Dear America,
Whether you want to call it a bear market or a crash, everyone will blame it on the carona virus and the disease it causes, covid 19. And the pandemic that they represent is a function of a lot of things, the unique dietary practices of the Chinese in Wuhan in particular. Of course, Donald Trump will point to the Wuhan Chinese so that he can continue to take credit for the rise in stock prices as a function of the economy that he inherited and borrowed trillions from our children to preserve, while eschewing blame for the crash that is following. That's his routine: if it's good, I did it. If it's bad, it was the Democrats, the press and the "deep state." And most of the time, though these notions are as preposterous as the things Alex Jones and Laura Ingram say, he can get away with it among his true-believer fans. But this time, he's worn his ineptitude, egotism, paranoia and conceit not just on his sleeve but written all over his face and in everything he has said on the subject.
The problem Trump will have getting out from under the fact of the corona virus plague is not that he caused it, or even that he did something to exacerbate it, which he did. The problem he will face in the near future is that he did nothing to address it but deny it as a hoax...his favorite tactic...which precluded him from doing what he could have because it would have undermined his hoax claim. He sacrificed what few actions he could have taken for political self-advancement, as he often does. But this time the lives of millions of Americans will be effected and he'll have no where to hide...and they'll hold it against him even if they voted for him in 2016.
If he could just have restrained himself from trying to take political coup over this, he would have possibly been alright. If he could just have admitted that there weren't enough test kits and taken and active, visible role in facilitating the creation of more--even if his actions were just earnest gestures amounting to nothing in the end but at least appearing to be vigorous, sincere, and yes, presidential--that would have sufficed. And even if those kits began to appear, but for other reasons, he could have taken a bow and not looked completely false and opportunistic. But rather than identify for the public who and what had failed us and directing the effort to rectify the failure, he chose to assign his shill of a vice-president--epicene, self-proclaimed saint that he is--to take charge of something that Trump should have done himself in that it is a national crisis and he is, after all, our president. Even if there is no one to scapegoat, Trump could have been pounding the table, requisitioning other resources or at least trying to identify some in public, and explaining to us all that while this is a dire circumstance, he, and we for that matter, will deal with it and he will lead us to do so with his resolve and fortitude empowering him and protecting us...but no.
When the governor of Washington state spoke in an effort to calm his constituents and the nation, Trump couldn't let it lie as Democratic Governor Inslee is one of Trump's overt critics, and instead of attempting to hitchhike on Inslee's noble effort, Trump called him a "snake" and commanded us all, and the press, to ignor him on that basis. And as to the availability of test kits, he could have at least demanded an explanation of why there aren't more and just exactly how long that circumstance will prevail, but again...no. He just claimed that anyone who wants to be tested can be, which everyone else is saying just isn't so since there aren't enough test kits. And though the test kits are coming, no one seems able to say exactly when, about which Trump could have demanded a better answer rather than taking a pot-shot and a political adversary.
So, while the nation is roiled by fear and uncertainty, Donald Trump has whipped out his political accusation finger and continues to wave it around indiscriminately, and what's more, to no avail. That's our president in his highest dudgeon: indignant without cause, sanctimonious without justification and totally out of touch with reality. That's Trump. The question is, would you buy a used car from that man, or God forbid, vote for him...no matter what silly things you believed?
Your friend,
Mike
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