Posts Made By: James Lacey

Originally Posted by James Brown

Your's truly 

Crazy awesome. Thanks for sharing it with us. My job has gone completely nuts, and I'm working more now than I ever have. This coronavirus outbreak is killing the airline business, but we are still busier than ever cranking out new services and features. I never seem to have time to make it outside anymore. Well, work and that my wife and I are dancing more than we ever have before both contribute. We will be attending the Texas Hoe-Down in Fort Worth, Texas, this year for the first time. It's our prelude to starting to compete. I just got back from voting in the primary today, too as well. Who has time for star-gazing anymore? Maybe once I retire.

That article is about a Trump cabinet meeting that occurred back in 2017.

I'm sure you could find a number of articles on the internet that are similar to my observations about the coronavirus press briefing that happened yesterday. All you have to do is watch the press briefing; it was gross to say the least.

For the record, I don't read Huff Post.

Originally Posted by Mel Maki

Biden spent most of his life seeking this position. Too bad he isn't there to enjoy it.

Is the GOP sure they want to make Biden's mental fitness an issue? Sure he stutters and sometimes loses his place, but it's not like he's a conspiracy theorist who is known for rambling incoherently and being a pathological liar. Nearly every utterance Trump makes is a string of blunders, lies, and mistruths. With Trump, the negative campaign ads just write themselves. All you have to do is use his own words and deeds.

Originally Posted by Mel Maki

This issue is not a close call. If you watch Trump talk without notes he can recall places and figures much, much better than Biden can. Biden cannot speak unscripted for ten minutes. Trump was sharper when he was younger but Biden has failed more. Now somebody could do some editing and make him look good. However, I really believe it is obvious to all that have made the effort to find and listen to Biden unscripted he has failed too much. A Biden supporter is stressed as Biden speaks, helping him finish his sentences is not relaxing.  And it will get worse, fast. There will be a count down as he deteriorates, like the Iran hostage crisis, but after another mangled sentence, "Day 59, is this the worst yet?"

Who is worse or not is not my point, and that opinion is entirely subjective. My point is that if you want to start making mental fitness an issue, Trump is as vulnerable, if not more vulnerable to such political attacks. For example, look at his response to the coronavirus crisis. The administration would look better if he would shut up and let the experts play the story straight and stop undercutting them with hunches, speculation, and misinformation. Only Trump could fire the US pandemic response team in 2018, cut CDC funding to the bone, and then falsely blame Obama for a rule change regarding diagnostic testing Obama never made when a pandemic hits. This behavior is not only not good leadership, but it's also not even how you would expect a mentally mature and functioning adult to behave. The CEO of my company sends out weekly coronavirus updates that make far more sense than anything that has come out of Trump's mouth. I do have to give Pence kudos for at least trying to bring some sanity to the response and for being honest about a lack of available test kits. He at least seems like he cares about more than his liability. How long will Pence be able to continue to be frank and honest? Who knows when the dear leader will reign him in and squelch his ability to provide a morally responsible response rather than an expedient and selfish one.

Originally Posted by Mel Maki

It is one thing to see a president FINISH with a deteriorating mental state. It is quite another to see a president START with a deteriorating mental state. 

Mel,

Trump has always been a blabbering orange-blob who produces more word-salad that intelligible speech. If you think it's just started recently, then you have not been paying attention. Even worse, he peddles all kinds of false and delusional and grandiose claims about himself, about his administration, about his accomplishments, and sadly also about the size of his pecker. The man is childish, immature, insecure, and lacking in empathy. He is incapable of distinguishing between the public interest and his political interest. In short, he is a delusional narcissist. Most of the time, you can laugh it off as a theater of the absurd. However, in a time of real national emergency, his toxic style and lack of quality leadership skills start to matter. Did you see him speak at the CDC yesterday, for example? It was bizarre in the extreme. Not only was he bragging about his supernatural abilities to understand complex science that people spend a lifetime mastering, he attributed it to the fact that his Uncle went to MIT and was super-smart. Then when asked about the lack of availability of coronavirus tests, he lied and said that anyone could get tested and went on to say the tests were as perfect as his call to Zelensky. This lying and lack of transparency are why you guys call Trump a stable genius and a leader? I'm sorry, but it's no wonder people are panic buying and are scared. Presidential rhetoric matters, especially during a national crisis, and in this regard, Trump is failing miserably.

