Category Archives: Donald Trump

Solange Knowles joined the chorus of beautiful tributes to Breonna Taylor on what should have been her 27th birthday on Friday (June 5).

I want to be more like you Breonna Taylor. A better sister, friend, and human. More kind. More positive. More intentional, wrote Solo. Less judgmental. Less phased by shit that doesnt matter. More dependable and moving with more care, light, and love.

Your friends and cousin say that you were the show up and never disappoint friend...that you would throw all negativity out the door. I wish you were there with them all today celebrating. You should be with them all here celebrating in all your radiance. I dont know WHERE [the f**k] Id be without my sisters and reading about your life, I know you were all their rock.

In closing, the Cranes in the Sky singer shouted out Taylors mother, Tamika Palmer, as well as her sister, relatives, and friends to thank them for sharing her with the world today. Solo also thanked and Eva Lewis for writing a Teen Voguestory where Taylors loved ones opened up about her life and legacy.

She always said she was destined for greatness, and now she will be a part of history, said Palmer.

Taylor was murdered by officers from the Louisville Police Department on March 13. None of the officers have been arrested.

In commemoration of her birthday, social media has been flooded with tributes and calls for justice. A Change.org petition demanding the arrest of Louisville officers John Mattingly, Brett Hankison, Myles Cosgrove, and any other involved in the death and coverup of her death has reached 4.5 million signatures.

A GoFundMepage launched by Taylors family has raised over $4 million and counting, and multiple demonstrations are scheduled to be held this weekend in Taylor's honors.

Check below for tributes from Solange, Megan Thee Stallion, Beyonce, Cardi B, Janelle Monae, Taraji P. Henson, Tika Sumpter, and more.

I want to be more like you Breonna Taylor. A better sister, friend, and human. More kind. More positive. More intentional. Less judgmental. Less phased by shit that doesnt matter. More dependable and moving with more care, light, and love. Your friends and cousin say that you were the show up and never disappoint friend...that you would throw all negativity out the door. I wish you were there with them all today celebrating. You should be with them all here celebrating in all your radiance. I dont know WHERE tf Id be with out my sisters and reading about your life, I know you were all their rock. Ms. Tamika Palmer, JuNiyah ,Katrina ,Alena ,Erinicka ,Clarissa, Preonia, Shatanis.... thank you all for sharing her with the world today. I hope we are all doing due justice by lifting her spirit up in light today. Thank you Eva Lewis for writing a piece that illustrated her beautiful power. I want to be more like you Breonna. Happy Birthday beautiful one

A post shared by @ saintrecords on Jun 5, 2020 at 3:18pm PDT

Happy birthday breonna #breonnataylor

A post shared by Hot Girl Meg (@theestallion) on Jun 5, 2020 at 8:16am PDT

Breonna Taylor would be 27 today. Her life was taken to soon. Officers must be held accountable. These no-knock warrants are dangerous. #happybirthdaybreonna You deserve so much more. #blm #breonnataylor @gracieleeart

A post shared by Tika Sumpter (@tikasumpter) on Jun 5, 2020 at 9:03am PDT

Lets give #breonnataylor #Justice for her birthday!!! JESUS....she was asleep in her own bed getting her rest to wake up and save lives (as a first responder studying to be a nurse) and her precious life was taken by systemic racism and negligence by the police dept that OUR tax dollars pay for to SERVE AND PROTECT US!!!! NO ONE has been arrested!!!! NO ONE IS BEING HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE LOSS OF PRECIOUS LIFE!!!!#BLACKLIVESMATTER RIGHT TF NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #LetMyPeopleGo #GODIS #NOTMAN I dont care how things are looking right now. #GODIS #DarknessNEVERwins #TheTruthALWAYScomesToLight and #TheDevilCantStandIt

A post shared by taraji p henson (@tarajiphenson) on Jun 5, 2020 at 10:55am PDT

Today wouldve been Breonna Taylors 27th birthday She was a full-time EMT at TWO hospitals in Louisville, KY She was an essential workerShe was an aspiring nurse & dedicated her life at an early age to helping others HER KILLERS police officers Jon Mattingly, Brett Hankison, Myles Cosgrove have not been arrested or fired She was shot to death in her own home asleep! Her killers claim they had the wrong house the suspect they were looking for was already in Custody The police did not knock and were not in uniform Please help her family get justice Call 502-696-5300 and tell Kentucky attorney general Daniel Cameron that your birthday wish for Breonna is that the officers are arrested, charged, and convicted of the murder of BREONNA TAYLOR SPEAK UP FOR BLACK WOMEN #SAYHERNAME #justiceforbreonnataylor #defundthepolice sign:standwithbre.com

A post shared by Janelle Monae (@janellemonae) on Jun 5, 2020 at 10:36am PDT

Today is #BreonnaTaylors birthday.#SayHerName. Think of and pray for those closest to her. Dedicate time to work for #JusticeforBreonnaTaylor. Heres how. RT. Share. #JusticeForBreonna, @GovAndyBeshear @louisvillemayor @LMPD. pic.twitter.com/ee2ZsqyENK

Be A King (@BerniceKing) June 5, 2020

Breonna Taylor would have been 27 years old today. On her social media she talks abou 2020 being her year. Instead her loved ones mourn and her killers havent been charged. We will never stop fighting for #JusticeForBreonna. #SayHerName! pic.twitter.com/7D4XeqFpus

SisterSong (@SisterSong_WOC) June 5, 2020

Its the Dolls Birthday. We love you Breonna and well never forget you pic.twitter.com/desgduXosh

Sean Garrette (@sgarretteskin) June 5, 2020

Happy Birthday #BreonnaTaylor .She looks so pretty and fine in this pic.Her story its so sad and unfair and it almost didnt get picked up by the media.Kentuky police department really tried to sweep her case under the rug,but got is BIG.The fight aint over till you get justice pic.twitter.com/LuZFu4tlFF

iamcardib (@iamcardib) June 5, 2020

Justice for Breonna. Click the link in my bio to take action.

