I Heard An EXCELLENT Point I'd Never Heard Before Tonight

[ChoppinBroccoli]

I was having a conversation with my cousin at the gym tonight, and he asked an interesting question that I have NEVER heard anyone ask. He said that Trump was briefed on the Coronavirus in November or December of 2019, before it ever got to the United States. He immediately identified the issue as a threat to his re-election and entered "defensive" mode, in which he lied, minimized, obfuscated, diverted blame, etc. The question is, WHY did he see the virus as a threat rather than an opportunity to stand up and lead the fight against it? He would have been a WORLD HERO had he immediately sprang into action, putting things in place to fight the virus and cut it off before it became a problem, or even just warning Americans so that we were better prepared to deal with it. He could have immediately started putting protocols in place, producing more safety equipment and hospital equipment, preparing health officials, etc. Instead, he chose to do nothing but enter defensive mode, deny there was a problem, and look for someone else to shoulder the blame. He had 4-5 MONTHS to gear up for the virus to hit. Why choose to ignore it and look weak when you could meet it head-on and be a hero? I thought this was an excellent question.

The only answer I could come up with was that when he was briefed that there was this killer virus out there and it was going to become a problem, he KNEW he was f'ed, because he KNEW that he had scrapped Obama's pandemic playbook, and he KNEW he had purposely allowed the stockpile of safety equipment to become depleted, and he KNEW he had pulled his pandemic response people out of the Chinese laboratories, etc. And by extension, he KNEW that when the virus would eventually hit America, it would unequivocally be HIS FAULT. So he figured he'd start building up his defense (which I like to call the "Ostrich Defense&quot and maybe either people wouldn't blame him for f'ing everything up, or it wouldn't be as bad as they were saying. That's all I could come up with. The only problem is that I really doubt Trump is that deep a thinker to put the pieces together and come to the conclusion that, "Holy shit, this is MY fault! What can I do to get myself out of it?"

[Turbineguy]

1. Because, he's a natural born

fuck-up.

[SammyWinstonJack]

15. Yep. And he's a psychopath.

[LakeArenal]

2. I think Republicans and Putin...

Seriously want to “decrease the surplus population”. Death and mayhem.

That’s the stock and trade while gutting the treasury.

[Blue Owl]

3. Trump's top 3 priorities: Me, Myself, and I

n/t

[Bucky]

4. November seems a little early.

My understanding is that Trump's first briefing on the novel coronavirus was in early January

Anyway, I think any speculation based on the assumption that Mr. Trump is capable of logical forethought is inherently flawed. He's not a planner, he's a seats-of-the-pantser.

In addition to being a psychologically damaged sociopath, Trump just isn't a particularly bright person or a gifted strategist. He's got one or two very particular tricks up his sleeve and he uses them over and over again. He can aggrandize himself--making him a brilliant salesman, or more properly a huckster--and he can agitate others.

He builds himself up by sewing discord. That is his management style, and that is his governing policy. That's pretty much all he can do.

Now the Founding Fathers, and Alexander Hamilton in particular, said it was good for the government to attract ambitious men. That way you have a system in which great men seek acclaim, to satisfy their love of fame, by doing great things for the country as a whole.

This explains a Lincoln or a Kennedy or an Obama... and even a couple of Roosevelts.

But an incompetent fool, a demagogue as James Madison warned, will seek power only for more power and personal benefit. Such a person, like Trump, does not plan for the future. He grasps what he can and he's always in reaction mode. He's not a builder, he's not an innovator, he's only an opportunist.

The reason Trump didn't see the pandemic coming was because it was something he didn't understand how to sell. And the reason he ignored all the warnings and advice on how to deal with it, is because his bloated ego refused to acknowledge what his brain could not grasp.

Mr. Broccoli, if you cannot see and understand the way Trump's mind works, accept your blind spot as a compliment from the universe. You're a compassionate person by instinct and are having trouble understanding the paradigm of a president who would not move the save his constituents.

He didn't refuse to act on the coronavirus because of some sick calculation of how it would help him. He didn't move on it because he doesn't give a fuck.

[eppur_se_muova]

6. Nailed it. nt

[Hortensis]

17. This. And Mary Trump explained that Trump was raised

by his father to never apologize or admit he's wrong, both part of the potentially fatal crime of being stamped as a loser.

In addition, though his mental deficiencies meant he never understood the situation or what he had to do or why, he understood at some point that he was expected to set aside his own notions to respect and implement the decisions of lesser people. And this narcissistic whackjob also not only wouldn't do that, he couldn't.

