The president may have been referring to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistic
this week that the hospitalization rate is 102.5 per 100,000. But the
long-term health ramifications of the coronavirus remain unknown, and
mortality rates continue to vary greatly for reasons that are not
immediately clear. There are now more than 2.8 million diagnosed cases in the United States and more than 129,000 deaths.
Trump works by keeping the spotlight on himself.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting. Anecdotally, in some private meetings that are videoed, Donald Trump appears to be low key and soft spoken, self effacing -- almost shy.
On stage, he can be the opposite. Even when he was running for President, I tentatively concluded that his public persona was an act. What really cemented it was a "fun" question directed at the candidates at the end of one debate: What did they think their Secret Service code name would be if elected President? Trump answered, "Humble." Here was a man with a self-deprecating ironic sense of humor.
On this blog alone are like ten posts on the subject of Trump's claim about the coronavirus infection rate. Trump took one statistic, mangled and garbled it, and then served it up for consumption.
The media, including this esteemed blog, ate up the wildly exaggerated claim, not unlike piranhas gobbling up a gold fish. A flash and a blur as they shred that claim to bits and pieces.
In politics in America what matters is the projection of power. And nothing spells power like being the center of attention. This is what worries me about Joe Biden's election bid. Biden appears to almost be a footnote to his own campaign. Biden will need to assert himself to win.
I think Biden understands this on some level, which is why he lashes out at questioners who imply things he disagrees with. The liberal media is doing him no favor by treating him with kid gloves. They really should be trying to rough him up, which would give him a chance to hit back.
Donald Trump took this approach to levels that were previously unimaginable. My reaction to the overeaction to Trump's claim is: so cool how he is important enought to get ten posts about him in one day here. If I get one post every six months here that I author, or where one of my comments is elevated, I consider it a great honor.
To be sure, my stated goal is to find the truth, while Trump is featured specifically because hesometimes pursues half-truths and the blog owner is trying to point out the half-lie that corresponds to the half-truth; still, Trump's bad boy image arouses admiration, since it serves to keep him in power.