A post shared by Beyonce (@beyonce) on Jun 5, 2020 at 5:53pm PDT

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BET Invites Donald Trump And Joe Biden To Appear In Juneteenth Special - Vibe

In every one of these instances, Trump paid a price, at least in the short termmultiple corporate bankruptcies and very nearly personal financial ruin. Ultimately, though, he was stalled but not stainedand definitely not stopped. The headlines, no matter what they said, still made him more and more famous. And what often exasperated his staffers and minders and critics in the circles of the social and financial elite also didnt lose him any fans.

Its worked for him, granted Nobles, the Trump Shuttle president. You cant argue with the mans success.

The spotlight, after all, led to The Apprentice, which led to his turn toward politics, which led to the Oval Office.

He frequently cites his smartsDonald Trumps very, very large brain, as he once put it. A self-styled expert on topics ranging from technology to the weather to all types of medical matters, Trump is especially attuned, too, to what his base craves. The base wanted hydroxychloroquine from the start. And the base wants it still. And Trump is well aware. Its what every pitchman has always done, former Trump publicist Alan Marcus once told me. Tell the people what they want to hear.

Ive received a lot of positive letters and it seems to have an impact, he said Monday in the White House. And maybe it does; maybe it doesnt. But if it doesnt, youre not going to get sick or die. This is aa pill thats been used to a long timefor 30, 40 years on the malaria, and on lupus, too, and even on arthritis, I guess, from what I understand.

He said hed been taking it for about a week and half.

And Im still here, he said. Im still here.

Not everybody whos known him through the years thinks hes telling the truth.

Not a chance, said Res, the former executive vice president. I dont think he would subject himself to any potential harm. He wants everyone to think hes taking it and to think everything he has said all along about it has been right. Thats what he wants. Thats why hes saying hes taking it.

Louise Sunshine, though, another former Trump Organization executive vice president, thinks he is. I asked her why. Shes known Trump for almost 50 years. Because one of his West Wing valets tested positive for the virus, she said. Because the vice presidents spokeswoman tested positive.

Because, Sunshine said, hes scared.

Whether hes taking it or not, Trump biographer Tim OBrien told me Tuesday evening, I think he has two goals here. One is to distract. And in addition to distraction, he is also a very desperate man whos trying to control something he cant controlthe coronavirus and its economic effectsand theres a clock ticking in the back of his mind. And he said in the earliest stages of this that itll be like a miracle. It goes away. And so now hes buying into miracles, and he wants other people to buy into it, too.

Trump, in OBriens estimation, is taking hydroxochloroquine, or is saying that he is, for the same reason hes refused so far to wear a mask. It involves, OBrien said, conceding to expertise.

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The Reason Donald Trump Will Take a Pill But Not Advice - POLITICO

As the nation's death toll approaches 100,000 lives lost during the coronavirus pandemic, Donald Trump was spotted playing golf, as crowds of people flocked to beaches and parties over Memorial Day weekend despite growing infection rates across the US.

The president also shared sexist insults about his political rivals, including one message that called Hillary Clinton a "skank", while also spending the weekend on Twitter floating conspiracy theories about MSNBC host Joe Scarborough.

After encouraging Americans to spend the weekend outdoors and at the golf course, White House health official Dr Deborah Birx defended her remarks following reports of massive crowds over the holiday weekend and suggested that Americans need to change their behaviour and follow physical distancing guidelines, which are beginning to ease in most states after weeks of quarantine.

Sharing the full story, not just the headlines

The president's top economic adviser meanwhile has predicted that the unemployment rate will remain in double digits by the 2020 presidential election in November and hit 20 per cent by the end of May, as the number of unemployed Americans continues to creep upward.

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Following a Columbia University study that showed at least 30,000 lives could've been saved if social distancing guidelineswere put in place a week earlier, Donald Trump calledthe university a "liberal, disgraceful institution."

"It's a disgrace" that "played right into their little group of people that tell him what to do," the president told Sharyl Attkisson's Full Measure. Hesuggestedthat the study "caters" toJoe Biden and his Democratic opponents as a political tool, though it has nothing to do with their campaigns.

The president also accusedhis rival, the former vice president, of being "not mentally sharp enough to be president," which sounds familiar.

He also told Full Measure that he sometimes tweets himself but when he's "too busy" he dictates to White House social media manager Dan Scavino.

Video from NBC News shows the president driving around in a golf cart and putting on the green at his Virginia course on Sunday, his second straight day of golfing as the US death toll from coronavirus approaches 100,000.

In 2014, then-citizen Trump slammed Barack Obama for golfing during the Ebola crisis, when there were a handful of cases, saying that it "send the wrong signal".

Black patients were hospitalised at nearly three times the rate of white and Hispanic patients, according to an analysis of patient records from a large health care system in Northern California.

Donald Trump continued to voice his opposition to expanded mail-in voting with a tweet on Sunday spreading falsehoods about the prevalence of fraud in the process, even though confirmed cases of voter fraud have been in the single digits in past presidential elections.

The United States cannot have all Mail In Ballots. It will be the greatest Rigged Election in history, Mr Trump tweeted, the latest in a recent uptick of attacks on Democrats and even many Republicans desire to expand mail-in voting to mitigate health risks during the coronavirus pandemic.

People grab them from mailboxes, print thousands of forgeries and force people to sign. Also, forge names, the president wrote, falsely, without citing any evidence to support such claims.

Following an explosive surges of cases and deaths in Brazil, led by right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro, who has downplayed the threat of coronavirus in his country, US national security adviserRobert OBrien says it's likely the US could put a "temporary" ban on travel from the country, similar to holds in place for China and Europe.

Because of the situation in Brazil, we are going to take every step necessary to protect the American people," he told CNN's Face the Nation on Sunday.

Brazilhas the largest-known outbreak following the USwith more than 347,000 infections and more than 22,000 deaths.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that professional sports teams can begin spring training camps on Sunday, following weeks of doubtwhether team sports will pick up again this fall.

He said: "I believe that sports that can come back without having people in the stadium, without having people in the arena, do it.Do it.Work out the economics, if you can. We want you up. We people to be able to watch sports to the extent people are still staying home. It gives people something to do. It's a return to normalcy."

Veterinarians can also reopen this week, along with campgrounds and RV parks.

