Media Criticizes Trump For Downplaying Virus Threat By Not Dying

Close to the bone:

The Babylon Bee

WASHINGTON, D.C—President Donald Trump is once again under fire from the media for recklessly downplaying the danger of COVID by refusing to die. As the president begins to show signs of recovery, many worry that this sends the wrong message about the seriousness of the global pandemic.

“His defiance is going to get people killed. Dying like he’s supposed to would be the most patriotic thing he could do,” complained CNN correspondent Adam Pelot. “If he lives, how will the people be able to trust science?”

Tagged: satire and parody

The disappointment this week in news rooms was palpable.

In other news, Biden may be far ahead in the polls, but  Gallup Polling shows 56% think Trump will win, and only 40% think Biden will win.

According to David Catron, this is a more useful indicator than asking people “who they’ll vote for”:

July 17th 2020: The American Spectator

Lately, pollsters and pundits have been nervously pondering the following question: “If Trump is behind in the polls, why do most voters say, in the same surveys, that he will win the upcoming election?” As Harry Enten recently noted at CNN, “An average of recent polls finds that a majority of voters (about 55%) believe that Trump will defeat Biden in the election. Trump’s edge on this question has remained fairly consistent over time.” This is far more than mere statistical curiosity by number nerds. Several peer-reviewed studies have shown that surveys of voter expectations are far more predictive of election outcomes than polls of voter intentions.

 h/t David E

 

9.3 out of 10 based on 66 ratings

59 comments to Media Criticizes Trump For Downplaying Virus Threat By Not Dying

  • #
    David Wojick

    The Gallup results are real, right? Very interesting if so.

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    • #
      el gordo

      People may lie about their voting intentions, but delight in picking the winner.

      “Regardless of whom they personally support, 56% of Americans expect Trump to prevail over Biden in the November election, while 40% think Biden will win,” wrote Megan Brenan in an article released by the polling firm. “Although majorities of partisans think their party’s candidate will win, Republicans are more likely to believe Trump will win (90%) than Democrats are to think Biden will (73%). Fifty-six percent of independents predict that Trump will win.”

      ‘The pollster doesn’t offer an explanation as to how Trump can be underwater on his approval rating but still be the majority pick to win the election.’

      (Just the news.com)

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    • #
      R.B.

      Suggests that there are many more Democrat voters who are unhappy with Biden/Harris than Never Trumpers.

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  • #
    dinn, rob

    10-9 Brazil death rate at 149/5036= 3% of overall infections. . 29/437= 6.6% increase/day new cases/active cases https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/brazil/

    ………………………..…

    Russia death rate 22/1272= 1.7% overall. 11.5/224.2= 5.1% increase/day infections

    https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/russia

    ……………………….

    India death rate 107/6964= 1.5%. 73/829= 8.8% increase/day infections ave. last 4 days https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/india

    …………………………………….

    Argentina death rate 23/856.7= 2.7% overall. 14.4/132.5= 10.9% increase/day infections https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/argentina

    ……………………………………………………………………..

    Colombia death rate 3% overall and likely rising. 8.5/72.7= 11.7% increase/day infections https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/colombia

    …………………………………………………………………

    Indonesia death rate 3.6% overall. 4.8/60.1= 8% increase/day infections https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/indonesia

    Posted by Bob Dinn at 11:53 AM

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  • #
    John F. Hultquist

    What percent of people can not be contacted, for whatever reason? {We block all unwanted calls.}
    What percent of people lie?

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  • #
    Richard Ilfeld

    It is very hard for Americans to understand our electoral process, and almost impossible for foreigners.
    Now, I can’t predict the future.
    I am not talking about the next election, I am talking about the American process and how it works, it may be changing.
    But if not, the essential thing to remember is that the vast majority of American change doesn’t and, in fact, can’t happen
    in the immediate aftermath of an election….both in the context of the way it does in a parliamentary system, and in the way
    it does and can in a smaller jurisdiction.