All taken advantage of by pernicious Trump-whisperers, from Putin to far-right extremists, who are using him, and his own predispositions to extremist and conspiracist thinking, to sow disorder and bring down our democracy. I believe these include Republican Party leaders for whom democracy itself has become an existential threat to their power.

[dmr]

25. Yes, you & Bucky explain this perfectly.

Your post is not new, many of us have said as much, but it is profound in explaining those who are using Donald's deficiencies - making him a tool on their quest toward more power.

But your last sentence is especially poignant:

I believe these include Republican Party leaders for whom democracy itself has become an existential threat to their power.

Imagine that ... democracy ...

Democracy itself ... existential threat to their power.

Damn ...

This is so freaking scary that it makes me sick to my stomach - literally.

[Hortensis]

28. Scary, all right. Though without Russia, China, Iran, others

working to defeat Democrats, I believe we'd have cleaned most out well before this. Trump was far behind for almost two years and could never have won.

Our intelligence services say they're at it again. They desperately need to discourage and splinter away Democratic voters, and some of the negative messages we're seeing are likely evidence of their work. Just have to hope more people are smarter this time. And angry.

[Rstrstx]

8. I thought the intelligence services had it on their radar as early as November

December at the latest. Wouldn't be surprised in the least if they saw no advantage in telling him.

[uponit7771]

16. They did, they warned isreal

[smirkymonkey]

12. +1000

[chriscan64]

14. Right on.

He is also lazy. Why work to solve a problem when you can just say it isn't a problem? The things he doesn't do right include things in his own interests. His limited brain can only conceive battles between himself and those that attack him (lack of praise counts as an attack). The virus does not attack him personally or have a surface for him to attack. He has not to this day comprehended that the virus causes real world problems for real people. He only perked up when it caused the dow jones to plummet threatening his reelection. At that point, the news of the virus became the enemy, then he could frame the battle as between himself and anyone who said it was a problem.

[Drahthaardogs]

26. Yep

Trump's one talent, and it's a good one, is manipulation of others. Watch his rallies. He is VERY good at this. He knows how to push the buttons.

Problem is, he sucks at execution.

When I was in high school, our football team was a juggernaut. We were playing a bigger school but a far less talented team. We were tied at halftime.

I'll never forget my coach (an ex NFL halfback). He calmly came in, and stated, "They are not that good if a team. This is their Superbowl. They are playing on emotion. You cannot play a full game on emotion. We will execute, stick to the game plan, and we WILL beat them. Emotion is not enough when you lack talent!"

He was right. Like playing the odds in Vegas, eventually the math evens out. We went on to win that game by four scores.

Trump is like that emotional team. He lacks the fundamental talent and skill set to go four quarters. He fucked up because his homonculus brain couldn't see what was coming. He made reactionary and emotional decisions.

He is not that complicated. He is a violent chemical reaction. He has no long game.

[raccoon]

30. Great post. Nt

[llmart]

32. Yours is a spot on analysis of what is going on.

The impulsiveness, attraction to chaos, and his narcissism are the traits that describe him the best. These are the hallmarks of a sociopath and we are paying the price.

[Dan]

5. Donald is a psychopath

...everyone says that all he cares about is himself (and probably getting into Ivanka’s pants).

So, he probably was trying to figure out how to make money off it - at one end,

Or

He probably didn’t know what a Virus was - so he lacked the critical understanding and skills to appreciate the danger.

[safeinOhio]

11. I think you are on to something.

Took him 5 months to figure out how the family could make any money off of it.

[Bev54]

7. Because he is inherently stupid

and thought the market would take a dive if he mentioned it and he considers the market his economy

[kurtcagle]

9. Trump is, among other things, lazy

You see it in everything he does. If something doesn't go into an easy win somehow aggrandizing him, he won't do anything. These are also common characteristics of narcissists - they will work very hard to put themselves into a position where they have a lot of power, but once there, they lose interest in anything that doesn't directly benefit them. You see it in his hotels - glitzy upon first impression, but then you realize that most of the glitter is fake, the meals are subpar, the mattresses are thin and hard, maintenance is an afterthought. There are a few suites that are decked out, but the hoi polloi usually get crappy accommodations and tend not to come back, not at the prices that he charges. The ones that he has licensed his name and likeness to may be different, because they are usually actually run by other hotel changes that understand the market better, but even here it shows his laziness - get someone else to put up the money and manage the properties, while he gets a nice licensing fee and doesn't have to do a damn thing.