Charlamagne Tha God appeared on MSNBC on Sunday following Joe Biden's apology for tellingThe Breakfast Club host that black Americans who don't vote for him "ain't black".

"The best apology is actually a black agenda," he told Joy Reid. "It has to come to a point where we stop putting the burden on black voters to show up for Democrats, and start putting the burden on Democrats to show up for black voters."

Donald Trump unleashed a string of vile, sexist messages against his Democratic rivals while promoting false claims about absentee ballots and suggesting MSNBC host Joe Scarborough had something to do with the death of a former intern in 2001 just before he headed to his Virginia golf club for a second day while nearly 100,000 Americans died from coronavirus.

Face coverings have become a political symbol among the nation's right wing.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, echoingNorth Dakota Governor Burgum's emotional press conference urging residents to wear face coverings, told NBC's Meet the Press that"it's not about conservative or liberal, it's about helping other people."

Without any effectivelaw-binding or consistent mandates on the state or federal level to enforce social distancing, Dr Deborah Birx questioned about her encouraging people to spend the Memorial Day weekend outdoors said "we've made it clear" there's asymptomatic spread and that "social distancing is absolutely critical".

"We've learned a lot about this virus, but we need to translate that learning into real changed behaviour," she told ABC on Sunday.

But, Martha Raddatzsaid, we're not seeing that months after those guidelines have been in place.

"It's our job to communicate," Dr Birx said.

When Donald Trump said in late March he didnt think the economic devastation from stay-at-home orders was a good trade-off for avoiding Covid-19 deaths, tweeting, WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF, economists across the country already were busy working on the exact kind of cost-benefit analysis implied by the president.

On Friday, after Donald Trump ordered states' governors to "reopen" houses of worship, White House health official Dr Deborah Birx encouraged Americans to head outside, "play golf" and spend the Memorial Day weekend outdoors, with the caveat that social distancing bein place.

Most states already have begun easing quarantine measure over the last several weeks, andMemorial Day weekend has emerged as a benchmark test to determine whether Americans are willing to embrace a "new normal" that involves careful physical distancing, face coverings and other protective measures in what's still the early phase of the coronavirus pandemic.

They aren't.

Reports of crowded beaches and boardwalks over the weekend have alarmed police, doctors and health officials. At least one mayor supports seeing the swelling crowds.

A top economic adviser to Donald Trump has predicted that the unemployment rate could still be in double digits by the 2020 presidential election in November, as the number of unemployed Americans continues to creep upward due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Griffin Connolly reports:

Hong Kong police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse thousands who, in defiance of curbs imposed to contain the coronavirus, gathered on Sunday to protest against Beijing's plan to directly impose national security laws on the city.

In a return of the unrest that roiled the financial hub last year, crowds thronged the bustling shopping area of Causeway Bay, where chants of "Hong Kong independence, the only way out", and other slogans echoed through the streets.

Coronavirus restrictions have largely kept protesters off the streets in recent months.

Underground production at AngloGold Ashanti's Mponeng mine in South Africa will remain closed until further notice after 53 employees tested positive for the coronavirus, a provincial health department said in a statement on Sunday.

The mine, the deepest in the world, restarted operations on April 22 after closing entirely during a nationwide lockdown, and was operating at 50% capacity.

The department of health in Gauteng, the province where the mine is located, said in statement posted on Twitter that 53 employees at the mine had so far tested positive for the virus, and that a further 104 tests were still being processed.

"The management of the mine has indicated that the underground production will remain closed until further notice," the statement said.

China reported three new cases of the coronavirus on Sunday, two from outside the country and one locally transmitted in the northeastern province of Jilin, which has experienced a minor outbreak now apparently largely contained. No new deaths were reported and 79 people remain in treatment, with another 380 under isolation and monitoring for being suspected cases or having tested positive for COVID-19 without showing any symptoms. China has reported a total of 82,974 cases, including 4,634 deaths.

Former Durham Police Chief Constable Mike Barton has said of Dominic Cummings trip to Durham: Lets not beat about the bush he broke the rules. Its very clear.

If youre suffering from coronavirus, you stay at home. Youre in lockdown, you do not leave your home under any circumstances. Not only did they do that and travel 260 miles, but are also then trying to justify it and evade their responsibilities, he said to the BBC.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said the COVIDSafe app is playing a strong role in Australia's response to the pandemic and that several countries have expressed interest in learning from its positive impacts.

If a user is diagnosed, the app works to identify other users who have been in close proximity for 15 minutes or more in the previous three weeks.

The government has said at least 40% of Australia's 26 million people need to use the app for it to be effective. There are approximately 17 million cellphones in Australia.

The government and states have been easing restrictions on travel and allowed for increased use of restaurants and bars in the past few weeks. Australia has recorded more than 7,100 cases of thecoronavirus, including 102 deaths.

Labour's Ian Murray has condemned a lack of transparency from both the UK and Scottish governments as the further impact of coronavirus cases linked to a Nike conference in Edinburgh came to light.

More than 70 employees from around the world attended the event at the Hilton Carlton Hotel on February 26 and 27.

Investigations found that at least 25 people linked to the event contracted Covid-19, including eight in Scotland, but the incident was not made public until it was revealed in a television documentary earlier this month.

The first coronavirus case in Scotland was announced on March 1 and was a Tayside resident unrelated to the conference.

But the Sunday Times says it has been reported locally that the North East of England's "patient zero" attended the conference in February and the infection was passed to a second person in Newcastle at a child's birthday party.

The Chronicle newspaper also states that a church in Newcastle closed after a member tested positive for coronavirus, with it being "understood the patient works for Nike in Sunderland and contracted the virus after attending a conference in Edinburgh" - although this was unconfirmed at the time.

Originally posted here:

Trump news live: Trump visits golf course for second day in a row as coronavirus deaths near 100,000 - The Independent

The United States will on Sunday impose a lockdown on travelers from Brazil, according to Donald Trumps national security adviser.

Covid-19 deaths have soared in Brazil as the countrys foul-mouthed president, Jair Bolsonaro, continues to deflect from the crisis. It seems the Trump administration has heard enough.

