The American Politics Thread!

[bswanson]

9 hours ago, mercfan3 said:

Honestly,  seems like he's losing control of his stutter. 

 

Bernie is physically no better.

 

This is why 80 year olds shouldn't run for President. 

this. dems needed someone like obama his age etc.  but even Biden is better than Trump. I dont think we would be in a huge loickdown like this if it werent for Trump. I mean h1n1 was serious but there was no quaretnes, schools and work werent shut down. I know covid is worse than that but still. 

Edited March 25, 2020 by bswanson

[TeamAudra]

41 minutes ago, bswanson said:

this. dems needed someone like obama his age etc.  but even Biden is better than Trump. I dont think we would be in a huge loickdown like this if it werent for Trump. I mean h1n1 was serious but there was no quaretnes, schools and work werent shut down. I know covid is worse than that but still. 

My God, what an ignorant comment. You can’t be serious. 

[ButterflyEffect]

47 minutes ago, bswanson said:

this. dems needed someone like obama his age etc.  but even Biden is better than Trump. I dont think we would be in a huge loickdown like this if it werent for Trump. I mean h1n1 was serious but there was no quaretnes, schools and work werent shut down. I know covid is worse than that but still. 

Trump has certainly not handled this situation well, but the lockdowns would be there with someone else in charge. They might even be more wide spread. And well......not touching that H1N1 comment. We're talking about a much more communicable disease with a way higher mortality rate. 

[mercfan3]

52 minutes ago, ButterflyEffect said:

Trump has certainly not handled this situation well, but the lockdowns would be there with someone else in charge. They might even be more wide spread. And well......not touching that H1N1 comment. We're talking about a much more communicable disease with a way higher mortality rate. 

 

I don't remember being in quarantine during the Ebola crisis. 

 

Not that we wouldn't need one if it got to this stage. But Obama always took preventative measures. We'd be in a different situation had this been addressed properly in January. 

 

Edited March 25, 2020 by mercfan3

[mercfan3]

9 hours ago, TeamAudra said:

 

 

Disgusting and typical of Sanders. 

 

1. Biden hasn't handled it well? One of them is a sitting Senator - who - instead of negotiating for a relief bill to help United States citizens, was at home in Vermont..holding a virtual rally. (Also, let's talk about the type of video content produced..where Sanders is inviting musical guests and Biden is inviting doctors..) 

 

2. Again, typical of Sanders - projection. One of the two has released full medical records. The other one had a heart attack in September. Why the narrative that it's Biden's health we all should be worried about? I watched him do this crap to Clinton too in terms of corruption. 

 

3. Biden ought to refuse to debate him. Announce his running mate. Start campaigning against Donald and ignore Sanders. The DNC got dumb last time. Sanders has no leverage. His supporters don't even come out to vote for him. The DNC isn't going to get them to come out to vote for Biden. He was terrible at campaigning for Clinton (and would be for Biden as well), his rule changes only hurt the party this time around. (They're how we got stuck with the 80 year olds). Focus on the voters that WILL come out to vote. (And help them beat voter suppression..) Those voters don't like Bernie. 

[ButterflyEffect]

1 hour ago, mercfan3 said:

 

I don't remember being in quarantine during the Ebola crisis. 

 

Not that we wouldn't need one if it got to this stage. But Obama always took preventative measures. We'd be in a different situation had this been addressed properly in January. 

 

Ebola has a high mortality rate but is much less communicable. You're most likely to get it while being in contact with bodily fluids of an infected person (blood, saliva, urine) which its such a risk for health care professionals. As well, ebola is only contagious when the infected person is showing symptoms, which can drastically reduce the virus' spread. Compared to H1N1 which could spread through water droplets (sneezing, coughing) and could survive for a brief period of time on external surfaces (door knobs), however people were usually only contagious for up to one day before showing symptoms. SARS-Cov-2 is a double whammy: it's can be transmitted through the same water droplets, however it can survive lengthy periods on surfaces, and individuals are contagious for almost the entire asymptomatic incubation period after infection, which can be as long as 14 days (though more commonly 2-6 days). That last point is what makes COVID-19 such a challenge. How many people would you come in contact with within that period? How many people do they come in contact with?

Case in point: one asymptomatic individual where I live visited a funeral home for a wake. They're now directly or indirectly responsible for 44 cases in the city.