    The first thing you learn if you get involved in politics is that people generally don’t change from election to election, or
    for that matter from generation to generation. There are a few, and there will be shifts in blocs over time as the forces
    that push Americans into two camps are modified as the economy and world change; an election may be decided in part by the beginning or end of such a shift.
    Often, however, it is due to factors of the constitution of the parties, not their campaigning.

    The reality of the entropy of a constitutional two party system is that the parties tend to split in the middle.

    The essence of winning or losing an election is getting your folks to the polls; much is made of suppressing the vote for the other side but this is actually rare
    unless an opportunity such as a sex scandal or resume enhancement falls in ones lap; that it does so often says much about the hubris and bad judgement of those who choose politics as a profession.

    The public polls are not much worth watching; though there are a few who publish their methodology that I give some credence to.
    The data on new voter registrations is often useful. The candidates seldom do or say anything useful, but each side has key surrogates who are
    responsible for enthusiasm and turnout of key blocs. Watching who they are seeing and what they are saying is a good clue to the true state of the race.

    Anyone who has served anywhere knows that if your quartermaster corps fails your army is in trouble.
    The public face of the left is gung-ho. They are good at the burn and destroy thing. They have the media attention thing down pat. They can shake down corporations for donations.

    Can they get the Generation Z and folks of color they claim as supporters to the polls? Does the fun and frolic of Antifa translate to enthusiasm for Joe and Kamala.

    It is not often understood that the traditional “civil rights” vote is now perhaps the most socially conservative group in the Democratic party.
    A lot of them became middle class recently. Will they continue to be enthusiastic Democrats. at 90% plus levels.

    Will Hispanics consider themselves “people of color” and vote like black folks have, or are they an entrapenurial, socialist suspicious community that will split closer to 50-50?

    To me, this looks like mostly a repeat of the last election, with a COVID wildcard.
    I don’t see many Trump voters going away.
    I don’t see massive enthusiasm for J that wasn’t there for H.
    Where will students vote, if their schools aren’t open, or will they. What will the mail response be. Which party will predominate with “real” votes…
    COVID be damned.

    With the COVID effect, a close and virtually uncallable election — I’d like to think in the final analysis optimism beats hate.

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    • #
      Peter C

      Thanks Richard,

      Others may have a view on this.

      It seems to me that Trump somehow cuts across the traditional voting categories. Quite a lot of Republicans are anti Trump yet he won the last election so he seems to have attracted votes from some Democrat supporters as well. If Trump captures half of Biden’s votes he is on his way back to the White House.

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    • #
      TdeF

      It interesting that polling of people who attend Trump rallies in such amazing numbers in the middle of a Pandemic shows that 60% call themselves Democrats. I think that people who are loyal, traditional and generational Democrat voters have had enough of this Socialism or even Fascism and communism posing as their beloved Democrats. They go to Trump’s rallies to see if he is real. And he is. And there is no shortage of support for an outsider who is cleaning out the Aegean stables in Washington. Washington may vote 98.3% Democrat as in 2016 but that does not mean the rest of America does not hate them. And the voters know exactly who to blame for the rolling disasters in so many American cities with Democrat mayors and Governors. AntiFa just an idea not an organization? The worst excuse for mass violence so far this century and clearly the blackshirts of the extreme and violent left Democrats.

      The voters all know Biden is a geriatric puppet suffering from senile dementia. It is elder abuse and he cannot last four years and may not even last six months. But they would vote for him happily if they did not see him as merely a sock puppet for Sanders and Warren and Harris who looks like being the real US President. And Harris is not an American Black because she isn’t. And every black voter knows that! No one on either side wants Kamala Harris as US President. And no one believes the ridiculous story that the riots in 50 cities are ‘largely peaceful’. No one believes the violent AntiFA thugs in black shirts and masks even before Wu Flu are just ordinary citizens engaged in peaceful protest. And no one trusts the media which has become according to one internet site Biden’s B*tch. In all socialist, communist and fascist takeovers, the media are the first to go feral.