I think well have a decision today with respect to Brazil, just like we did with the UK and Europe and China, and we hope it will be temporary, Robert OBrien told CBSs Face the Nation.

Were concerned about the people of the southern hemisphere, OBrien continued, the people of Brazil, theyve had a rough go of it. But because of the situation in Brazil, were going to take every step necessary to protect the American people.

As of now Id say Brazil, and well take a look at the other countries on a country by country basis.

OBrien did not divulge details of any such lockdown. But the conversation did allow him to pick up the White House narrative of painting China as the bogeyman of the Covid-19 crisis.

They allowed those folks to travel from China to Europe, and to seed the disease in Europe and have it come through a backdoor into the United States, OBrien said. In perfect hindsight, when we realized the Europeans hadnt cut off travel, sure it would have been better to cut off earlier.

OBrien claimed literally hundreds of thousands or millions of lives were saved by Trumps travel bans, and that the presidents move was a profile in courage.

The Washington Post reported on Saturday on how Trumps restriction on flights from Europe backfired badly.

OBrien also said he expected an in-person G7 gathering of world leaders to take place in Washington in late June.

Were getting very close to the peak [of the pandemic] if were not already, in Washington and if the situation permits it, and we think it will, wed love to have the G7 in person, OBrien said.

Well make sure everybodys tested, well make sure its a safe environment. The leaders would love to get out of their offices and meet in person to plan the post-Covid world.

Two other notable footnotes: the US presidential election will take place as planned on 3 November, no question about it OBrien says, despite speculation fuelled by comments from Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner that the administration might be looking at a postponement.

Well have to see what happens with the virus, but we want to make sure that we have a free and fair election. That elections going to take place on election day, theres no question about it, OBrien said, declaring that stockpiles of PPE, especially masks, were being built for election workers.

OBrien also insisted there was no security risk posed by Trump, the nations commander in chief, continuing to take hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug that the Food and Drug Administration says could have life-threatening side effects.

Im sure theyre doing the right regimen for President Trump hes under great medical care, OBrien said.

Hes doing the right thing that he and his physician believe is good for the president. The guys got more energy than anyone Ive ever seen, he added, claiming improbably that the golf-loving president was working 16, 18 hours a day.

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Coronavirus US live: Birx says Trump wears mask when not socially distancing - The Guardian

Most of Europe and all 50 US states are in various stages of reopening. But why, exactly?

The pandemic is still with us. After the first tentative steps to ease the lockdown in Germany the most successful large European country in halting the spread of the virus, thanks to massive testing the disease has shown signs of spreading faster.

At least Germany is opening slowly and carefully, as is the rest of the EU.

By contrast, the US with the highest number of deaths and most haphazard response to Covid-19 of any advanced nation is opening chaotically, each state on its own. Some are lifting restrictions overnight.

Researchers expect the reopenings to cause thousands of additional deaths.

Americans whose jobs require them to leave home express trepidation: 60% fear exposing their families to Covid-19

Two weeks after Texas governor, Greg Abbott, began reopening, the state experienced the single-highest rise in cases since the beginning of the pandemic. Since Nebraska reopened on 4 May, Covid-19 cases in Colfax county alone surged 1,390%.

Experts warn that Dallas, Houston, Floridas Gold Coast, the entire state of Alabama and several other places in the south that have rapidly reopened their economies are in danger of a second wave of coronavirus infections over the next four weeks.

Last Monday, Ford reopened its large North American assembly plants. On Tuesday, it closed and reopened its Chicago Assembly plant twice in less than 24 hours, after two workers tested positive for Covid-19. On Wednesday, Ford temporarily shut its Dearborn, Michigan truck plant after an employee tested positive, then promptly resumed operations.

So why reopen so abruptly, when Covid-19 continues to claim lives?

The main reason given is to get the economy moving again. But this begs the question of why an economy exists in the first place, other than to promote the wellbeing of people within it.

Both Ford plants are vital to the companys profitability, and that profitability is important to jobs in the midwest. But surely the wellbeing of Ford workers, their families, the people of Chicago and Dearborn and others are more important.

A related argument is that workers are clamoring to return to their jobs. People want to get back to work, Trump has asserted repeatedly. Fox News host Sean Hannity claims people are dying to get back to work, seemingly unaware of the irony of his words.

Polls suggest otherwise. Americans whose jobs require them to leave home express trepidation about doing so: 60% fear exposing their families to Covid-19.

Many Americans must return to work because they need the money, but this doesnt have to be the case. Rich economies can support their people for years if necessary. During the second world war, America shut down most of its economy for nearly four years.

The obstacle right now is a lack of political will to provide such support, at least until testing and tracing provide reasonable assurance the pandemic is contained.

Although nearly half of all US households report lost employment income since mid-March, extra jobless benefits enacted by Congress are only starting to trickle out now. Trump and the Republican Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, refuse to extend them beyond 31 July.

Meanwhile, states are denying benefits to anyone whose company has called them back.

Finally, Trump and his enablers argue that reopening is a matter of freedom. He has called on citizens to liberate their states from public-health restrictions. Fox News personalities have decried what they call denials of basic freedoms.

Armed protesters stormed the Michigan state capitol, demanding the freedom to work. At the Kentucky statehouse, protesters shouted We want to work! and Were free citizens!

But the supposed freedom to work is a cruel joke when people are forced to choose between putting food on the table or risking their lives. Its the same perverse ideology that put workers in harms way in the dawn of the industrial age, when robber barons demanded workers be free to work in dangerous factories 12 hours a day.

In truth, there is no good reason to reopen when the pandemic is still raging: not getting the economy moving again, or workers clamoring to return to work, or the cost of extended income support, or because workers should be free to endanger themselves.

Lets be clear. The pressure to reopen the economy is coming from businesses that want to return to profitability, and from Trump, who wants to run for re-election in an economy that appears to be recovering.

Neither is reason enough.

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No, Donald Trump, Americans are not dying to work work may cause them to die - The Guardian

There is an alternate universe of Covid-19 misinformation masquerading as science, which with the encouragement of Donald Trump, is proliferating among his supporters.

