26 March 20
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26 March 20
Al Franken | The President Is Crazy
Al Franken, Al Franken's Blog
Franken writes: "The president is crazy. We see that every day. But he is the president. He won the election - technically. So, we just have to live with it - having a president who is clinically insane."
Al Franken, Al Franken's Blog
Franken writes: "The president is crazy. We see that every day. But he is the president. He won the election - technically. So, we just have to live with it - having a president who is clinically insane."
There is a diagnosis – narcissistic personality disorder*. It’s a real thing. And he has it. “I alone can fix it,” he told us at the Republican National Convention. Nothing he has said or done since would lead you to any other conclusion. He is a sociopath*, our president.
It was never okay. Having a nutcase* in the White House. But somehow he had survived three-plus years without facing a huge crisis – if you don’t count his impeachment as a huge crisis, which it sort of wasn’t. It didn’t really matter that he started his presidency by crazily insisting that his inaugural crowd was bigger than Obama’s. (What do suppose that was about?)
Not even one American would die because less than 24 hours into his presidency Americans were introduced to something called “alternative facts.” So, as constantly weird and offensive as it has been for Americans to have a bonkers* president, he skated through. Until Covid-19.
The president’s mental illness* allows him to be both intellectual sloth and supremely confident jerk, ever convinced that he (and he alone) can do everyone else’s job better than they. Generals, climate scientists, public health experts. And he’s always right. Because he’s a psychopath*. And this Donald Trump brand of psychopath* is never wrong. Even when being wrong will cause the additional deaths of perhaps hundreds of thousands of Americans.
Let’s start with his very first public assessment of the most-deadly worldwide pandemic in a century. Asked at Davos by a CNBC reporter, “Are there worries about a pandemic at this point?”
Jan. 22 – “No. Not at all. And we have it totally under control.”
Jan. 24 – “It will all work out well.”
Jan. 30 – “We have it very well under control. We have very little problem in this country at the moment – five. And those people are all recuperating successfully.”
Feb. 10 – “Looks like by April, you know, in theory, when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away.”
Feb. 19 – “I think the numbers are getting progressively better as we go.”
Feb. 20 – “…within a couple of days, is going to be down to close to zero.”
Feb. 22 – “We have it very much under control in this country.”
Feb. 25 – “…the Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus… They tried the impeachment hoax … and this is their new hoax.” (to Sean Hannity)
Feb. 26 – “We’re going down, not up.”
Feb. 27 – “It’s going to disappear. One day like a miracle – it will disappear.”
Feb. 29 – “Everything is really under control.” (The vaccine will be available) “very rapidly.”
March 2 – “It’s very mild.”
March 4 – “…we’re talking about very small numbers in the United States.”
March 6 – (visiting the CDC) “I like this stuff. I really get it. People are surprised I understand it. Every one of these doctors said, ‘How do you know so much about this?’ Maybe I have a natural ability.’ Maybe I should have done that instead of running for president.” Maybe.
March 6: (same availability) “Anybody who wants a test can get a test. That’s the bottom line.”
March 7: “I’m not concerned at all. No, we’ve done a great job with it.”
March 10 – “It will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away.”
March 16 – (asked to rate his own performance) “I’d rate it a ten.”
March 17 – “I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.”
One striking aspect of Trump’s mental illness* is that he expends no energy trying to disguise it. Most successful sociopaths* put a lot of effort into hiding their illness. Not Donald Trump. It’s all right there for all of us to see, all the time.
Some very smart people have suggested that the coronavirus briefings should come from the CDC or the Department of Health and Human services – with public health experts, doctors, and other public officials giving scientifically accurate information to the press and the American people. Well, that just shows you how stupid very smart people can be.
Trump has to do the briefings. Because he won’t be able to hold a rally for months. He’s an egomaniac*. A charlatan who needs an audience to get his juices going.
And so, we have this spectacle now – three, four, five times a week. What will Trump do today? Take credit for some positive development? Of course. Blow up at a “nasty” reporter? Good chance. Give out a piece of dangerously irresponsible information? You bet.
What will Dr. Tony Fauci do when this idiot* suggests that it would be a beautiful thing for Americans to pack the pews on Easter Sunday? Oh, he just did that? Even though that would be just cuckoo*?