Originally Posted by Mel Maki

Why should he even be surprised at all that a son with no experience and a drug problem could make so many millions?

That's an excellent point, Mel! Now do Jared and Ivanka!

I have to say, if the GOP wants to make Hunter an election issue, I'm sure that Bloomberg and all his money would love to launch attack ads on the Trump children, and they cannot even defend against the inevitable controversy. The lack of qualifications they have for the positions they hold in the white house and the myriad of ways they have personally profited from their jobs are innumerable.

By the way, it's not true that Hunter has no experience. He was a lawyer at Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, a national law firm based in New York City when appointed to the board of Burisma. Hunter is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University in the school of foreign service. He is the chairman of the board of World Food Program USA, and he is the CEO of the investment firm Rosemont Sencea that he co-founded. In many ways, he is far more qualified than any of Trump's children for the positions they hold.

Originally Posted by Rod Kaufman

Don't feel alone though, now that Biden is leading, the GOP in congress are ramping up the "Burisma investigations". Didn't get enough of the multiple Benghazi investigations? You know, the ones that cost millions and uncovered zilch on Hillary.

Listen, Rod, this is what the people in the heartland wanted! Frivolous political investigations, no plan for healthcare, ballooning the deficit to historic levels, and gross incompetence when confronted with a real national emergency. Why is that you liberals are always wanting to steal the election and undo their votes?

Originally Posted by Darian Rachal

What national emergency is occurring James, the one inside your head? 

Maybe it's the one that caused the DOW to drop so precipitously this morning that they had to halt all trading? Part of what's going to happen is precisely what many economists feared. Trump and the Republicans have artificially juiced the economy with trillions in deficit spending, and tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy. Now, there is nothing left for recovery during a down-turn. The fed has already cut interest rates by 0.5%, and honestly, there is not much more to do at this point. Couple this with the low trust and lack of credibility this administration has, and they have no tools left to craft some kind of calming response. Trump's three-year insatiable ego-trip is as responsible for this as anything.

What the health professionals are worried about is a systemic failure of the health-care system. Once community spread starts, it will be nigh impossible to contain or stop. If we have 2,000 cases in the US today, not an outlandish estimate, and the infection doubles every six days, then by the end of April, a million people will be sick. Then six days later 2 million; 6 days later 4 million, and so on. This scenario will completely overwhelm our health care system and our ability to deal with the sick and dying.

It seems plausible now that come January, a Democratic President and a Democratic congress will once again inherit a Republican fiasco and face the unenviable task of fixing everything the Republicans torpedoed. A repeat of 2008, it seems.

Originally Posted by Darian Rachal

Rod, I hope the media reports aren't keeping you in a constant state of anxiety about matters and hindering your ability to sleep at night. You have to remember that they are masters of manipulation. I have an aversion to allowing the media to decide for me what I'm supposed to be concerned about on a daily basis. I suggest you wean yourself off CNN for a few weeks.

It seems you are taking the position that the coronavirus outbreak is just a media hoax. That's a ridiculous position to take now that Italy has quarantined 16 million people in its northern region, and two Republican members of Congress have now self-quarantined once they learned of their exposure at CPAC. Ted Cruz and Paul Gossar certainly don't think it's a hoax anymore.

Originally Posted by Darian Rachal

James, I don't consider a hoax, just an example of media-manufactured hysteria. After this runs it's course, you can go back to wringing your hands over "climate change".

So, now the left-wing media is capable of manufacturing hysteria that causes Italy and China to lock-down. Crash the stock market. Cause airlines to cancel thousands of flights. And drop oil prices by 25%. Whereas before, it was fake news that was impotent in the face of Trump's fantastic leadership and uncanny ability to communicate the truth via mean tweets and frequent propaganda rallies. Got it; thanks for setting us all straight.