Among the most ardent proponents of these claims is the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), a fringe group of less than 5,000 doctors. The group was recently cited by Trumps campaign manager, Brad Parscale, to explain the presidents stunning announcement that he is taking the drug hydroxychloroquine in an attempt to protect himself against Covid-19 despite a lack of evidence of its effectiveness.

When asked what evidence guided the presidents decision-making, Trump said: Are you ready? Heres my evidence: I get a lot of positive calls about it.

Since hydroxychloroquine was approved on an emergency basis by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), studies have shown mixed results, and the dangers of potentially life-threatening side-effects for patients.

Yet Dr Jane Orient, executive director of AAPS, told the Guardian she believed the drug should be prescribed more often, and in a statement based on a flawed database claimed the drug offered about 90% chance of helping Covid-19 patients.

Ive talk to a lot of doctors who are prescribing it [in the US], they are not reporting any problems, their patients have done very well, she said. She did not say how many doctors she knew were prescribing it, and declined to answer whether she herself was prescribing it.

I dont want to have a target put on my back which could result in somebody wanting to scrutinize my entire practice, Orient said.

At first glance, the AAPS has the imprimatur of science. Its members rank among Americas most trusted professionals, and yet it has a track record unlike any other professional medical association.

They seem frequently to offer advice and opinions about medical practice that are not consistent with evidence-based medicine, said Dr Michael Carome, an expert on drug and medical device safety at Public Citizen, a public advocacy group.

Theyre aligned with the Trump administration, that doesnt believe in science, doesnt believe in fact. Theyre completely compatible with the Trump White House.

This group is lobbying on behalf of what they believe to be right, but invariably experts would disagree on their stance on hydroxychloroquine

The group has questioned whether HIV causes Aids (it does), argued abortion causes breast cancer (it does not), linked vaccines to autism (repeatedly debunked), and even alleged former president Barack Obama used hypnosis techniques to trick voters, especially Jewish people, into supporting him (no).

The name does not determine the quality of the group, said John Ayers, a professor of infectious disease and global public health who studies misinformation at the University of California San Diego. This group is lobbying on behalf of what they believe to be right, but invariably experts would disagree on their stance on hydroxychloroquine and other topics and issues, said Ayers.

As far as the presidents pronouncements, Ayers said: We dont know if hes actually even taking it.

Even as Trump said he was taking the drug, some of Americas most respected institutions have begun to move away from it. Yale New Haven medical center, one of the most respected hospitals in the world, removed the drug from its Covid-19 protocol after three weeks of de-emphasizing it in clinical practice.

Massachusetts general hospital, another world-renowned academic medical center, is giving priority to remdesivir, a drug developed by Gilead, although hydroxychloroquine is provided on a case-by-case basis.

The FDA has issued stringent warnings about the drugs potentially life-threatening side-effects and recommended patients on hydroxychloroquine be participants in a clinical trial, or undergo rigorous monitoring, possibly including baseline [electrocardiogram], electrolytes, renal function and hepatic tests.

The AAPSs statements on hydroxychloroquine are not its only dubious views on the Covid-19 crisis.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended wearing masks in public places to prevent asymptomatic people spreading the disease. In other words, it is mostly a selfless act which protects others.

But Orient argued that masks are not free of side-effects and that they retard oxygen to the brain. She later added: I think one jogger even dropped dead. One man in China reportedly suffered a collapsed lung while wearing a mask, though a doctor in the report said there was no clear evidence the mask caused the injury.

While prolonged use of some masks, such as N95 respirators, might cause lightheadedness and discomfort, loose-fitting cloth or surgical masks most commonly used by the public are highly unlikely to cause such severe side-effects.

Orient also voiced her support for lifting stay-at-home orders. They are destroying the economy, they are destroying peoples lives, there is really no evidence they work, she said. The economic and social impacts of the lockdowns have been devastating.

But, there is widespread evidence that stay-at-home orders work, and could have saved thousands more lives had they been imposed earlier. A recent Italian study found the stay-at-home order there prevented about 200,000 hospitalizations. Data from Columbia University found if lockdowns had been imposed in the US two weeks earlier, on 1 March, as many as 54,000 lives could have been saved.

AAPS was formed in 1943, in opposition to a proposal to provide Americans the sort of universal, government-run healthcare established just a few years later in the UK. The NHS would become one of the countrys proudest achievements.

Orients group is small, especially when compared with the mainstream American Medical Association (AMA) which has 240,000 members. But it is influential.

Trumps first health and human services secretary, Tom Price, was a member of AAPS. In a 2011 video unearthed by the Washington Post, Price called Orient a kindred spirit. He said: Its always wonderful to be in the same room with Jane Orient. Jane has been a hero of mine. Price later resigned after spending $1m in taxpayer funds on private jets.

AAPS has diligently worked against proposals which would constrain doctors. For example, it sued the Texas medical board to force it to stop relying on anonymous complaints of misconduct against doctors (the group lost).

Most recently, like Trump, they encourage the use of hydroxychloroquine for treatment of Covid-19, and they think that any oversight be it a physician group or state medical board or mainstream medicine that makes recommendations against use of that drug or tries to restrict use of that drug is just an affront, Carome said.

They think that any oversight that makes recommendations against use of that drug or tries to restrict use of that drug is just an affront

The view of AAPS, he added, is that doctors should be basically free to do whatever they want to do, regardless of the level of evidence, and thats a dangerous perspective for medical practitioners to have in the 21st century.

Samantha Barstow, a licensed pharmacist and adviser on drug shortages with the company Lumere, said this was a rare and uncomfortable situation for government to be involved so directly in prescribing, but in this case it was necessary.

The use for Covid-19 has not significantly been substantiated, Barstow said. The efficacy data is just not there yet. In the meantime, drug shortages could cause patients with approved uses, such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, to suffer without medication.

Only six drugs have ever been approved on an emergency basis, like hydroxychloroquine, and most recently Gileads remdesivir. Some researchers believe past drugs approved this way offer a lesson.

In 2009, during the H1N1 influenza pandemic, a drug called peramivir showed promise. It was studied in three clinical trials, but despite compelling and transparent scientific evidence, it failed. By contrast, hydroxychloroquine was backed only by limited lab tests and case reports.