      So I think it will be a Nationwide condemnation vote, even in the big Democrat cities, condemnation of the extreme left seizure of their beloved Democratic Party, a totalitarian fascist takeover, like Berlin in 1936 supported by the press and big money. And the participation and interference of big Media, big IT in google/facebook/twitter and especially the 95% of Wall street makes it look just like Adolph’s rise. Adolph employed exactly the same private army of peaceful thugs as did Mussolini. Lenin used the navy. And as Jane Fonda just announced, the deaths of two hundred thousand people is a gift from God to the Democrats. If anyone has spilled the beans in a despicable way, it is Hanoi Jane. And once again China is still the lurking menace funding wars, as it was in the proxy wars of Korea and Vietnam. And they will strike at Taiwan if America loses Trump.

      And what the people the people think will be shown by the flood of very loyal Democrats who will vote this leftist rabble out of their beloved party. Very much as so many in Australia turned on Bill Shorten and in the UK on Jeremy Corbyn. And Pelosi’s dream of becoming President by default will evaporate.

      It’s blogs like this which are the thorn in the side of the traditional media who will hear no wrong of Biden or Clintons. And the best thing about Trump? Unlike Biden and Clinton, he is not a lawyer and being President is not about getting rich. He has what they lack, credibility and a decent family and above all, patriotism.

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      • #
        TdeF

        As for polls, they are a running joke. Here in Victoriastan the Australian poll is reported to show 60% support for Dictator Dan. I would love to see the actual question as I have yet to meet anyone who is not angry with Daniel Andrews. We are the ones making the massive sacrifices, not him. And we have been betrayed by his empire building, refusing Federal assistance while handing out hundreds of millions to his friends without even tender or oversight. Even his own ministers are starting to point out deviously that someone is a sociopath and made the decision and gave the Imperial order and we all know who it is and the inquiry he set up to exonerate himself or shutdown questions is closing on him quickly as heads of departments and even ministers change stories given multiple times under oath. They are all terrified of being charged with 800 counts of manslaughter through total negligence, under Andrew’s new law from 4th July. And politicians and public servants are not exempted. A major mistake by incompetent Dan.

        Polls themselves, even if reported properly, are a poor guide anything. The typical 1,000 person poll is wildly innaccurate when measuring elections as elections are decided by a difference, not an absolute measure. So even if you had a perfectly representative poll, which is impossible, the quoted single deviation error of 3.16% means a difference of 3% is anyone’s call, not someone leading. Even 10% is dodgy.

        And this has been proven at everyone one of the last elections in the UK, America and Australia. Polls have a different purpose these days, to sway public opinion and to dissuade voters from voting in the US. People hate to lose when barracking for one side, so I assume putting Trump miles behind is meant to bring out the Democrats voters and dishearten the Republican voters. Which is why Trump came in at 14:1 in 2016!

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        • #
          TdeF

          And the primitive psychology behind clearly wrong polling may have to be rethought. It is just possible that showing Trump as the underdog brings out the competitive in the Republicans and showing Biden as coasting home means the Democrats do not have to bother.

          Plus the fact that every reported fraud is by Democrats and this year they are charging Democrat officials, mail men and officals every day with criminal tampering, ballot harvesting and more. The videos condemning Ilhan Omar are amazing. Ballot harvesting is a very profitable industry and it’s all on video with witnesses. It will be very interesting to see if the ‘squad’ survive, a racist group of congresswomen who hate America and Americans.

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        • #
          Peter C

          heads of departments and even ministers change stories given multiple times under oath. They are all terrified of being charged with 800 counts of manslaughter

          They should be charged with lying under oath!

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      • #
        Graham Richards

        Trump could do the real Democrats a favour by telling their supporters that the only way to save the party is to vote Republican .
        Crazy suggestion??
        By giving Trump another 4 years & voting the far left out of office, starting with Pelosi & Schumer, the “ squad”, all the Marxist cheerleaders & anti American looneys, the Democrat Party will have a chance to return to its former respected ways of, say, Kennedy.
        Under a reformed party, together with the Republicans, sanity , if not normality will have chance in the USA .
        Only then can that great swamp on both sides be drained! With out it the future of USA is bleak!

