CommentsONE MAN’S OPINION-Ironically, the Liar-in-Chief declares that we are at war. The number one lie which everyone is supposed to accept is: “Now is not the time to blame.”
We must all pretend that our fearless leader was the first to take action and we should be thankful for his promptness. “We need to all pull together,” has been the claim of other Republicans as they leave open their businesses and let the Gen Z swap loads of viruses on Florida beaches.
While their grandparents in the Northeast were loading up on toilet paper, their grandchildren were stuffing as much Covid-19 into their systems as possible with the blessing of the Florida GOP. As we have seen, the prime directive among most of the GOP is “protect the President’s ego.”
Long Before the War on Covid-19 We Had the War on Truth
As I explained in my March 16, 2020, CityWatch article, “Fatally Flawed Data and Wishful Thinking’ in the Covid-19 Era,” “this nation operates on the basis of Lies and Myths. Trump did not invent lying. Trump could not get away with his incessant falsehoods unless the vast majority of Americans believed that lying was socially and politically acceptable. For years the lies of the New Urbanists like Mayor Eric Garcetti were escalating homelessness to crisis proportions and then killing off the homeless at pandemic rates. No one cared.”
Was there any unspoken excuse for the killing off of the homeless through Manhattanization? Yes. LA’s economy had been so corrupted so that it depended on constant construction of unnecessary housing. By 2013, the data from the city’s own HCIDLA committee made clear that Garcetti’s Manhattanization was creating a glut of newly built high-end projects while it destroyed tens of thousands of rent-controlled apartments, thus manufacturing a homeless crisis. Like any addict, LA could not get off the construction mania without serious withdrawal. Fentanyl addiction is nothing compared to politicians’ addiction to developers’ money.
Are we to remain silent about how Los Angeles became the nation’s homeless capital? No. If we stay quiet, we will enable the continuation of this horrid policy. On the other hand, we need to speak the truth about Garcetti’s laudable response to Covid-19.
Along with Gov Gavin Newsom, Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Response to Covid-19 has been Fantastic
When I hear Gov Newsom or Mayor Garcetti take the podium and tell the truth, I get chills. I don’t know whether they’re C-19 chills or the psychological chills from watching leaders place the welfare of the people ahead of the profits of the 1%.
Groups of Ten vs Six feet Apart
OK, so there was a minor wrinkle in “go outside and excise but avoid groups of ten or more” and “remain six feet apart.” The California beach groups I saw over the weekend almost always had less than ten as compared to Florida’s beaches which looked like New York’s Studio 54 in its disco heyday. But look how quickly the LA media over reported it without fear of massive retaliation by Garcetti or Newsom.
Washington’s Gaggle of Morons
In contrast, each day the world is shown hours of the gaggle of DC morons crowding onto the stage to give White House press briefings to journalists who are packed shoulder to shoulder. (See photo above.)
Why do we have these absurd gatherings? Because the moron wants photo ops with a phalanx of VIPs behind him. Do you really think that the experts have not told him that such public displays are harmful? Trump’s likely response would be, “I will do the press briefing alone because I am a stable genius who understands the Chinese virus better than the experts.”
The Cover-up that Hampers the Covid-19 Battle Is Trump’s Mental Illness
Trump suffers from debilitating mental problems. He has two personality disorders: (1) histrionic and (2) narcissistic. The histrionic disorder can be fatal to the nation. Both the Dems and the GOP have vigorously fought against this reality, and both have craven motivations. The GOP wants to stay in power and Pelosi wants to seize power.
Histrionics Lack the Capacity to Comprehend
While narcissists pose a danger because of their grandiose sense of entitlement, they at least can think. Histrionics, however, cannot comprehend complex ideas. They have a driving need to always be the center of attention and to receive cheers. They lack foresight for anything that involves more than three steps. Trump knows that calling Mexicans criminals brings instant cheers, so he persists in race bashing. Trump knows mocking the disabled and transgender people brings cheers. Trump relegates all criticism to the category of “Fake News,” which brings rounds of applause. Here’s a news flash for anyone who has not been paying attention for the last three years -- Trump truly believes any dissent is fake news. Trump’s scope of comprehension is so small that Rex Tillerson colloquially summed him up as a “fucking moron.”
Trump Is Killing Americans and No One Has Done Anything
The GOP is so afraid of offending this lunatic, that Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis allowed the spring breakers to hype the rate of Covid-19 transmission among the young to an incalculable level. While they are still asymptomatic, they are being dispersed to the Northeast and Midwest where thousands of them will be ordered to stay at home with their relatives who have before that avoided exposure. Governors must kowtow to this madman knowing that if they do not praise him, he will withhold federal assistance.
Quarantine the Nation from Trump
No Congressional Democrat gets a gold star for allowing Trump not to invoke the Stafford Act in January. As of March 22, 2020, he still has not activated it and GOP is still spewing disinformation saying, “companies are doing it voluntarily.” What company started making masks in January? What company started making PPE in January? What company started manufacturing respirators in January? None. Why? Because none were asked and there was no clout from invoking the Stafford Act to compel them.
Dr. Fauci and other experts told Trump back in January that he had to immediately take these steps. Instead, Trump called it a hoax, fake news. As a histrionic, Trump’s scope of comprehension is exceeding limited and anything outside its circumference is fake news. The Dems and the GOP knew that Trump was mentally incapable and yet they have engaged in this vile charade that Trump should show better leadership. Let’s stop asking a paraplegic to run the 100-yard dash.
(Richard Lee Abrams is a Los Angeles attorney and a CityWatch contributor. He can be reached at: [email protected]. Abrams views are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of CityWatch.) Photo: ABC. Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
