> Sen. Rand Paul is "asymptomatic" and was tested for COVID-19 "out of an abundance of caution," his deputy chief of staff said. His positive test comes amid continuing shortages of tests nationwide.
@Stormblessed grow a back bone and call it out and don't use political talk to twits his words so that you can correct him and make him look good.
if Trump says to take Rat Poison to cure COVID-19, don't talk about the one chemical thats in it that may help with a vaccine, actually say "the president's idea is stupid because it has no medical backing and it dangerous" or something like that
@Stormblessed there were worse mistakes in that press conference like "Now, a drug called chloroquine—and some people would add to it 'hydroxy-.' Hydroxychloroquine. So chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine. "
And the biggest one of course drastically overstating the chance for this drug to work
It’s weird how he has written or helped write stuff like the Manchin-Toomey amendment which would have been an essential gun control bill, and now he’s voted for impeachment and not compromised on stimulus
But he also basically endorsed Trump
He also supports a border wall
If he were in any other state his positions would be completely inexcusable to me
> “I can’t jump in front of the microphone and push him down,” the health official said. “Okay, he said it. Let’s try and get it corrected for the next time.”
Now that he's finally appeared the extra funny thing about the "We're just working on the lighting" excuse for Biden not appearing previously is that it's also probably inexplicably 100% true because they're actually insane
@Stormblessed oh wait, I was mistaken. So the latest vote was 47-47... 5 republican absentees, and 1 Democratic absentee, namely Bernie Sanders, who's STILL fighting his losing campaign
so the Democrats do actually have the plurality right now
@TimStone My new favorite conspiracy theory is the fact that it's the exact same outfit that he wore on his virtual town hall on March 14. Is it possible that laundry was done since then, yes. Is it possible that it was recorded on the same day, also yes.
Which one is more likely? Honestly I have no idea lol
mainly because I didn't watch the thing to pick up on any further hints
At a glance it looks like the first, however, it would be really funny if the second was true
> The agency said that the employee has not had contact with other employees or anyone the Secret Service is responsible for protecting for nearly three weeks.
@Stormblessed I was going to say something sarcastic like "finally the experts speak", but honestly if this moves anyone, then its definitely a good thing
@TimStone there's really no reason for this to be discretionary, and nobody else does it that way. There's usually an exception for families, but otherwise most places implement this as a hard rule
> "A man has died and his wife is under critical care after the couple, both in their 60s, ingested chloroquine phosphate," one of the anti-malaria drugs that President Trump has mentioned in recent days, according to Banner Health, the hospital system that treated both patients.
> While governors have pleaded with Donald Trump to help them obtain such equipment, he’s literally told them they’re on their own, seemingly forgetting the fact that he’s the one with the power here. For instance, Andrew Cuomo can’t invoke the Defense Production Act, which allows the federal government to take some control of the private sector to ensure production of materials relevant to national defense, but Trump can. And yet he’s chosen not to.
> Why? Because corporate CEOs don’t like the idea, and the president is more concerned with keeping big business happy than keeping Americans alive.
@MadScientist Yep. 500% irresponsible on Trump's part to talk about them in the way he did
@BradC It was kinda interesting to see how Fauci contradicted Trump immediately at that point, but yes, he's desperately clinging to a way out of the crisis and this is causing real harm
I'm really not a fan of the "adult in the room" narrative some other members of the Trump administration have used, but in a pandemic I'll make an exception for a scientist that needs to be there to stop them from doing something truly stupid
I couldn't find a good source, but the ones I found indicate that the therapeutic index for chloroquine is around 4-8. That's really not that much room if lots of people take this without supervision
@MadScientist I think the main problem with the "adult in the room" narrative is that it has largely proved to be bunk, because Trump still does whatever the heck he wants. And I think that continues to largely hold true here, too. I know Fauci is trying, but Trump is still causing major harm every time he steps up to the mike
@BradC Generally speaking, the "Adult in the room" only works if the children respect the adult. You can see that a teacher or a parent who is respected by their wards are far more likely to make a difference
@Nzall I think the difference in this case is that Fauci still managed to provide real answers in press conferences and other venues. He's not afraid of contradicting the president on the substance, though he tries to frame it in a way that avoids saying that the president is wrong
@MadScientist never mind your liver, I'd personally be more concerned about how much more your brain can take before it shuts down of stupidity overdose
Oh god yeah, I watched one with my colleagues. I don't know why the he complains about the press. If nothing else the press makes him look better by ignoring most of the nonsense
@MBraedley No need to ask question, we all know that's futile. But at least check and preface everything he says with facts, or don't even bother repeating things if they are wholely untrue
Or alternatively just print everything he says verbatim
@PrivatePansy No, don't even talk about what Trump himself said. Report the facts and figures coming from the bureaucrats and only them.
A global health crisis is not the time to repeat the words of an uninformed Dunning-Kruger inflicted narcissist with an attention span of a five year old.
> Covered California projects premiums to rise 40% or more because of COVID-19: “Premiums in the individual and employer markets for 2021 — which are in the process of being set right now — could be 40 percent or more solely because of these unexpected COVID-19 costs in the absence of federal action, as insurers would seek to recoup unplanned for losses from 2020 and budget for pandemic-related costs in 2021”
@Nzall you're right, the damage from what Trump is saying right now is certainly larger than from the whiskey I'm drinking to be able to actually listen to it
I think Fauci is blacklisted now, I feel sorry for Birx, though she has been a bit too willing to play along with Trump's bullshit (I'm sure she doesn't believe it herself, not sure if she'll manage to stay independent enough)
@TimStone we will see here in Australia where we are shutting down now and we still only have 1000+ infected with 7 deaths prior to our shutdown
like from what i understand Australia weathered the GFC better than the US. it would be a real kicker to trump if we weather COVID-19 better aswell compared to the "best country in the world" with our welfare and medicare systems
