Trump: 99% of Virus Cases "Totally Harmless"

#President Trump said in early July that 99% of confirmed coronavirus cases are "totally harmless." 
He was just picking a percentage out of the air. Deaths alone comprised about 4.4% of the total as of early July. Those who must be hospitalized are another part of the total. Workers who are paid by the hour --especially those who live from paycheck to paycheck --lose wages while being quarantined. 

We are now learning that hospitalized patients suffer after-effects, the most vivid being scarring of the lungs. This scarring can reduce the person's life span, and reduce the life's quality. Medical experts are beginning to test if other organs of the body are being adversely affected, especially problems with the heart. A patient who  spent time on a ventilator told the press that weeks after returning home he still feels psychological problems from the experience. We could add to the list of those harmed by the coronavirus, the stress level of those health care workers who are caring for those struck by the virus.

Trump's 99% contention is causing major problems for high officials in the administration. They seem to be deathly afraid to challenge what he says or does, no matter how indefensible. FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn faced this problem when asked to endorse of reject Trump/s contention. Hahn refused to endorse, saying only that that the coronavirus was a big problem.  

#President Trump is associating himself more-and-more with "white supremacy." He retweeted a loud cry of "white power" coming from a man riding in a golf cart. His press secretary said he didn't hear the call, which was loudly and clearly shouted. 

#In a tweet, Trump said that Nascar had its lowest rating after banning the Confederate flag. The only recent polling I've seen shows an 8% increase in Nascar's popularity. Trump's press secretary, who will not tolerate any blemish on her boss's character, claimed that Trump doesn't have a position on the Confederate flag.

#Trump had tweeted that Bubba Wallace, the only African American driver in Nascar, should apologize for the noose incident in which a looped rope was found in his Nascar garage. Wallace didn't find the rope, nor did he make any claim that it was a hate crime directed against him. So he had nothing to apologize for.

#Trump said well over a month ago that he will put pressure on the nation's governors so that all public schools will open in the fall. Trump's pressure campaign violates long-held GOP dogma that the governments closest to the people govern best -- Ronald Reagan made this a mantra. In his speech accepting the GOP nomination for the presidency, Trump said he's the only one who can fix the nation's problems. As a fixer, he is a giant failure. 

President Trump's one size fits all policy doesn't account for virus "hot spots" where schools are located doesn't provide for another approach, such as online learning, or a combination of online and in-school learning. He also pays no mind to the possibility that students may bring home an infection contracted in school.

# President Trump has a very poor record in following through on his threats, and he takes credit for actions done by others: 1.) He threatened to lift restrictions on church openings, and then did nothing as the governors maintained their restrictions; 2.) He vowed to bring the military in to stop the protesters, and the only thing that happened on that front was that the 82nd Airborne stayed briefly in Washington D.C. before leaving; 3.) He took credit for ordering the National Guards around the nation to stop arson and looting; however, the state governors have control over their National Guard units and 4.) I previously wrote that Trump took full credit for bringing the unemployment rates of African Americans, Hispanics, and women to historic lows. In all three cases, all but 1% of the rate reductions     since the financial meltdown culminating in October 2008 took place, occurred while Barack Obama was president -- it wasn't until July 2019 that Trump lowered the women's rate to 3.7% from the 4.7% he had inherited from Obama.

ADDENDUMS:

* U.S. military spending dwarfs that of China at $228 billion,and Russia at $69.4 billion.

*A U. Mass/Amherst study found that $1 billion spent on the military created 8,555 jobs; the same amount spent on public transit created 19,795 jobs.

*On July 10th, Trump threatened the tax-exempt status of, and funding for universities and colleges, claiming that "too many" schools are driven by "radical left indoctrination."

*Mitt Romney tweeted that "it is unprecedented, historic corruption [when] an American president commutes the sentence for a person convicted by a jury, lying to shield that very president."