Nevertheless, Orient argues hydroxychloroquine should be available over the counter. Concerns from scientists have nothing to do with concerns about safety and concerns about science, she argued. Her view that lockdowns are despotic, tyrannical and completely unwarranted, and will probably also cause consternation in many circles.

But on some subjects, all can agree: Our pandemic preparedness on the whole has been lousy.

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The US doctors taking Trumps lead on hydroxychloroquine despite mixed results - The Guardian

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Workers wear protective gear as they start a cremation oven in Ecatepec, Mexico, on Thursday, May 21.

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A health worker wears a face shield while checking a patient's temperature at a hospital in Toluca, Mexico, on May 21. Mexico had reported its highest number of new daily cases.

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People in Srinagar, India, lower the coffin of a woman who died from the coronavirus.

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Levi Tinker, resident historian and general manager of the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, makes an announcement inside the theater's empty auditorium on Monday, May 18. It was the theater's 93rd birthday celebration.

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People practice social distancing in New York's Domino Park on Sunday, May 17.

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Nurses in Nairobi, Kenya, take part in a Zumba fitness class in the parking lot of the Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital on May 17.

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Mary Faye Cochran sings "You Are My Sunshine" to her son Stacey Smith from her senior-living facility in Smyrna, Georgia, on May 10. It was Mother's Day in the United States.

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Pope Francis delivers a blessing from the window of his studio overlooking an empty St. Peter's Square on May 10.

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The San Isidro cemetery in Mexico City, which was temporarily closed to the public to limit the spread of Covid-19, is seen in this aerial photo from May 10.

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Mary Washington speaks through a window to her daughter Courtney Crosby and grandchild Sydney Crosby during a Mother's Day celebration at her senior-living facility in Smyrna.

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A Briarcliff High School student participates in a parade of graduating seniors through Briarcliff Manor, New York, on May 9.

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People wear face masks while watching a Victory Day military parade in Minsk, Belarus, on May 9. The parade marked the 75th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

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A man rides past social-distancing markers in front of a shop in Brussels, Belgium, on May 9.

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A man pauses as he places the casket of a relative into a van at a busy New York funeral home on May 9.

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Health-care workers wait for citizens to arrive at the Anna International Airport in Chennai, India, on May 9. People were arriving in Chennai from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

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A man wearing a face mask cycles through Chinatown in Yokohama, Japan, on May 8. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced that Japan will extend its state of emergency until the end of May.

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American citizens who were stranded in Syria due to the pandemic arrive at the Lebanese border on their way to the Beirut airport, where they would be leaving for the United States.

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During a protest in Washington on May 7, members of National Nurses United stand among empty shoes that they say represent nurses who have died from Covid-19.

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A worker helps disinfect a subway train in New York on May 6. The subway syatem was shut down for a deep-cleaning.

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High school students study in a classroom in Wuhan, China, as they returned to school on May 6.

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A nursery is disinfected in Cannes, France, on May 6. Nurseries in France were to gradually reopen on May 11.

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Refrigerated trucks are seen at a morgue that opened in New York to assist overwhelmed funeral homes.

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Michigan state police prevent protesters from entering the chamber of the Michigan House of Representatives on April 30. The protesters were unhappy with the state's stay-at-home order. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer recently extended the order through May 15, though restrictions were relaxed so some businesses could reopen.

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This aerial photo shows surfers accessing Sydney's Tamarama Beach on April 29. Several Sydney beaches reopened for exercise only.

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A barber wears protective equipment as he cuts a customer's hair in Lausanne, Switzerland, on April 27.

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Health workers at a coronavirus testing center in New Delhi attend to a colleague who fainted due to exhaustion on April 27.

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Pitrik van der Lubbe waves from a boom lift to his 88-year-old father, Henk, at his father's nursing home in Gouda, Netherlands, on April 24. Pitrik had not seen his father in more than four weeks.

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Protesters shout slogans against Lebanese Central Bank governor Riad Salam as they block Hamra Street in Beirut, Lebanon, on April 23. Anti-government protesters have been demonstrating in Beirut as they continue to endure one of its worst-ever economic crises.

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A boy plays hopscotch at his home in A Coruna, Spain, on April 23.

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A dentist wears protective equipment while treating a patient in Den Bosch, Netherlands, on April 22.

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Biology teachers prepare to hold an exam at a secondary school in Berlin on April 22.

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A volunteer in Yangon, Myanmar, spreads calcium oxide on a road to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus on April 22.

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Migrants wave from balconies at a hotel in Kranidi, Greece, on April 21. The shelter, which hosts 470 asylum seekers, was placed in isolation after a pregnant resident tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

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A man disinfects a ceiling lamp at the obanija Mosque in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on April 21.

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A nurse holds a newborn baby, wearing a face shield as a protective measure, at a maternity facility in Jakarta, Indonesia, on April 21.

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Health workers at Madrid's La Paz Hospital hold a minute of silence to remember Joaquin Diaz, the hospital's chief of surgery who died because of the coronavirus.

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A woman applauds from the balcony of her Paris home to show support for health care workers on April 20.

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Mayor's office workers wear protective suits as they conduct a census in a Bogota, Colombia, neighborhood on April 19. They were trying to find out how many families needed to be provided with food.

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A woman sticks her tongue out of a torn mask at a Reopen Maryland rally outside the State House in Annapolis, Maryland, on April 18. Residents in multiple states have been protesting stay-at-home orders.

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Newly married Tyler and Caryn Suiters embrace following their marriage ceremony in Arlington, Virginia, on April 18. The Rev. Andrew Merrow and his wife, Cameron, were the only other attendees at the ceremony, which was held at St. Mary's Episcopal Church.

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Abed Khankan cuts a customer's hair outdoors in Malmo, Sweden, on April 17.

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Two women walk to rent a small paddle boat by the Vltava River in Prague, Czech Republic, on April 17.

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Funeral workers in Manaus, Brazil, prepare the grave of a woman who is suspected to have died from the coronavirus.

