The States. The Governors. The supplies. I-1.

27 March 2020, 09:57 AM

I'm just trying to wrap my head around this.

I-1 continues to call out Washington State Governor Jay Inslee for "complaining" about I-1 and the federal response. I-1 also called out "a woman governor" (Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan) for "complaining".

I-1 has also suggested he will help those states that treat him nicely.

Many states have reported that they ordered needed supplies only to find out that they had been outbid by the federal government or that the supplier simply diverted their order to the federal government.

So... Is I-1 going to hoard everything and dole it out only to those states and governors that shower him with fawning adulation?

This is not looking good.

The school bully stole your lunch and will only give (some of) it back if you tell him he is a swell human being and a very stable genius. And if you don't reply fast enough, he kicks you in the nuts a couple of times, too.

27 March 2020, 10:10 AM

wtg

I noticed the same thing. Scary, isn't it?

27 March 2020, 10:16 AM

jodi

Words fail to express how much I detest that miserable excuse of a human being.

27 March 2020, 10:21 AM

pianojuggler

And if Stephen Miller is behind it (which we can assume he is), the federal government will be doling out supplies (or not) based on the number of brown people in the state.

27 March 2020, 10:24 AM

markj

quote:
Originally posted by jodi:
Words fail to express how much I detest that miserable excuse of a human being.

27 March 2020, 10:59 AM

piqué

quote:
Originally posted by jodi:
Words fail to express how much I detest that miserable excuse of a human being.

+1,000

28 March 2020, 08:16 AM

wtg

following up on pj's post....

quote:
During his press briefing on Friday, Trump said that he directed the man running the White House’s response effort, Vice President Mike Pence, to not call the Inslee and Whitmer — even as hospitals in each of their states approach the point of being overwhelmed by coronavirus cases — because they aren’t “appreciative” enough of his efforts.

“I tell him — I mean I’m a different type of person — I say, ‘Mike, don’t call the governor in Washington, you’re wasting your time with him. Don’t call the woman in Michigan,’” Trump said. “If they don’t treat you right, I don’t call.”....

Trump’s attacks on governors have more than just a rhetorical impact. Whitmer told a Michigan radio station on Friday morning that the attacks the president uncorked on her hours before on Sean Hannity’s show (“I don’t know if she knows what’s going on, but all she does is sit there and blame the federal government”) had already made it harder for her to buy needed medical equipment, like ventilators..

“What I’ve gotten back is that vendors with whom we’ve procured contracts — they’re being told not to send stuff to Michigan,” she told WWJ 950. “It’s really concerning. I reached out to the White House last night and asked for a phone call with the president, ironically at the time this stuff was going on.”

Tellingly, when asked by ABC’s Jon Karl if he can guarantee that every coronavirus patient who needs a ventilator will be able to get one, Trump deflected and went on the attack.

“Look, don’t be a cutie pie. ‘Everyone who needs one’ — nobody’s ever done what we’ve done,” Trump said. “Nobody’s done anything like we’ve been able to do. Everything I took over was a mess. It was a broken country.”

quote:
Trump did announce on Friday that he’s invoking the Defense Production Act (DPA) to require General Motors to manufacture ventilators. But even this decision appears to be rooted at least partly in Trump’s gripes with GM than broader and more principled concerns

“I wasn’t happy where General Motors build plants in other locations over the years,” Trump said during Friday’s press conference regarding the thinking behind invoking the DPA. “I didn’t go into it with a very favorable view. I was extremely unhappy with Lordstown, Ohio, where they left Lordstown, Ohio, in the middle of an auto boom ... I love Ohio.”

Trump takes a question about the Defense Production Act and indicates that his stance on it vis-a-vis General Motors is mostly about grievances he has that have nothing to do with the coronavirus pic.twitter.com/zkYjQSGCkc

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 27, 2020

https://www.vox.com/2020/3/27/...coronavirus-briefing

There is a madman in the White House.

28 March 2020, 09:23 AM

QuirtEvans

Not necessarily a madman. Just a sociopath with severe narcissistic personality disorder, and maybe a few other disorders thrown in for good measure.

28 March 2020, 10:13 AM

wtg

Poorly qualified. Lacking the necessary skills. Thin skinned.

So there were no Democrats at the signing of the bill yesterday. I was looking at the video and saw Mnuchin, Pence, the Turtle and a couple of other people.

Not one Democrat. Which might be a good thing in this time of an easily transmitted virus.

I haven't looked this up, so I'm assuming it's a case of no one got invited rather than the Democrats chose not to attend. But I'll allow for the possibility.

A couple of the task force members have made it a point to give a shout out to Dems who worked to get a bill passed.

Oh, and I-1 isn't mentioning Thomas Massie's antics. Quelle surprise.

28 March 2020, 10:17 AM

pianojuggler

Dear Leader.

28 March 2020, 10:20 AM

pianojuggler

And, of course, his supporters will say there’s nothing wrong with this... it’s Inslee’s and Whitmer’s faults. They *should* be more appreciative of everything Dear Leader has done.

We are fvcked.

28 March 2020, 10:23 AM

wtg

Not necessarily. Even I-1 acknowledged that Pence doesn't agree and that he "quietly calls" the governors anyway. I'm sure there are other grown ups in the administration.

I-1 can no longer hold his rallies and he's playing to his base during the pressers.

Individual citizens who see him front and center every day on TV, if they can stomach watching, can make their own decisions as to what they think of his leadership.

28 March 2020, 10:33 AM

Piano*Dad

Whitmer has claimed that suppliers are telling her that they are being pressured by the administration not to supply equipment to Michigan. If that claim has legs, I don't know what to say. Under those circumstances, I might be tempted to threaten asset seizures of those corporations. GM, for instance, is being ordered by the administration to produce more ventilators. Michigan should simply confiscate those ventilators from Michigan factories, setting up a genuine attention-grabbing conflict with the federal government ...

28 March 2020, 11:31 AM

rontuner

These types of behaviors by our petulant "president" seem to be the illogical extension of what's been building and nurtured by some parts of America for a long time:

No empathy for anyone deemed "other" - which can get as specific as "outside of my family".

sigh

28 March 2020, 01:39 PM

pianojuggler

When does it cross over from gross incompetence and narcissism to crimes against humanity?

People are dying and I-1 is talking about withholding needed medical supplies from states whose governors do not “treat you nicely”. What the hell country are we in???