If you look at the Covid-19 response in that light, his actions make perfect sense. He saw Covid-19 as being just another flu, in a distant place that provided no real value to him other than as a target for his tariff diatribes. If he followed the playbook guidelines, he's validate what his predecessor had done, and that was a non-starter for him. The stock market was hitting new highs, and this nCovid-2 thing was probably just a nasty flu bug. He procrastinated, because there was nothing in it for him. When it hit the US, it started with the big port cities of Seattle, Los Angeles, and New York, giving it a perfect God's Wrath argument about all those liberal states. Once it began shifting into the more rural states and the number of deaths rose, he saw it as ruining his election changes, especially as the stock market collapsed. This became his dominant thinking, though with a certain degree of greediness in trying to corner the market in respirators and masks. Now, several months later, he's still unable to say that he was wrong, though his advisors are trying to get him to at least mouth the words. That won't last, though.

[GusBob]

10. Its a good question

answered above by posts 4 and 9

I would speculate as well that Trump brags about his own instincts and does not trust or believe his intelligence agencies. He may well have not been paying attention. Probably distracted by Fox news on in the room or twitter or some girls backside. i don't think he knew all those things you are saying he did for maybe the same reasons. Why did he praise China early on if he knew it were a disaster?

Beyond that tho, I would say that he is a chaos guy who loves to foment disruption and division. Perhaps he saw it as an opportunity to blame Obama, as he has done now and his base would back him on that.

[struggle4progress]

13. Because he's playing "Putin says" ?

[Renew Deal]

18. The answer is that Trump is a conman.

He won’t do the hard work. He’ll just try to BS his way through it as he has his entire life.

[Ilsa]

19. Psychopathy.

He is incapable of seeing what the right thing to do would be, and how it would positively affect his popularity. Furthermore, he's a simpleton, unable to see two steps down the road.

[Vinca]

20. Ostrich Defense. That's it exactly.

This could have been a golden opportunity for him to be a hero rather than a zero, but now he's less than zero.

[alittlelark]

21. He saw it as an OPPORTUNITY.

There is $$$ to be made in crisis situations. Having almost exclusive knowledge gave him a huge advantage.

Narcs are ALL ABOUT THEMSELVES.

[FakeNoose]

27. This!

I believe exactly this. Chump kept quiet about everything until he (and Jared) figured how HE was going to make a buck off the misery of other Americans. That's how he ended up pushing that hydroxychloroquine "cure" because he owns stock in the pharma that makes it.

I'm sure Chump has quietly made investments in other big pharmas as soon as he hears about vaccine breakthroughs. If it doesn't translate into $$ in his pocket, he doesn't give a rat's azz.

[mercuryblues]

22. Anything that trump can not control

is a threat to him. You are right, trump is not that deep of a thinker, nor does his narcissism allow him to think this is in the slightest bit his fault.

He was raised to harm the other guy, to lie about him. That is what he is trying to do with the virus. Only the virus doesn't care what trump says or does. trump's #1 reaction to everything negative is to deny, deny, deny, hoax, hoax, hoax. It doesn't matter if it is a big or inconsequential thing that has no impact on him personally. When that doesn't work, blame the other guy. Only when you are president, you are the captain of the ship. His punching down only has so much impact and doesn't stop the virus. His next phase is, so what, it isn't so bad. Only we have mass graves that say otherwise. he will use these ploys in rotation because that is all he knows.

He doesn't have the mental capacity to realize no one was blaming him for the virus. His fault is how he responded to it. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. He has to go out of his way to make the absolute worst decisions every step of the way.

[GoCubsGo]

23. Your response was way more than that bullshit deserved.

The only response to that kind of garbage is to laugh, shake your head, and walk away. It's not worth any more than that, other than maybe to mutter "You fucking moron" as you part company.

[zanana1]

24. I have a better answer.

He doesn't give a shit.

[JHB]

29. You're both giving him too much credit by assuming he thought about it.

He's colossally self-centered, lazy AF, and vindictive as all hell.

Ain't no deep thoughts and planning involved. It's just those qualities crashing their way through reality.

[crickets]

31. +1

[BSdetect]

33. His first reaction was to ensure he could make money from the crisis. That took all his thoughts and

[malaise]

34. Great post

He knew he had scrapped Obama's pandemic plan and he would be blamed.

Then he flew off to India in February to get a drug that hasn't worked

[BluesRunTheGame]

35. Putin

[alittlelark]

36. Putin...............................

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