The Great American Comeback Festival - Not (Trump Thread #102)

[TheNorthWestPawsage]

President Trump: "Two things have never changed: a wall and a wheel" Yuma, AZ. 23/06/20

Neither have ramps...

Previous thread:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3919820-Trump-101-How-not-to-President-TrumpThread-101

This article is worth a read.
edition.cnn.com/2020/07/02/politics/trump-presidency-leadership/index.html
"Trump's approach to the presidency: Ignore the challenges and embrace the easy"
It perfectly sums up how he doesn't like doing the difficult bits of being President but likes "being Presidential"

Not so 'fanciful' Rousette. Unfortunately.

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/national-guard-proud-boys-california-black-lives-matter_n_5efe44a5c5b612083c592f32?ri18n=true

This relates to one member of the National Guard but also adds context about the:

'heightened concern about white supremacists and other extremists within law enforcement and the military, especially as those institutions have been deployed to suppress anti-racist protests. In many cities, law enforcement has used violent tactics against protests, including tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray. '

About Gilead Sciences and remdesivir.

Gilead Sciences (a name which makes me cringe, for all sorts of reasons) did not develop it on their own: they had at least $79 million of government funding for that bit, ten years and more ago. So the R&D costs were already covered. It has now been declared an "orphan" drug in the USA, which means that for seven years only Gilead is licensed to produce it.

It apparently costs about 12¢ -15¢ to produce and distribute one person's course of this drug. They plan to charge $2,340 per course.

As far as I can make out Trump has arranged for the USA to buy, at Gilead's price, five hundred thousand doses of a drug for which the only real attested claim is that it may (or of course it may not, and there is absolutely no way to show, in any individual case, whether it has or hasn't) reduce the recovery time of a patient by as many as four days.

This purchase may turn out not to be true: I am not sure whose word we have for it apart from that of Trump. But that is what seems to be the state of play, and I would be really pleased if someone could tell me that I am wrong about it!

www.commondreams.org/news/2020/03/24/massive-scandal-trump-fda-grants-drug-company-exclusive-claim-promising-coronavirus

Private Eye has just arrived. It seems that Trump reads Private Eye. On the first page, I find

Life Imitates Eye
"And you know what the problem was? We were doing too many tests. It was confusing. And we never had the virus before we had the tests. Could be a connection. Just saying. Stop the tests stop the virus." Spoof version of President Trump, Eye 1523, published 2 June
"If you don't test, you don't have any cases. If we stopped testing right now, we'd have very few cases, if any." ^Real President Trump, 15 June

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime

Private Eye has just arrived. It seems that Trump reads Private Eye. On the first page, I find

Life Imitates Eye
"And you know what the problem was? We were doing too many tests. It was confusing. And we never had the virus before we had the tests. Could be a connection. Just saying. Stop the tests stop the virus." Spoof version of President Trump, Eye 1523, published 2 June
"If you don't test, you don't have any cases. If we stopped testing right now, we'd have very few cases, if any." ^Real President Trump, 15 June

Sadly Trump was spinning the No tests, No cases nonsense back in mid May

Curses! If you have a link, I'll send it to the Eye, more in sorrow than anger. Or you could, of course.

I personally am going with "If I close my eyes when I down that gin, I'm not drinking at all".

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime

Curses! If you have a link, I'll send it to the Eye, more in sorrow than anger. Or you could, of course.

14th May And don’t forget: We have more cases than anybody in the world. But why? Because we do more testing. When you test, you have a case. When you test, you find something is wrong with people. If we didn’t do any testing, we would have very few cases. They don’t want to write that. It’s common sense. So we test much more many, many times. www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-owens-minor-inc-distribution-center-allentown-pa/

Trouble for Kushner?
Tucker Carlson ain't happy, so is Trump?

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/03/why-republicans-are-desperate-to-keep-the-white-status-quo-as-it-disintegrates

I wonder just how naff Trump's rally at Mt Rushmore is going to be this evening. You JUST KNOW at some point he's going to point out an empty space on the side of the mountain that would be just perfect for the carving of HIS face

For the figure

(;(

For the figure

[[

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It's nearly Indpendence Day so DH and I have celebrated by watching Hamilton on TV.

But because we all love Randy - here are 2 Golden Oldies (one is actually pre-Trump I think. Happy Days!)

Thanks, BruceAndNosh. Tomorrow, ok?

200 tweets ...

Asymptomatic.

Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr's girlfriend, tests positive for Covid-19
Ex-Fox News presenter is key fundraiser for Trump re-election campaign and latest of president’s circle to contract the disease
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/04/kimberly-guilfoyle-donald-trump-jrs-girlfriend-tests-positive-for-covid-19?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

How about this for the statue garden?

Standing beneath Mount Rushmore on the eve of American independence day, Donald Trump staged a defiant celebration of what critics say is white identity politics and warned the nation’s history is under siege from “far-left fascism”.

The US president defended the symbolism of statues and monuments before a packed crowd at an event that revelled in political incorrectness calculated to enflame the country’s current divisions and enrage liberal critics. There were few face masks and even fewer people of color on stage or in the stands.
...
In an effort to fight back, he announced a surprise executive order establishing “The National Garden of American Heroes”, a vast outdoor park featuring statues of “the greatest Americans to ever live” – a selection sure to provoke debate and controversy.
...
After the speech, Trump sat with Melania to watch a fireworks display above the monument, accompanied by patriotic music and historical readings, the first since 2009 due to environmental concerns and wildfire fears. South Dakota says the surrounding Black Hills National Forest has “gained strength” since then and that fireworks technology has advanced.

But the threat of damage was one more example of how, if president’s advisers had designed a stunt to goad his critics in the media and Congress, they could hardly have chosen a more incendiary time and place.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/04/us-under-siege-from-far-left-fascism-says-trump-in-mount-rushmore-speech?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

This 4th July, I am thinking a lot of my American internet friend who lived in London, GingerIvy, who you may remember, used to post quite a bit on the Trump threads from the very beginning until some time in 2018 when it all got too much for her. She sadly died of a brain tumour earlier this year and I just wanted to acknowledge her. RIP, Ginger.

@Jaichangecentfoisdenom
So sorry.
I don't think I realised it, but I remember the username.
May her rest in peace.

I do remember GingerIvy and have wondered if she was still around with a different username. She may have even started these threads? I am so sad to hear that.

Oh no, I'm very sorry to hear that.

I remember GingerIvy. When I glimpsed her username in TIO just now I thought someone was responding to a post by her, and I was glad to see her here again.

@Jaichangecentfoisdenom
I am pretty sure I remember GingerIvy. Was she quite prolific on these threads with lots of links? I am so so sorry to hear this. How very sad. I am sure I have read lots of her posts and read many of her links.
RIP GingerIvy

So sorry to hear that, Jaichangecentfoisdenom.

Also not good news for the Trump clan, as Junior's gf tests positive.

edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2020/07/04/kimberly-guilfoyle-positive-coronavirus-trump-westwood-ndwknd-vpx.cnn