A wall…
His greatest public accomplishment while President has been to build a wall. A wall that does not work and has diverted funds from Puerto Rico’s relief effort from a hurricane and military expenditures. He promised Mexico would pay for it. So much for promises.
The foundation of a section of the wall did not set properly set. That section of wall collapsed during a storm. So maybe he is not good at building walls.
Responses to the coronavirus
His response to the coronavirus pandemic is to deny and the place blame. It was China’s fault. No one could have predicted it, he is the victim of a once in a century event. Yet every president since Clinton has indicated that we were not prepared for a disease of this type.
President Obama left him no plan. Oh wait, there was a plan but it was incomplete. Donald Trump’s administration tested the plan. The test found the plan wanting, but yet Donald Trump and his administration did nothing. President Obama left the federal stockpile empty, no wait there was a stockpile, but it was insufficient.
To listen to Trump, he and he alone is responsible for making ventilators, which can now be shared with the world. These are complex machines, we are doing a great job. Other countries are doing a great job and have managed to flatten the curve. Many of those countries are now opening with many fewer cases than the US has. Why?
Testing
Donald Trump claims we have the best testing in the world, that is why we have so many cases. While the rest of the world uses the testing to demonstrate they have the virus under control. Donald Trump claims, if we didn’t do as much testing we would have fewer cases. Great logic Donald.
We might not have as high a count, but the cases would still be there. The hospitals in Texa, Florida, California, Arizona and elsewhere would still be filling up. People would still be dying, maybe at a higher rate than we now see. They would just not be part of the statistic.
Yes, testing is important. Yes we are doing a lot of testing. I recently had my 2nd COVID-19 test and told it would be 3-10 days before I had my results. A lot can happen in 10 days. My hope is that my results are negative.
Contact Tracing
Contact tracing is just as important as testing. Testing identifies those infected. Contact tracing finds those individuals who are at risk of infection from those known to be infectected. By isolating both, the threat from the disease can be lessened. Donald, how are we doing on contact tracing. In 10 days those people who gave me the virus can have a lot of contacts. To do good contact tracing requires much more timely testing. It also requires more contact tracing.
The combination of testing and contact tracing is what has made other countries successful in mitigating the spread of the virus.
We have been good in neither. All the while Donald Trump points fingers, removes us from the WHO and rails are his misfortunes.
Defund the Police
At this point in the protests a true leader, would have met with the leaders of the movement and discussed grievances. A true leader needs a commitment to understand and address the underlining cause of the unrest to resolve the real problems. What have we got from Donald Trump?
A quote from the past “when the looting starts, the shooting begins”. Statements about how necessary the police are. He supports civil war monuments built in the era of the KKK used to suppress our black citizens right to vote, work, and play are more important than understanding the complaints.
It is not the complaints that are important, it is maintaining the institutions that drive those complaints.
Donald Trump’s Understanding
Living in Florida, I recently heard a Donald Trumps reelection advertisements. It consists of a fantasy 911 call. The black lives matter and defund the police movement are texted on the screen showing Joe Biden’s support. It ends with the 911 recorded messaging system suggesting the caller leave a message and we will get back to you. The expected response time may be as long a 5 days and a statement “I am Donald J Trump and I approve this message”
I find this advertisement a great summary of the Presidency or Donald J Trump. A total a complete misunderstand of what has made this country great. The defund the police movement in its moderate form has nothing to do with disbanding the police department. It is about how by reallocating funds we can become more inclusive in our policing methods.
Imagine requiring a social worker accompany police officers on domestic disturbance calls. The police officers stay on site, until it can be determined the social worker can handle the situation. Once the situation is diffused, the social worker remains on site and sets up a protocol between the parties on how to proceed in the future. By reallocating the funds to hire more social workers, there is less need for the police.
If this were the practice, in the Rayshard Brooks incident might have proceeded as follows. The social worker and police get to the car and talk with Rayshard Brooks. He tells them he is drunk and unable to drive. The social worker suggests that she will drive him home. She or one of the police officers gets in the car drives him safely home. He gets out of the car goes inside and sleeps it off.
Mental Health Services
This is a personal issue for me. I have seen first hand the revolving door of mental health institutions. A person threatening suicide normally is placed into a psych ward. As soon as it is determined that the immediate threat has subsided the individual is release on their own to deal with the same situation which made them suicidal in the first place. A couple weeks or months later the same problems reoccur and the revolving door begins. Often the police are involved.
If a patient was released to a halfway house. Then continuing counselling and rehabilitation could be provided much in the same way rehabilitation is provided after a physical operation. This would give the patient a better chance of working through the issues and not entering a revolving door. It would also lessen the workload of the police.
These are the type of programs the “Defund the Police” are trying to create.
Donald J Trump just is unable to understand.
What he does understand
He understands how to point fingers and place blame. To reframe the discussion to mold it into something unacceptable. To change the conversation to something else.
He understands how to divide and tear down. His administration has been to get rid of everything our past president had his hands on. Obamacare, the Paris Climate Change Accord, the Iranian Nuclear Treaty all nullified or weakened by him with no replacement in sight.
To Obamagate, the unsubstantiated notion that he was unfairly spied on during his election campaign. His own hand picked Attorney General has spent 2 years investigating and to date there is no proof of spying. Yet the constant inferences persist.
His answer is to make every problem someone else’s fault. He cannot accept that he is the President of the United States and the buck stops with Donald J Trump.
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