        81

  • #
    el gordo

    ‘ … voter expectations are far more predictive of election outcomes than polls of voter intentions.’

    I’ll pay that.

    61

  • #
    • #
      Peter C

      The pandemic is a fraud, down to the root of the poisonous tree.

      I doubt that the pandemic is a fraud, based on the clinical evidence so far.

      It does seem that the virus has not been isolated so Koch’s postulates have not been met. Given that however I am not sure how the PCR test reagents can be prepared and how typing of the virus mutations can be analysed? Can anyone help with that?

      40

      • #
        RickWill

        Peter
        You may be interested in this interview with Trump. He mentions a drug regeneron.
        https://video.foxnews.com/v/6198988477001?playlist_id=930909813001#sp=show-clips

        He also still sounds a little ‘chesty’ but his recovery appears to be going well.

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        • #
          Peter C

          Yes I think the antibody treatment was likely the game changer.

          According to a statement from White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, Trump received an eight-gram dose of the polyclonal antibody cocktail, REGN-COV2, from pharmaceutical company Regeneron, as a “precautionary measure.”

          Trump had a remarkably rapid recovery. He apparently had a high fever and reduced oxygen saturation. If that had progressed it could have been very bad, but soon after Trump recovered almost miraculously.

          https://www.the-sun.com/news/1576500/regeneron-antibody-cocktail-donald-trump-coronavirus/#:~:text=REGENERON%20is%20a%20cocktail%20of%20medications%20said%20to,to%20President%20Donald%20Trump%20following%20his%20coronavirus%20diagnosis.

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          • #
            TdeF

            My understanding is that his physician was always preparing Trump for the flu and if not with Hydroxychloroquine, antibiotic and zinc then with some other prophylactic. He simply did not go down as far or as fast as say Boris Johnson who is 20 years younger.

            And amazingly, he has said that he will make his treatment free to all Americans. So what was good enough for the President will be free to everyone else.

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            • #
              Peter C

              And amazingly, he has said that he will make his treatment free to all Americans. So what was good enough for the President will be free to everyone else.

              Trump has confirmed that he also thinks that early treatment with the Regeneron antibody cocktail was the key to his rapid recovery.

              If it requires human convalescent serum then getting supplies may be an issue. There are plenty of recovered patients now so it becomes a blood donation exercise. There are also so issues with the safety of transfusion of blood products. If I get Covid I will likely try to wait and see if simple measures are sufficient. If I need hospital that would be a trigger for this type of treatment, but well before needing intensive care.

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              • #
                Peter C

                Actually just think about that for a moment.

                The treatment seems to have worked dramatically for Trump. Perhaps this is the way out of our dreadful social lock-down.
                If the vulnerable and seriously ill patients can be treated successfully then stopping or slowing the spread becomes pointless. Most people get a mild disease limited to a few weeks.

                50

              • #
                TdeF

                It’s selective herd immunity.

                32

              • #
                Peter C

                Exactly right TdeF,

                This way we can protect the vulnerable and left the rest of the herd become immune.

                30

              • #
                sophocles

                give them Vitamin D. It works.

                20

            • #

              Well he did say “Don’t forget the zinc”.
              Kinda looks like the zinc, and what ever else he was using as a prophylactic worked.

              30

          • #
            OriginalSteve

            What isnt getting much press is that many people in the white house have got the virus.

            One suggestion was that its an attempted assassination…

            But Trump wont go down , which is driving the Left absolutely insane….

            One thought too is that given the link between China and this virus, if it is an attempted assassination then technically its an act of war….will we get an October surprise?

            China is pushing pro war propaganda hard in asia, but you hear little about it here.

