Republicans follow Trump's lead in pre-selling "vaporware" post-CV good times. Should we?

[gulliver]

Selling vaporware is the oldest trick in the book. One company sticks to selling a real, existing product. The other pre-sells a competing "super awesome product" they supposedly have a "fantastic team" working hard to develop. The new product is not here now, but it's "just around the corner."

We all know we're going to get this CV pandemic under control at some point. It's probably not that far off. And we're going to be better and stronger ever afterwards. Good times will return. We're all working and doing our best to create them.

Trump and Republicans are positioning themselves to take credit for a sunny day. We can't have it be that Trump and the Republicans are the only ones clever enough to pre-sell the post-CV good times. That could put us reality-based folks in the position of being the ones who do all the hard work while Republicans get the license fees on delivery.

What made me think of this is watching the video of Texas Governor Abbot talking about how he's going to issue an order "next week" that will start the process of safe economic "revitalization." He gave no indication of what will be in that order. Per salesman Abbot, his future order to Texas will follow Trump's future "awesome" guidelines.

[Wounded Bear]

1. Trump has been selling shit his whole life...

call it "vaporware" if you like, the term fits I guess.

But it's gonna be great and all the Trumplodytes will be crowing about what a "great job" Trump has done, coupled with tons of "I told you so's" that we'd get through this so well.



Won't change my vote, TBS.

[walkingman]

2. Understand that Abbott (and almost all of the Texas delegation) are Trump puppets. They are

really good at "Gaslighting" and a large part of Texas (rural) are easy pickings. I worry that in an effort to show that the "cure is not worse than the disease" that many lives will be lost. It will be personal losses because these folks take no responsibility at all for anything. We have done and continue to do a terrible job in Texas when it comes to CV-19. Little or no test and no pressure to get any, a large percentage of people that still consider the virus "overblown", and a huge portion of the states businesses...business as usual. They have even used this as an opportunity to skirt any enviromental regulation which were not being adhered prior anyway. Not sure Texas will ever change? We seem to take pride in ignorance.

[gulliver]

3. It's possible. They keep donning their wings for flight, but they always back away at the cliff side

I think (hope) the whole thing's a charade. Republicans wouldn't dare go against scientific consensus right now. I expect Abbot's order to be completely within the Trump guidelines and those guidelines to be completely risk averse. They're just selling those things as wonderful now to get lip service credit for concern about the economy.

If Trump, Abbot, DeSantis, and whoever thought they could order everybody back to work but the deaths wouldn't start until after the election, yeah, they would likely do it. But going against doctors' orders now? Possibly seeing the curve change from down back to up afterwards? I don't think they will risk it.

[underpants]

4. Joe should preemptively counter

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287701178

[gulliver]

5. I agree

R'ed your post, but it wouldn't let me kick.

[underpants]

7. I didn't know they did that

Legacy of the Kudzu thread I’m sure

[Bernardo de La Paz]

6. Must pre-empt by explaining that the lower deaths are because D GOVERNORS shut down states

... to flatten the curve.

tRump blocked flights from China but 40,000 people (check number) came in direct from China & even Wuhan after the block, sometimes without even border control asking if they had symptoms, let alone checking temperature.

He essentially did nothing for a month until the sudden U-turn. Oh, wait, he golfed and held rallies a lot.

That the curve is flattened and that it is working to reduce hospital overload is credit to DEMOCRATIC Governors. This must be stated frequently and clearly and often and repeatedly whenever possible.

Governors had to fight Jar Jar and tRump and still are fighting them to get basic needed supplies while Navarro and Jar Jar are outbidding them.

The Republicons have already begun the gaslighting: https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=13268237

Their selling points (lies, but big lies roll far and must be countered):

* Trump acted fast and decisively in closing the borders (leaky closure to a single country)
* Deaths are over-counted, with financial incentives to report ordinary deaths as covid
* Trump has be thwarted in trying to deploy life-saving medication
* Democratic Governors are whiners and don't need all they ask for
* Out in the heartland (read red states) hospitals are empty (cleared out to prepare)
* My county only has 10 cases and no deaths (so far, just wait)
* Suicides and depression will kill more people than any virus (nonsense)
* Trump put America First by ramping up manufacturing in the US fast
* Trump got tests going after the WHO sent defective tests (some defective, not much tRump tests)
and more

Good counter-propaganda is: Fast, True, Clear, and targeted at the audience that got the propaganda.

But, as the OP suggests, Democrats and Biden need to be pro-active, highlight success stories like California is so far and be forward-looking and positive with important useful programs and agendas.

[Initech]

8. Trump's hydroxychloroquine solution is the Lifelock of CV cures.

It's selling an invisible product and is an almost guarantee that you will lose money on your investment. While at the same time proving to be nothing more than a placebo for the real underlying problems.

[gibraltar72]

9. In my business we called that selling blue sky. Even a license named that.