, 2020, 03:16 AM
Apr 2020

I am convinced that DJT is a saboteur. He was installed as President by an adversarial foreign power to weaken from within, if not destroy the United States of America specifically and the West in general.
If a group of radical leftists or so called Islamic terrorists were to attempt such acts of sabotage, they would be rounded up by the FBI, charged, tried and convicted by the U.S. Justice Department. But in this case, it's the President of the United States who by definition, cannot be charge with a crime, while being aided and abetted by the Republican Party and certain parties operating under the cover of religion who wish to install a form of Christian Fascism.

Plausible or no?

Gothmog

(143,654 posts)
111. Please also remember that all decisions made by trump also havor Putin and Russia
Fri Apr 3, 2020, 10:31 PM
Apr 2020

Every decision or action listed in the OP weakens the US and helps Putin/Russia

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