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        • #
          David-of-Cooyal-in-Oz

          In the first reports it was said he was given both vitamin D and vitamin C,
          but I’ve seen no follow up. Was he given “massive doses” of either, or each, and intravenously? Again either or both would be significant??
          Cheers
          Dave B

          20

  • #
    Travis T. Jones

    It’s only a matter of time before we see it …

    Hillary Clinton Joe Biden so far ahead in polls that he ‘doesn’t even think about’ Donald Trump anymore 

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/23/hillary-clinton-so-far-ahead-in-polls-that-doesnt-even-think-abo/

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  • #
    Travis T. Jones

    Not the Babylon Bee …

    freudian slips from the goose’s mouth:

    Brad Hazzard, New South Whales’ Minister of Health, has the New World Order on his mind a lot.

    Australia has sold out to the NWO long ago.

    They are the testing grounds for what the NWO has planned for us all.

    https://twitter.com/C_L_I_C_K/status/1314181378787942402

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  • #
    Jojodogfacedboy

    I have noticed that Americans tend to vote for the devil you know for the second term when there is unfinished business on the plate of the President.
    I hope he does win so that my Prime Minister gets grey hair from worry…
    MAGA.
    I would fly my Trump flag but my wife would beat the crap out of me.
    She’s been following the mainstream media too much.

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  • #
    Another Ian

    Not the Bee

    “Fantastic Research – Presidential Debate Commission Ideology Exposed – Chairman Connected to Soros, Color Revolution and Steele Dossier Group…”

    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/10/09/fantastic-research-presidential-debate-commission-ideology-exposed-chairman-connected-to-soros-color-revolution-and-steele-dossier-group/

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    • #
      Brenda Spence

      Why on earth, do they need a presidential debate commission?! Surely the two contenders can work it out between them? Smacks of control.

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  • #
    John Galt

    Trump was on the Rush Limbaugh Radio Show today for 2 hours.
    He sounded perfectly healthy, well informed, sane, and strong. Not a single sniff or cough in 2 hours.

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  • #
    Matty

    It’s very hard to trust polling where DT is involved – you think the msm would get that. But polling is expensive and arduous and what’s the point in downplaying your results? Polling = news nowadays so it’s an affordable headline/clickbait at the end of the day?
    I feel the same way as those leaning towards a DT victory for a few reasons. In 2016 there was sufficient fear of Hilary to drive people to Trump. If there was fear of Hilary there must be similar fears of a senile old grafter called Joe. In 2016 there was fear of declaring openly for Trump and that fear skewed the polls. That fear has not gone away, it is magnified in 2020.
    Also, if I was picking someone to play on Trump I would have gone for someone who at least looked and sounded presidential as that may have shown up Trump for the person he is. But the debate showed two cranky old guys going for it. Why swap like for like and take a risk in doing so. I admit to having been unnerved by the polls but I just can’t put my money on Biden.

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  • #
    Karabar

    Predictit is looking for a repeat of 2016.

    10

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  • #
    Alan Davidson

    In 2016 I confounded everyone I know by predicting that Trump would win the Presidency, mainly based on the huge level of public attendance at Trump’s events and rallies in the established marginal states, compared with Clinton’s. I ignore all media polling and internet surveys as usually biassed and very unreiable. It is very similar this time especially as Biden is unable to conduct anything live with large crowds, if anything the difference between the two candidates in terms of public following and enthusiasm at events is even greater this time. So I’m quite confident that the Presidential result will be the same as in 2016.

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  • #
    Karabar

    As Ivor Cummins maintains, there never was a “pandemic”. It was a “PCR test demic”.
    But did the scam actually involve a virus? Or are the “deaths” attributed it simply not excess deaths beyond the normal death rate attributable to the flu?
    Is the dreaded health threat purely imaginary like DDT, acid rain, the ozone hole, geril worming, and “climate change”?

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    • #
      John F. Hultquist

      Karabar,
      There is a virus, now named as the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and the disease it causes is called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). It can produce issues in the human body that cause death.
      Deaths happened before authorities realized there was a new disease, because many symptoms resemble other flu symptoms.
      Politicians panicked (Panic2020) and made bad decisions.