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The pandemic could reshape the world order. Trump's chaotic strategy is accelerating US losses - CNN

At a public appearance in Pennsylvania last week, President Donald Trump offered some fresh insight into how he views coronavirus testing. The country is still struggling to test for the virus at scale, which in turn is hampering our ability to return to anything resembling normal life before the pandemic. To the president, however, the testing itself is the problem. When you test, you have a case, Trump said. When you test, you find something is wrong with people. If we didnt do any testing, we would have very few cases.

His claim drew the scorn of epidemiologists and anyone with a passing familiarity with infectious diseases. At the same time, it offered a useful window into how the president understands the world around him. After all, theres a certain logic of sorts to his approach. Testing is the only way to conclusively determine how many coronavirus cases are currently out there. The goal, both for public health and public relations, is to have as few cases as possible. If theres no testing, then there are no cases. And if there are no cases, then there is no crisis.

This is a bewildering approach to a public health disaster, to say the least. But it is an unsurprising one for Trump. In his world, there are Good Numbers and Bad Numbers. As president he wants to take credit for all sorts of Good Numbers: rises in the stock market, declines in unemployment, upticks in approval ratings, and so on. At the same time, he disputes and rejects any Bad Numbers that might come his way. He spent his entire adult life working in the private sector, where companies and fortunes can live or die based on numbers on sheets of paper. Numbers form an intrinsic part of how he measures his own success and the success of others.

Trump is hardly the only figure in American politics to approach numbers with something less than scholarly detachment. Every president wants to tout their accomplishments and minimize their shortcomings, especially when numbers are involved. What sets Trump apart is both the talismanic nature with which he wields these numbers and his perpetual willingness to manipulate them to his own ends. All of those numbers are both the greatest possible source of personal validationand the most dangerous threat to it.

The rest is here:

Donald Trumps Never-Ending War on Numbers - The New Republic

It was the politics of pandemic that took over Real Time with Bill Maher tonight with Michael Moore as the marquee guest.

The only way they are going to pull it off is if hes able to cancel the election or postpone it, the Fahrenheit 9/11 director said of Donald Trumps chances at the ballot box in November against Joe Biden after this COVID-19 spring that has seen almost 100,000 deaths so far from the respiratory ailment. Im certain thats whats going on in his head right now, Moore worried as he has before, pledging that people will need to take to the streets on January 20, 2021 to get this motherfucker out.

The only way Republicans can win is if they cheat, Moore declared to Maher as he stated that most Americans are actually in sync fundamentally with progressive policies.

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Not that the Oscar winner was advocating to Trump rivals that things should to go that far or that they take the ultimate bait and switch as an easy blunted move as you can see in this excerpt below:

None of us should take him for granted, Moore told the HBO host of Trumps reign of error continuing, despite the Art of the Deal co-authors disastrous fumble of the coronavirus crisis. We need to behave as is if he will win a second term, Moore added with a jab at Democrats who whine at such language.

And remember, love him or hate him, Moore has good pedigree on this. As Maher pointed out on Real Time today, the filmmaker was one of the few public figures who took Trump seriously in 2016.

He knows exactly what hes doing, he was in Michigan this week, Flint-born Moore went on to say in the bi-coastal interview that was actually filmed yesterday. Its the third time hes been in Michigan in three weeks, he noted of the corona-campaigning in the vital Wolverine State, he believes he is going to pull this off, Moore noted, even as most polls have ex-VP and the Democrats presumptive nominee Biden leading.

Hillary won by three million votes in the popular vote, as we call it, I think Biden, hell win by five million, said Rumble podcast host Moore in comparison between 2016 and 2020 from his NYC apartment on top of a shuttered movie theater. But, I think that Trump could still win the Electoral College. So, all of us have to be really in fighting mode cause he is.

If you listen to him and you take him at his word, understand that he is a lot of time telling the truth, Moore very seriously stated about the 45th POTUS after Maher gave Trump a backhanded compliment of speaking his inner monologue in his political calculations. Not the greater truth, but his truth hed pass a lie-detector if you wire him up.

He is just trying to scare liberals because liberals get scared easy, he went on to say of heavily armed pro-reopening America mobs that have stormed state legislatures and protested outside lockdown governors and mayors home under nudging from Trump. Dont be scared, we are the majority!

Before the Bowling for Columbine filmmaker joined the latest edition of the stay-at-home Real Time, a suited and booted Maher started the show with his traditionally timely and sometimes heavy-handed monologue from his spacious West L.A. backyard.

Joking about GrubHub delivery workers and spending Memorial Day weekend at home to big laughs from old crowd footage, Maher wasted little time launching into his primary foil Donald Trump.

After dispensing with the former Celebrity Apprentice hosts current intake of hydroxychloroquine to ward off the coronavirus and with a quick scene of John Wilkes Booth preparing to shoot Abraham Lincoln, the Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death actor also mocked the largely stumbling efforts of most states to reopen. No plan, no consistencies, Maher said standing in his outside bar. Its the opposite of Afghanistan, we dont have an entrance strategy

Along with Moore, Real Time had remote and split screen sit downs with New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman and LA Lakers nutritional consultant Dr. Cate Shanahan as guests tonight. The latter being another one of those insightful conversations on health and realer foods that Maher has come to specialize in over recent years.

Fresh off the much-watched YouTube success of the environmental aimed Planet of the Humans documentary that he executive produced, Real Time wasnt Moores only media hit of the day on the topic of the election. Earlier on Friday, the Fahrenheit 11/9 helmer was on MSNBCs The Beat with Ari Melber proclaiming that Trump has has to be fought tooth and nail on probable efforts by the incumbent to hobble voting one way or another in November.

Link:

Donald Trumps Only Path To Re-Election Is To Cheat, Michael Moore Tells Real Time With Bill Maher - Deadline

For as long as Donald Trump has been president, and even before, a subset of elite conservatives and professional contrarians has sought to downplay the risks he poses to democracy by fixating on his incompetence and narcissism as impediments to to the autocracy he wishes to create.

This tendency hasnt flagged much in the face of daily outrages, many of which cut against the idea that Trump is a failed authoritarian. Yesterday it was the firing of yet another inspector general investigating corruption in his administration. Today its the attempted extortion of states, amid pandemic conditions, to rig the election in his favor. But many of these outrages invite convenient rejoinders: though he attempts, he rarely succeeds; his abuses of power and sundering of norms serve only his personal interests, and thus dont amount to the subversion of democracy.

