My stupid Repub sister, Trump and the facts he wants us to ignore about COVID . . .

[CousinIT]

So I was complaining about our government's lame-ass response to COVID-19 - starting with the fact that Trump was told back in December if not sooner that a virus was in China and was a threat to the US. In December this appeared in his PDB (which he claims he "didn't see" -- meaning he doesn't look at them).

She IMMEDIATELY went to: "Well Pelosi was telling people to go to Chinatown in SF in February! And Cuomo was telling people the virus wasn't coming to NY and not to worry!" I pointed out to her that as late as March, Trump was saying it was nothing to worry about, was a Democrat hoax and would be gone by May like "magic".



What Pelosi, Cuomo or any Democrat did or said is irrelevant. THEY don't get the PDB. THEY don't get the briefings and information the President does because THEY are not President. Only TRUMP gets that kind of a heads-up. The purpose of the PDB is to alert POTUS of any threats to the US foreign or domestic; whether terrorism, viruses/epidemics/pandemics, or climate change - anything. A president is supposed to read the briefing, consult his cabinet and ACT. TO. PROTECT. THE. AMERICAN. PEOPLE.

He didn't.

I don't particularly care that Pelosi, Cuomo or anyone else told people in February not to worry. Based on information THEY had (they DO NOT GET the PDB - only the POTUS does), it makes sense to me they'd say that.

BUT TRUMP TELLING PEOPLE it's a Democrat hoax and that it will be gone by May or in the Spring and not to worry - and STILL. DOING. NOTHING. is UNACCEPTABLE. He FAILED to do his job as President.

It's not Pelosi's job or Cuomo's job to PROTECT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE from foreign or domestic threats. IT'S THE PRESIDENT'S JOB.

And he FAILED. TO. DO. IT.

And THAT is the FACT they want to distract us all from and they want us all to ignore - that's what my sister wanted ME to ignore and what she wanted to distract from. THAT is why Trump's new modus operandi is to blame CHINA (it's not China's fault trump FAILED to do his job) and tie Joe Biden to China. It's all he's got. He FAILED to do his job as POTUS. They KNOW he failed. And their only recourse is now to DISTRACT from that fact by blaming China and the Democrats.

PURE. BULLSHIT.

[jberryhill]

1. Yeah, it's weird

Or they’ll pull out AOC as some all-purpose boogeyman. She’s one representative from one district in New York. So fucking what?

These people are just broken.

[Midnight Writer]

2. Trump's culpability is even worse when you consider he cut the CDC and ended the Pandemic Task Force

[CousinIT]

5. EXACTLY. That's another part of the argument I didn't even get to with dumbell. n/t

[mr_lebowski]

3. They are CULT MEMBERS. They're indoctrinated. They have a Cult Leader they are programmed

to protect at all costs. He must be infallible, or their worldview (and their world, or so they think) falls apart.

Deprogramming Cult Members is a long, difficult, and complex process.

In many ways, it's like fixing a drug addiction (or a religion addiction). Not easy, not simple, and no guarantee it will ever work. The person has to decide they want it first.

[Mariana]

8. They believe he's a brilliant mastermind and an abject idiot

at the same time. They twist themselves in knots trying to excuse his many fuckups, and their arguments usually make him out to be an utter fool. It's really weird.

[Newest Reality]

4. Be glad...

Be glad that your head isn't full of crap that you heard, repeat and seldom really think about.

Human parrots can't do much but say superficial things that fit their confirmation biases, (which are transparent to them) in order to make a poorly formed opinion based on manipulation sound informed. People want to be right even when there is substantial evidence that they are wrong, so pride plays into that and once their shtick is down, they repeat it because it sounds right to them.

[pnwmom]

6. On Feb. 24, the exact same day Pelosi went to Chinatown,

Trump said he had it all "under control" -- and HE had a lot more intelligence information than he was giving to Nancy. It wasn't till three weeks later that San Francisco was put under the shelter in place order, and Nancy wasn't in a position to anticipate that.

[Xolodno]

7. I've lost a friend...we still talk of course and are friendly...

...but he's not the same person anymore. Full blown conspiracy theorist.

He posted an old Wikileaks dump files saying it proved the secret tunnel from the Clinton Foundation in NY to the hospital ship, the Las Vegas shooter actually being an FBI Sniper, Bilderberg Group, WHO Pandemic guidelines (as proof this pandemic was planned), etc.

Now he lives in a very red area, and his clientele, well, obviously. Some were calling him the smartest person they know, essentially giving him high fives online, etc. But his close friends, like me and several others *crickets*....and he'll continue to get that. But it reassures him....why?

I know this is his coping mechanism. He relies heavily on commission and his income is about to take a serious hit. Add to that, when I visited him last time, he wanted to develop his back yard a bit...which was basically weeds as the brand new track house did not come with a developed backyard. He decided to take a HELOC to landscape it (I thought, no big deal, cost less than 5k to get some sod, put in sprinklers, a few fruit trees, some flower beds...and that's also how he presented his intention). He didn't just landscape it, he put in a pool and Jacuzzi. How he's going to maintain that when his SO is a teacher.....maybe he'll start voting for higher teacher pay.

Oh and it gets better, he lost everything during the last recession due to constantly getting into a better house and his business failing. The company he works for now, will probably start closing offices...and I don't see his as surviving.

If he survives this mostly intact, their will be a lot more grey on him. But I suspect he's going to be back into an apartment when the shit hits the fan.