But what will Dr. Fauci do the next time? Or the next? Flinch? Roll his eyes? Tactfully correct the president? I beg you, Mr. President. Keep Dr. Fauci! Yes, it’s just a matter of time before you put him in an untenable position and his measured, diplomatic response will set you off because you are a lunatic*. And you will want to fire him because you will be in an uncontrollable rage. That’s going to happen, because it always happens, and because you are completely unhinged*.
But please, sir, don’t. Not because he is an indispensable asset during this once-in-a-century worldwide pandemic. No. Keep Tony Fauci because he will guarantee you an enormous audience. Millions more will flock to their screens for the drama. It’s Salieri versus Mozart. The bitter, twisted hack against the true genius dedicated to his God-given gift. And remember which one died early and was dumped into a pauper’s grave!
It would be fun to watch, if it weren’t so sad.
Don’t go to church, everyone. Stay home, everyone.
_____
*I am not a psychiatrist. Nor have I personally examined the President.
The Gilead Sciences Inc. headquarters in Foster City, Calif. (photo: David Paul/Getty
Public Outcry Forces Pharmaceutical Company to Back Off Monopoly Claim for Promising Coronavirus Drug
Sharon Lerner, The Intercept
Lerner writes: "Gilead Sciences on Wednesday announced that it has submitted a request to the Food and Drug Administration to rescind the exclusive marketing rights it had secured for remdesivir, an antiviral drug that shows promise in treating Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus."
READ MORE
Sharon Lerner, The Intercept
Lerner writes: "Gilead Sciences on Wednesday announced that it has submitted a request to the Food and Drug Administration to rescind the exclusive marketing rights it had secured for remdesivir, an antiviral drug that shows promise in treating Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus."
READ MORE
FBI officers. (photo: @Chief_manley/Twitter)
White Supremacist Who Planned to Attack Missouri Hospital Treating Covid-19 Patients Killed During FBI Operation
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Excerpt: "A man under federal investigation in a potential domestic terrorism case was shot and killed Tuesday during an FBI operation to arrest him, people familiar with the investigation said."
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Excerpt: "A man under federal investigation in a potential domestic terrorism case was shot and killed Tuesday during an FBI operation to arrest him, people familiar with the investigation said."
The suspect, who hasn't been identified by authorities, was the subject of a months-long investigation into alleged white supremacist activity, and recently had made threats the FBI took seriously, the sources said.
Among the threats was one to carry out an attack on a hospital in the Kansas City, Missouri, area, where he lived, in part because of the belief that patients may be treated there for the Covid-19 virus.
It's not clear why the FBI agents opened fire during the attempted arrest of the suspect during what was supposed to be a controlled operation in Belton, Missouri. Typically in sting operations such as the one Tuesday, investigators use undercover agents or informants to gather direct evidence to prove that a suspect was actively planning to carry out an attack.
The FBI acknowledged the shooting and the man's death, but declined to release additional information.
"The FBI takes any shooting incident involving our agents seriously," FBI spokeswoman Bridget Patton said in a statement. "In accordance with FBI policy, the shooting incident will be investigated by the FBI's Inspection Division. The review process is thorough and objective, and is conducted as expeditiously as possible under the circumstances."
The FBI and Justice Department have increased focus in recent months on racially motivated crimes and threats from white supremacists and other domestic groups, and there are a number of other ongoing federal investigations related to extremists and coronavirus, one of the people familiar with the Missouri investigation said.
Internal reports from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI drafted in recent days have warned about the threat from white supremacist and other extremist groups related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a DHS document dated Monday and obtained by CNN, counterterrorism officials from the agency cited reports about white supremacists calling for people with the virus to intentionally spread it in diverse neighborhoods and at places of worship.
An NYC Medical Examiner's Office official near a makeshift morgue outside of Bellevue Hospital on March 25. (photo: Bryan R. Smith/Getty
Doctors and Nurses Say More People Are Dying of COVID-19 in the US Than We Know
Nidhi Prakash and Ellie Hall, BuzzFeed News
Excerpt: "'We just don't know. The numbers are grossly under-reported. I know for a fact that we've had three deaths in one county where only one is listed on the website,' the doctor said."
READ MORE
Nidhi Prakash and Ellie Hall, BuzzFeed News
Excerpt: "'We just don't know. The numbers are grossly under-reported. I know for a fact that we've had three deaths in one county where only one is listed on the website,' the doctor said."