Great men and bad men alike seek attention as a means of getting power, argues New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, but our president is interested in power only as a means of getting attention. His claim reads like a categorical and easily falsified one, but it actually just invites recategorizing a wide range of lawless conduct as either legitimate invocation of presidential authority or harmless attention-seeking.

For instance: Trump loyalists are happy to acknowledge that the FBIs insider-trading investigation of Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) is Burrs comeuppance for crossing Trump, and, by implication, that other Senate Republicans who engaged in insider trading are likely to skate because they were sufficiently obeisant. But those who promote the incompetence dodge must overlook this whole episode because acknowledging that Trump engages in selective prosecution would undermine the theory that he doesnt seek unaccountable authority. And since Burr really did do something bad, who cares if he alone goes down for it. Likewise, when Trump publicly shakes down Democratic governors, Trump fans and critics alike see it for what it is. But under the incompetence dodge, it is recast as just yet-more self-aggrandizing bluster.

The incompetence dodge is a viable response to many of Trumps individual sins. But it cant account for the synthesis between those sins and the political party that enables them (and will still be there after he loses or is term-limited out of power) because the authoritarian system they have constructed in tandem is impossible to brush aside as a fleeting Trump vanity project.

Start near the end: Trump and his loyalist attorney general enlisted a U.S. attorney to find a crimeany crime, no matter how nonpressingall so they could time charges to bolster a larger propaganda campaign designed to smear Trumps opposition and help him win re-election.

Senate Republicans will run that larger propaganda campaign on Trumps behalf out of the Judiciary Committee, using subpoena power to enable selective leaks and compel testimony from senior officials of the former administration, not to inform the public about any kind of conspiratorial wrongdoingthere was no such wrongdoingbut to leave as much of the public as possible with the impression that Something Bad Happened. Real people may face prosecution, and commentators like Douthat will aver that all is well because they werent framed or accused of fabricated crimes. But the crimes will be low level ones at best, and pursued for the sole purpose of papering over much larger ones. Our legal and intelligence institutions will have been mobilized to mete out unequal justice purely for the political advancement of one man.

Republicans will participate in this charade gladly, for no reason other than that Trump asked them to. I just think that everybody realizes that our fortunes sort of rise or fall together, said Sen. John Thune (R-SD), the second highest ranking Republican in the Senate. One thing we have to do is to make sure that we are united on our agenda and make sure that theres not separation between the White House and Republicans in Congress. If its in Trumps political interest its worth doing, because his success is their success. The edifice would collapse in an instant if Trump nominated a single liberal jurist to an appellate court. And that is the synthesis.

Abuse of government power to wage propaganda war against the oppositionwhich was, lets not forget, the nature of the Ukraine scheme as wellmight yield few long-term dividends for Trump himself if it fails to secure him re-election. He, personally, may have to content himself with a four-year run of Peronist self-glorification and a pardon from Lame Duck President Mike Pence. But the party that abetted it all will continue to benefit.

Trump instructed Senate Republicans to subpoena indiscriminately, to create a miasma of scandal around his enemies, just days after his administration argued to the Supreme Court that congressional subpoenas are invalid if they dont serve true legislative purposes. This is the case he made to the Courts five conservatives to quash House subpoenas to third parties for his financial records: that the legislative purpose the subpoenas supposedly serve is pretextual, that House Democrats really only care to rifle through his past, and so they have no force of law.

The Roberts Five may or may not ultimately embrace this argument. But they are pretending to take it seriously, even as its self-evident none of the people making it believe it sincerelynot unless Trump wanted the Senate to issue these other subpoenas to help him in the election is somehow a legislative purpose.

Here you see the outlines of the bourgeoning authoritarian regime Trump and Republicans have built together: where for loyalists, anything goes, but for everyone else nothing does. Competence is mostly beside the point. Indeed, authoritarians are clownish and incompetent and corrupt in general. They have captured coercive state institutions, they and their allies are free from accountability, and so Caligula-like appetites and lassitude develop naturally. Trump is only anomalous in that he reached the halls of power in this late-stage form ready-made.

He is in fact incompetent, but he looks much more hapless than he might because our system of government required him to stack the courts and fill the bureaucracy with cronies before he could get away with more than just theft and executive overreach. And he is nearly there.

That Trumps main interest isnt Republican policy, but in creating a mafia state for as long as he holds office, doesnt make him any less of an authoritarian, or an agent for imposing a right-wing agenda on an unconsenting public, even if most of the decrees will spill forth after hes left elected office. We can stipulate that Trump would have made more progress, faster, toward a more ideologically rooted set of goals were he a more ordered, less venal autocrat. A true movement conservative who happened not to be a genuine criminal in possession of an opaque network of family businesses might have imposed his will on the public in a way that would be less awkward for Republican elites. But they took what they could get, and laid the building blocks of autocracy together.

Trump has in three short years neutralized nearly all institutional checks on his corruptioninspectors general, congressional oversight, the advice and consent process, and judicial review. The leaders of these institutions have all assented to his lawlessness, chosen to ignore it, or been purged from government. This is not just the petty corruption of an incompetent grifter. Absent a concerted effort by a unified Democratic majority to dilute the power of Trumpists on the courts and cast them out of the executive branch, they will continue to exert illegitimate, partisan power within the political system indefinitely. It will just be the purposeful kind of power that those who invoke the incompetence dodge are pleased to seeright-wing judicial activism, a robust system of checks and balances, but only when Democrats win. Democratic laws and regulations will summarily fall. Republicans will routinely defy congressional subpoenas, with protection from the courts, while subpoenas Republicans issue to Democrats will somehow always be found to have merit. Disputes over elections will increasingly be resolved in the favor of one party over another. And these creeping inequities will irreversibly explode if Trump is re-elected. The topsy turvy world where by-the-book Barack Obama was Caesar, but Donald Trumps claims to absolute authority are never worth worrying about, will be codified.

Read more:

The Donald Trump Incompetence Dodge - Crooked