[mercfan3]

30 minutes ago, ButterflyEffect said:

Ebola has a high mortality rate but is much less communicable. You're most likely to get it while being in contact with bodily fluids of an infected person (blood, saliva, urine) which its such a risk for health care professionals. As well, ebola is only contagious when the infected person is showing symptoms, which can drastically reduce the virus' spread. Compared to H1N1 which could spread through water droplets (sneezing, coughing) and could survive for a brief period of time on external surfaces (door knobs), however people were usually only contagious for up to one day before showing symptoms. SARS-Cov-2 is a double whammy: it's can be transmitted through the same water droplets, however it can survive lengthy periods on surfaces, and individuals are contagious for almost the entire asymptomatic incubation period after infection, which can be as long as 14 days (though more commonly 2-6 days). That last point is what makes COVID-19 such a challenge. How many people would you come in contact with within that period? How many people do they come in contact with?

Case in point: one asymptomatic individual where I live visited a funeral home for a wake. They're now directly or indirectly responsible for 44 cases in the city.

 

I think the point still stands that preventative actions by the Obama administration greatly diminished both Ebola and H1N1 in America, and his leadership contributed to a fantastic global response. 

 

COVID-19 is clearly more easily spread - but we don't know what the state of our country would have looked like with Ebola or H1N1 had Obama not taken the measures he took. And again, nor do we know what type of spread and containment we would have had, if the United States had a competent leader who - like Obama - had worked with Global Leaders to send doctors to China for information, began testing in January, used all of the executive powers in his reach to halt the spread...etc..(For instance, testing early and tracing is generally the best method of containment, but we can not do that now.), but common sense suggests we wouldn't be where we are now..

 

And we're also in a situation where two of the three most powerful global leaders (Donald and Boris) are complete morons. This makes the global response less effective as well. 

Edited March 25, 2020 by mercfan3

[TeamAudra]

Obama had 8 years to acquire more ventilators, to prepare for something like this. Yet, here we are. 

Edited March 25, 2020 by TeamAudra

[TeamAudra]

1 hour ago, mercfan3 said:

 

I think the point still stands that preventative actions by the Obama administration greatly diminished both Ebola and H1N1 in America, and his leadership contributed to a fantastic global response. 

 

COVID-19 is clearly more easily spread - but we don't know what the state of our country would have looked like with Ebola or H1N1 had Obama not taken the measures he took. And again, nor do we know what type of spread and containment we would have had, if the United States had a competent leader who - like Obama - had worked with Global Leaders to send doctors to China for information, began testing in January, used all of the executive powers in his reach to halt the spread...etc..(For instance, testing early and tracing is generally the best method of containment, but we can not do that now.), but common sense suggests we wouldn't be where we are now..

 

And we're also in a situation where two of the three most powerful global leaders (Donald and Boris) are complete morons. This makes the global response less effective as well. 

From April 2009-April 2010, 12,000+ Americans died as a result of being infected with the H1N1 virus. There were in excess of 274K H1N1 related hospitalizations over the same period of time. Why didn’t he issue a shelter in place order?
 

https://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/estimates_2009_h1n1.htm

Edited March 25, 2020 by TeamAudra

[mercfan3]

1 hour ago, TeamAudra said:

From April 2009-April 2010, 12,000+ Americans died as a result of being infected with the H1N1 virus. There were in excess of 274K H1N1 related hospitalizations over the same period of time. Why didn’t he issue a shelter in place order?
 

https://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/estimates_2009_h1n1.htm

 

Obama declared H1N1 a public emergency when only 20 cases had been confirmed. He then made a request for funding from congress. He declared it a public emergency six weeks before H1N1 was considered a pandemic. 

 

He didn't call for a shelter in place because his preventative actions led to no need for it. H1N1 did not overwhelm the healthcare system. 

 

Trump still hasn't used his executive powers to help. 

 

LOL, and just no at blaming Obama for lack of ventilators. 

Edited March 25, 2020 by mercfan3

[TeamAudra]

My Governor declared a “stay at home” order today, until April 10th. Honestly, we were already doing that! All this does is further define who can still work, and define the time period. Bars and restaurants are ordered to stay closed until May 1st, which will likely force many of them out of business. Distance learning for K-12 has been extended until May, as well. We can still go to grocery store, Home Depot, etc. 
 

Fortunately, my job has already been determined to be “essential,” but to say it’s not “business as usual“ would be a massive understatement. 

[TeamAudra]

1 hour ago, mercfan3 said:

 

Obama declared H1N1 a public emergency when only 20 cases had been confirmed. He then made a request for funding from congress. He declared it a public emergency six weeks before H1N1 was considered a pandemic. 

