He is, or he isn’t
Trump is doing very well, unless he’s doing very badly. It’s one of those. Maybe.
Today, when we saw the doctors line up outside Walter Reed in their white lab coats, we thought we might finally get clarity. The picture painted by the White House physician, Navy Commander Dr. Sean Conley, was rosy: Trump was in good spirits — so good, apparently, he had been fever-free for 24 hours, and felt he could have walked out of Walter Reed today.
But that wouldn’t mean anything even if it were true, which it probably isn’t. People mostly don’t feel terrible at the beginning.
Anyway, they changed their story.
The White House reporter on pool duty — traveling with the president and delivering official dispatches to reporters at numerous outlets — sent this dispatch, quoting “a source familiar with the president’s health”:
The president’s vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care. We’re still not on a clear path to a full recovery.
What is all this gobbledygook? Of course they’re not on a clear path to a full recovery, because this virus doesn’t work like that. This isn’t medical talk, it’s PR talk.
Anyway, the core point is that the White House is bullshitting us. Gee, you don’t say.
It’s even stranger. The “source” disputing Trump’s doctors is White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. Multiple reporters have confirmed this, and there’s even video of him asking to go off the record to give the statement right after the doctors spoke:
https://mobile.twitter.com/PaulaReidCBS/status/1312437084553011200
People are wondering what is going on, why Trump’s Chief of Staff contradicted the doctors to say things are worse. Not the spin you’d expect.
Oh, I see that’s all in the linked story. Oops.
I still find it crazy the chief of staff would do that when they’d usually downplay it. Did the doctors cave to pressure to lie to such an extent that he felt he should say something?
Siva Vaidhyanathan’s theory is that they do it to make us focus on that and not the important stuff.
A joke. We need a joke.
So this guy is going on vacation, and he asks his brother to feed his cat while he’s away, and his brother says sure, no problem.
So the guy goes on vacation and the very next day his brother calls and says I’m afraid I have some bad news: your cat died.
And the guy says, Awww, man, why’d you have to tell me like that? Now my whole vacation is ruined.
And his brother says, well, how should I tell you?
And the guy says, you know, you could break it to me slowly. Like the first day just say the cat’s on the roof, but you think you can get him down. And the next day say the cat fell off the roof, but you think he’s OK. And the next day say the can was injured in the fall, but the vet thinks he’ll be OK. And the next day say cat was seriously injured. And then the last day tell me that cat died. See? That way I can still enjoy most of my vacation.
And his brother, says, yeah…I guess I see.
Then the guy asks, is there anything else you need to tell me?
There’s a silence, and then his brother says, well…mom’s on the roof.
I gotta say, it’s starting to sound to me like Trump is on the roof.
Heh heh.
Reporting on trump’s health will be governed by trump and based on what he thinks will serve him politically. There is no reason to believe that he actually has Covid. The disease, for him and the rest of the republican field, only exists as a potential tool for manipulating “the masses” for the election outcomes they want. Unfortunately there are enough stupid, gullible and corrupt(able)(ed)people for the strategy to work. Get set for 4 more years of these folks and the combination of assholes and dupes who’ll keep them there. We really have become a pathetic country.
One comment at the link below says “I can’t help but contrast the quality of health care now being received by Donald Trump with his determination to destroy the ‘Obamacare’ programme.”
What goes around comes around?
Chickens coming home to roost?
Boot on the other foot?
.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2020/oct/03/donald-trump-keeps-busy-during-self-isolation-cartoon
I keep waking up in the middle of the night wondering if Donald Trump is dead yet.
No word on that, but at least more information leaked out about his condition prior to being airlifted to Walter Reed: he had a fever of 103, his blood oxygen was plummeting, and he was receiving supplemental oxygen. The doctors said it’s best you leave while you can still walk; you in a wheelchair or stretcher wouldn’t make good TV.
Of course most people who get the disease do indeed survive, so chances are he will too. And then he will no doubt spin it as further evidence of his own toughness, the hyped up nature of the crisis (“I’ve had it myself, and it was nothing“), how only losers succumb to the disease etc.
Although the stats get less comforting as you add risk factors; he has several.
Re his several risk factors:
I saw a comment listing his risk factors: elderly, obese, low-income, person of color.
Sackbut, that one took me a minute. I have to stop having Negronis for breakfast.
No, I don’t think being orange counts as being a person of color.
“All colors matter.”