      For reports on the testing and “cases” aspect, you should visit
      https://wmbriggs.com/

      He recently did his XXXIV post of this Panic.
      # XXXIII will be of interest to you.
      Coronavirus Update XXXIII: The Effect Of HUGE Increases In Testing & False Positives On Continuing The Panic

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  • #
    Hanrahan

    I’ve been monitoring the US political scene closely since Trump announced and have debated TDS sufferers on another forum ever since.

    I have specifically been looking for a demographic or two where he is losing votes, or more correctly where the dems are picking them up. I can’t find any. The “educated women” group has never been in his corner and they now claim the majority of “older women”. That’s a bit nebulous to me.

    OTOH over 40% of blacks approve of Trump’s performance, a group that usually vote 95% dem.
    #Walkaway movement is alive and well.
    Candice Owens’ #Blexit is alive and well, she is an amazing young lady.
    PM Modi and Trump have a thing going and Modi gave an impassioned speech during a State Visit for Indians in the US to vote for Trump. They normally vote dem.
    Gun sales are running 100% higher than they were a year ago with 5 million NEW owners. These people are not about to vote for the party of the BLM.
    The Amy Coney Barrett lynching will remind independents of the character assassination of Brett Kavanagh.
    56% of respondents believe they are better off today than they were when Trump took over.
    The “shy republican” is real.
    Trump has an 18% enthusiasm gap over Biden. Trupsters are mad as hell so will go out and vote.

    There are more indicators but you get the idea. I cannot take the polls seriously.

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  • #

    I can see how GHWB won in ’88, and also how Clinton won in ’92 (though he lost the “popular vote”, as irrelevant as that is in a democracy). I can see how he won again in ’96.

    I can’t quite see how GWB won in 2000 – Gore should have won – but I definitely can see how he won in ’04. I can see how Obama won both his terms, especially ’08, and I can see how Trump won in ’16.

    So – on average, it mostly makes sense, and a Biden presidency just doesn’t make sense when you zoom out. However, I don’t predict election outcomes and I think it’s futile. Even in 2016 I said that nobody can know who is going to win. And I was kind of right.

    30

  • #
    Ruairi

    In Wuhan they dropped dead like flies,
    On camera, in front of our eyes,
    Whereas Trump’s Covid chill,
    Didn’t make him too ill,
    Though leftists would wish his demise.

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  • #
    Peter C

    Oh Ruari,

    I know I should not laugh but I could not help it.

    50

  • #

    Four years ago I was delightfully surprised to see the econazi half of the U.S. Kleptocracy torn to bloody shreds by the voters they’d been shooting, robbing, blacking out and looting via asset-forfeiture prohibitionism in league with Positive Christianity hitlerites. Now those parts of the Dem platform are VERY different. But the Positive Christian Prohibitionist half of the Kleptocracy has declined to improve its hand by drawing a couple of planks from the Libertarian deck. So imagine my glee now that THEY are about to be torn to shreds and scattered by that same mob of angry voters. Someday my grandchildren will ask about the Dark Ages when nuclear electricity and plant leaves were banned by socialist superstitions.

    20

  • #
    Deano

    Jo – your headline cracked me up. Biden’s campaign strategy – Wait for Trump to die.

    20

  • #

    Yes, the Mad Captain’ (refer ‘Despite Repeated Warnings’ by Paul McCartney) has come out and said: “Immunity means something, a protective glow.” He’s obviously been under his tanning lamps too long again! For the millions of Americans who have lost a loved one to this virus this is tragic – from a “Raving looney” (thanks Bill Oddie for such an apt turn of phrase) narcissist who, thanks to a million dollar plus stint in hospital totally beyond the reach of the average US Taxpayer (something he contemptuously avoids being), has turned this still unfolding tragedy for the American people into something all about the Donald. Sad, so VERY Sad!

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  • #
    neil

    You don’t win elections, the other side loses them. I have been saying this for months, Biden is unelectable, the majority don’t want Trump, but they don’t believe Biden is capable. Better the devil you know, Trump is the better of two evils.

    Just like our 2019 federal election the majority didn’t want Morrison, but for years I had been saying Shorten was unelectable.

    20