 

He didn't call for a shelter in place because his preventative actions led to no need for it. H1N1 did not overwhelm the healthcare system. 

 

Trump still hasn't used his executive powers to help. 

 

LOL, and just no at blaming Obama for lack of ventilators. 

Oh, so it’s not about saving lives? 
 

I’m too mentally drained at the moment for  this, but I have articles bookmarked that cover to the failure of the Obama Admin to replenish the stockpiles of supplies, following the H1N1 outbreak. 
 

Let’s just move on. 
 

 

[bswanson]

ok maybe some things would still b shut down but Trump should have taken it seriously in Jan. why did he downplay it for so many weeks, and not do testing right away 

Edited March 25, 2020 by bswanson

[RWG]

^ It's true. It's not a criticism that's unique to Trump, and it's against human nature to get people to completely change their lives for a threat that we're told is two months away. But countries could have saved themselves hundreds of thousands of lives and trillions of dollars by reacting in January, when they were briefed on it. Just because it's bad leadership on everyone's part doesn't mean it's not bad leadership.

 

I personally was rolling my eyes at this into March, and I know people who were making fun of it right up until the sports leagues started shutting down.

[ButterflyEffect]

Remember when Trump said "the fifteen [cases], within a couple of days, is going to be down close to zero". LOL. 66,000+ cases is pretty close to zero. The USA should have known it was f*cked the moment he said that. In the face of something like this, never downplay the severity or the possible impact. It's like looking down at a gaping shotgun wound through your heart and using your last breathe to say "it's just a small wound". Use the time to put the bravado away and prepare of what could potentially come.

[bswanson]

33 minutes ago, RWG said:

^ It's true. It's not a criticism that's unique to Trump, and it's against human nature to get people to completely change their lives for a threat that we're told is two months away. But countries could have saved themselves hundreds of thousands of lives and trillions of dollars by reacting in January, when they were briefed on it. Just because it's bad leadership on everyone's part doesn't mean it's not bad leadership.

 

I personally was rolling my eyes at this into March, and I know people who were making fun of it right up until the sports leagues started shutting down.

true but trump did downplay it. didnt he call it the common cold at first or was that sometihng he got from Fox News 

[ButterflyEffect]

$2 trillion dollars, dang. Now that 'aint messing around. Hopefully that can help ease the blow.

[TeamAudra]

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, TeamAudra said:

 

I'll take a moment to look into this because he does have a history of saying the wrong thing, but the Daily Caller isn't exactly the most reputable news source out there. 

[TeamAudra]

Former Biden staffer says he sexually assaulted her in 1993. Interview below. 
 

 

Edited March 26, 2020 by TeamAudra

[TeamAudra]

 

[mercfan3]

I think one of the things the government should have agreed to do differently is agree to pay businesses for employee hours (or salary), in exchange for employees not being laid off. 

 

So, you pay your employee for their 40 hours, even though they aren't working. The government pays you back. 

 

It would have prevented a lot of stress for both businesses and individuals - who not only are concerned with their health, but also now are fearful about not having a job. It also wouldn't have overloaded the unemployment system (who doesn't provide the same amount of money as the job anyway.) 

 

This could have been organized on a combined federal/state level, again..allowing money loss to be a bit dispersed. 

 

 

[sneaky]

1 hour ago, TeamAudra said:

Former Biden staffer says he sexually assaulted her in 1993. Interview below. 
 

I wonder where this was when he became VP?

 

[TeamAudra]

Joe Biden: When a woman alleges sexual assault, presume she is telling the truth
 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/joe-biden-when-a-woman-alleges-sexual-assault-presume-she-is-telling-the-truth/2018/09/17/7718c532-badd-11e8-a8aa-860695e7f3fc_story.html

[mercfan3]

2 hours ago, TeamAudra said:

Former Biden staffer says he sexually assaulted her in 1993. Interview below. 
 

 

 

Ugh Joe... Pushed by the Sanders campaign, but if true inexcusable. (Although won't matter for Bernie...but if Bernie is successful in his scorch the earth campaign against Biden, we're going to end up with Cuomo, Clinton, or Warren as our nominee...which would be a significant upgrade.) 

 

Again, it feels like 95% of the powerful male population - over the age of 60 - has an allegation (or several) like this against them. I can't wait to not have to pick between "lesser of two harassers.*" *Also why it would be nice to have a woman in office..

 

*to put it mildly

Edited March 26, 2020 by mercfan3