READ MORE
Amazon worker. (photo: Bloomberg)
Coronavirus: Jeff Bezos, World's Richest Man, Asks Public to Donate to Amazon Relief Fund
Danielle Zoellner, Independent
Zoellner writes: "Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos faces backlash after publicising a relief fund the public can donate to for his contract employees working during the Covid-19 pandemic."
READ MORE
Danielle Zoellner, Independent
Zoellner writes: "Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos faces backlash after publicising a relief fund the public can donate to for his contract employees working during the Covid-19 pandemic."
READ MORE
Workers wearing protective gear spray disinfectant as a precaution against the coronavirus, at the main market in Gaza City (photo: Adel Hana/AP)
Physician: Suspension of Blockade Needed to Prevent Covid-19 Crisis in Gaza
Jillian Kestler-D'Amours, Al Jazeera
Kestler-D'Amours writes: "For years, Dr Tarek Loubani has been guided by a simple principle: All patients, no matter where they live, should have equal access to high-quality healthcare. But it is obvious to the Palestinian-Canadian emergency room doctor that this ideal is not yet a reality."
READ MORE
Jillian Kestler-D'Amours, Al Jazeera
Kestler-D'Amours writes: "For years, Dr Tarek Loubani has been guided by a simple principle: All patients, no matter where they live, should have equal access to high-quality healthcare. But it is obvious to the Palestinian-Canadian emergency room doctor that this ideal is not yet a reality."
READ MORE
Dakota Access Pipeline water protectors in Standing Rock, North Dakota, in 2017. (photo: Rob Wilson)
Dakota Access Pipeline: Court Strikes Down Permits in Victory for Standing Rock Sioux
Nina Lakhani, Guardian UK
Lakhani writes: "The future of the controversial Dakota Access pipeline has been thrown into question after a federal court on Wednesday struck down its permits and ordered a comprehensive environmental review."
Nina Lakhani, Guardian UK
Lakhani writes: "The future of the controversial Dakota Access pipeline has been thrown into question after a federal court on Wednesday struck down its permits and ordered a comprehensive environmental review."
Army corps of engineers ordered to conduct full environmental review, which could take years
The US army corps of engineers was ordered to conduct a full environmental impact statement (EIS), after the Washington DC court ruled that existing permits violated the National Environmental Policy Act (Nepa).
The ruling is a huge victory for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe of North Dakota, which rallied support from across the world and sued the US government in a campaign to stop the environmentally risky pipeline being built on tribal lands.
“After years of commitment to defending our water and earth, we welcome this news of a significant legal win,” said the tribal chairman, Mike Faith. “It’s humbling to see how actions we took to defend our ancestral homeland continue to inspire national conversations about how our choices ultimately affect this planet.”
In December 2016, the Obama administration denied permits for the pipeline to cross the Missouri river and ordered a full EIS to analyze alternative routes and the impact on the tribe’s treaty rights.
In his first week in office, Donald Trump signed an executive order to expedite construction. Construction of the 1,200-mile pipeline was completed in June 2017.
The tribe challenged the permits – and won. As a result, the corps was ordered to redo its environmental analysis, which it did without taking into consideration tribal concerns or expert analysis.
The pipeline continued to transport oil from North Dakota to Illinois. The tribe and EarthJustice, an environmental law not-for-profit group, sued again.
In his ruling on Wednesday, the federal judge James Boasberg, an Obama appointee, said the environmental analysis by both the companies behind the pipeline and the corps was severely lacking.
The abysmal safety record of the pipeline parent company, Sunoco, “does not inspire confidence”, he added.
The court-mandated EIS will be more in depth than the assessment already completed by the corps – and could take years. The court will next decide if the pipeline should be shut down until the EIS is done.
The corps did not respond to a request for comment.
“This validates everything the tribe has been saying all along about the risk of oil spills to the people of Standing Rock,” said Jan Hasselman, an EarthJustice attorney. “The Obama administration had it right when it moved to deny the permits in 2016.”
The setback for the pipeline comes as the Trump administration moves to severely curtail Nepa, the 1969 legislation which is widely considered the cornerstone of US environmental protection. Trump has repeatedly blamed Nepa for blocking fossil fuel projects.
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