Originally posted by: Jeff
Replying to Kevin Lewis:
> I think we're seeing now the tremendous cost of appointing political cronies to government positions rather than those who are best qualified for the job.
It was evident before in air quality, separation of children from their parents at the border, backsliding on climate change and dozens of other issues, but personal health and personal finances will not go unnoticed by even low information voters and/or those who don't care about matters beyond the tips of their noses.
> We're also seeing a not-well-considered consequence of the huge Trump deficit--it's that much harder for the government to raise emergency funds without serious financial consequences.
OTOH, if there is already a trillion dollar deficit, what's a few billion more? Another ten billion would only add 1% to the deficit.
>That [Trump's] failure of leadership won't be forgiven by the public.
The worry is that the pandemic could benefit Trump's reelection. I'm not saying it will, but I see it as a possibility. Suppose the epidemic is brought under control by factors having nothing to do with Trump or even in spite of Trump, and things return to normal -- or at least get better -- before the election. Trump will take total credit for being the coronavirus slayer, and many will buy it.
The other possibility is that the virus will be Trump's Waterloo. If it is, the lives lost to the virus will not have been in vain. They will deserve a monument or memorial for their sacrifice, even though they never volunteered to save the world.
The fiscal and financial consequences of the Trump deficit include that the government is actively competing with other entities to borrow funds. Those entities include the big corporations that Trump loves so much. Money that would have gone to purchase corporate debt goes into T-bills instead. Financing and loans become harder to obtain.
There's one silver lining to all this--Trump's removal from office and incarceration, as well as the destruction of the Republican party. Yes, the virus victims will not have died for nothing. But the situation is brighter than you may realize! About 40% of those who die will be Trumpers. The removal of them from American society is an absolute good! Just imagine the elderly Trumper, choking out his last breaths as he fondles his MAGA hat. Or the guy in the hospital bed, weeping because he realizes that he's never going to get the chance to shoot a Mexican after all. The Nazi in his compound in Idaho with a fever of 104 degrees who fondles his guns and gazes for the last time at his Trump blow-up doll.
I'm chuckling to myself as I anticipate the popping-zit outrage our Trumpers will express. To clarify, I'm not wishing for anyone to die. But given that it's going to happen, at least, it's poetic justice that many of them will be Trumpers.
