Well, well, well…
First we had the September surprise — RBG dying. And now we’ve got what a physician/commentator on MSNBC described this morning as “the October surprise of all October surprises.”
The President has Covid-19.
Now, being what I would like to consider an empathetic person of goodwill (it took me a long time to get there), I should wish Trump and his wife the very best and a speedy recovery.
But after what Trump has put this country through and the absolute ignorance he has displayed regarding this lethal virus, it is hard for me to muster much of a charitable attitude.
He has been such a fool, such a fool. Listen again to his comment at Tuesday’s debate about Joe Biden’s scrupulous diligence about wearing a mask…
I don’t wear masks like him. Every time you see him, he’s got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away from them and he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve ever seen.
Now, surely, Trump wishes he would have worn a very big mask every day, all day.
But it’s too late, and we will see where this goes. The Times is reporting that two people familiar with his condition said he was suffering mild symptoms, but how can you believe anything coming from his orbit?
Like me, Trump is 74 years old and much more susceptible to a bad, bad case of Covid than much younger people in good health.
Frank Bruni, a New York Times columnist who regularly and eloquently expresses disdain for Trump, said in a column this morning that the Trump’s Covid carries a moral that is “necessary to articulate”…
There is a real risk in being cavalier. The president is now the embodiment of that.
Now, Trump is off the campaign trail. In a few days, or a week, he could be fighting for his life. We don’t know.
What we do know, politically, is that this development pretty much assures Biden of beating him on Nov. 3…if he survives.
The floor is now open for your thoughts and reflections…
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
How do we know Trump is really sick with Rona? Is this his way of avoiding another debate?
Hah! I guess that’s fair speculation, considering how he got skewered in the press and the court of public opinion after Tuesday’s debacle.
That’s too clever for Trump. He ridicules people’s weaknesses, so I don’t think he could fake being sick.
There is a significant difference between “having covid,” that is, being ill, and testing positive, which is what the First Couple did. And 30 percent of positive tests are false positives. So do not get your hopes up and begin dancing on his grave yet.
Pretty significant difference between dancing on another’s grave and having trouble mustering a charitable attitude.
If he were intubated for a time, we would not have to hear him or read about his tweets, and I would be grateful for such relief.
Really, people are happy that someone has a potentially life threatening virus? How compassionate. How loving. How pathetic.
If only the president believed it was a potentially life threatening virus, communicated that fact and encouraged Americans to act as if it is.
If he had done so, in all likelihood he would not be in his current predicament.
I can wish someone to recover and not feel sorry for them at the same time.
Yes Trump is so loving. Biden is only airing positive ads while the Trump campaign continues to buy negative digital ads.
President Obama send his best wishes for President Trump’s recovery and within an hour the Trump campaign had a new fund raiser email out entitled “Lyin’ Obama”.
If this had happened to Biden, Republicans would be having a field day. And you know it!
John, I thought it was pathetic when, at the debate, Trump mocked Biden for wearing the “biggest mask I’ve ever seen” when he’s “speaking 200 feet away.” Not only is this another example of Trump’s school yard bullying mentality, it is not the kind of guidance the American people should be receiving from their president right now.
Putin sends his best wishes…Now there’s a caring guy.
I have no hope for any change in Trump’s character. I’m like you, Jim, in that I work hard not to wish people ill. But I would wish him a little ill if I thought he would actually learn your moral about the risk of being cavalier. But no, that won’t happen. If he has a bad case, it will be “the worst case the likes of which no one has ever seen in the history of the world.” If he has a mild case, he’ll brag about his physical constitution and declare that most of the world is “whining about something that’s no worse than a cold.” He won’t get it the moral either way. But I do hope he survives. I can’t imagine the torturous permutations of constitutional rules and protocols that such an event would twist this election process into an even bigger mess.
NM — think I was looking at previous post.
Fox the occasional news channel will have some ‘splaining to do about this virus which is now suddenly important.
Right your are, Bill…
I feel like I’m watching a real life version of “Dave.”
I don’t wish the Trumps ill health despite Trump’s huge ego, incompetence, etc., etc. We’re all just an illness away from being at death’s doorstep.
So true, Rick.
I thought this opening and last two paragraphs of Olivia Nuzzi’s article in New York titled “Trump Infects America” sums it up:
“At the best of times, Trumpworld operates with all the strategic direction of a chicken with its head cut off,” a senior Republican official told me. “Right now, they’re operating like a chicken with its head cut off, lit on fire, and thrown off a cliff.”
“And so the discourse descends into chaos, with QAnon and deep-state kooks on one side and even the most intelligent and reasonable people trafficking in conspiracy theories on the other. Can you blame anyone? This is the result of five years of lies and distortions and alternative facts. With 32 days left before Election Day, whatever confidence remained in our system has been further undermined by this colossal display of idiocy. The Republic collapses not with a bang but with a million stupid decisions by the most powerful people.
“Same as it always is,” said the senior Republican official. “One could argue that’s nothing new. Just the degree of severity.”
Hubris appropriately rewarded.
Now there’s a nice turn of phrase…