Dear Readers, 

I appreciate the debate spawned by my friend from Gilpin County in his letter to the editor titled, “Just who is Captain of this Ship?”  He claimed that as a Monday morning quarterback, I wasted 18 column inches on what Trump didn’t do to help fight the Covid-19 virus.  He suggests that we must support our president and forgive his occasional gaffs.  If we have beefs, that’s what the November election is for. The letter writer likely lives in the Fox News silo with heroes like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, perhaps Breitbart and Steve Bannon. He repeats many of the contentions on the far-right side, such as what the writer calls the “totally specious impeachment indignity.”

My silo:  NPR, CBS, NBC, ABC, PBS, The Guardian, and the occasional New York Times, Washington Post, or Atlantic Monthly article that someone sends my way. We both are examples of our bias. You, as thinking voters, pick your silo.  

As for the impeachment, don’t for a minute think that wasn’t a meritorious case. Many patriotic members of the State Dept came forward at great risk to themselves to testify to the damaging actions our president took toward the Ukrainian President. The evidence was very strong. Trump then stonewalled the whole inquiry, outrageously claiming “total immunity” from any oversight by the House of Representatives. The Senate, which is controlled by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and fearful of far-right primary challenges, showed zero courage and did not even ASK FOR WITNESSES. (Thank you Mitt Romney for your ethical stance). Even most Republican Senators agreed that Trump did something wrong. What Trump did to protect himself and the Senate didn’t do, harmed the balance of power in our system of government. 

What the letter writer didn’t understand was that my letter was the opening for a hoped-for debate about our government and leaders. I said that I didn’t think Trump was the man for the job. He was missing in action while the US fell seriously short on testing. It was Trump who collapsed the agency that was tasked with handling a possible epidemic. (He denied this recently, but there is tape of him doing precisely this in 2018 and claiming it as an achievement.  Another of his 16,000+ lies and growing.) As late as February 11th Trump proposed cutting the CDC by 16%. He was warned of the impending global crisis in the PDB (Presidential daily briefing) beginning in mid-January. This PDB has been “dumbed down” to keep Trump’s “uncommon genius” (his self-accolade) from getting confused. Meanwhile, Trump, was still telling the country falsehoods… that the virus would just magically disappear, etc. As late as mid-March, he was still sticking to that fantasy. He was warned over and over but turned a deaf ear. 

Now Trump is claiming the World Health Organization (WHO) didn’t warn us soon enough. This is an attempt to shift the blame and create a false narrative. I reviewed a timeline of events from late 2019 to early May and there is ample evidence of “warnings” to Trump from multiple sources. The CDC gave first warning about the Covid virus on Jan 8, the WHO on Jan 9. January 10 the WHO put out technical guidance info. Jan 24 Trump praised China for its transparency and help. Late January, Peter Navaro, Trump’s trade advisor, sent a first urgent message, then another in early March warning of the impending crisis. Thru Feb, the WHO was putting out further warnings, listing a strategic response on Feb 3, and on Feb 6 the WHO began distributing Covid–19 tests. The US declined, rolled out our own which failed and had to be replaced, taking weeks. Feb 6, Alex Azar, Sec of Health and Human Svcs, asked for 4 billion to fight the virus. Trump was furious and demoted him.  (Seems like a drop in the bucket compared to the trillions we are now spending.) What was Trump doing in the meantime? He played golf several times and held multiple rallies. Nero playing the fiddle while Rome burned?

Feb 24, the WHO announced a global health emergency. Feb 28, Trump blamed the Democrats at one of his rallies, calling it a hoax. March 6, Trump claimed that “anyone who wanted a test could get one.” Untrue then and the major reason we lost the containment battle and had to quarantine in place. March 11, the WHO called it a pandemic and was alarmed at the lack of response. Finally, on March 17, Trump claimed it was a pandemic and said he knew it all along. Just the week before, Trump had been comparing Covid to the flu. Result of all this? The US just suspended funding to the WHO, crippling one of the agencies on the front lines. Now the blame game shifts to China and whether the virus was biologically engineered in the Wuhan lab. All the intelligence agencies say no. Trump says yes. Says he has evidence, that is never shown.        

Trump has shown little ability to digest information and make decisions. He sways with the latest person he talks to. He is torn between Dr Anthony Fauci and the science part of his team, and his donors’ stock portfolios. He listens to his science advisors and says one thing, and then shortly thereafter tweets a different message. He did that exact thing in one weekend, suggesting social distancing guidelines for the nation and then re-tweeting a posting to “fire Fauci”, and tweeting to “Liberate Minnesota”, Michigan, etc. 

Last week when he visited a factory in AZ that makes masks, tone deaf Donald didn’t wear one. When VP Pence visited the Mayo Clinic, which has clear policies that everyone must wear a mask, he didn’t wear one, either. Now the virus has touched several close to both. Two weeks ago, Trump suggested that one might inject or ingest bleach, or somehow put UV lights inside people to kill the virus. His current science advisor, Dr Deborah Birx, struggled to tactfully contradict the president’s foolish and dangerous musings. Then Trump took up the banner of Hydro Chloroquine, an anti-malarial drug which I took when I was in Viet Nam nearly 50 years ago. It turns out that it suppresses immune response and is a critical drug for some with auto immune diseases, but it can cause heart rhythm problems. There is little evidence that it helps with Covid. Dr Richard Bright, the ousted chief of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Agency, (BARDA) said he was pressured to steer millions of dollars for research to Trump cronies, on an unproven drug that the president was schlepping. A boondoggle. Dr Bright was another who sounded the alarm in early January. His message was an inconvenient truth and he too was replaced. He is currently involved in a whistleblower lawsuit claiming he was a victim of retribution.

Finally, the “groping Joe” comment the letter writer mentions. Really? I personally don’t believe these allegations about Joe Biden, but as the old jazz classic says, “Compared to What?”  Our president famously said on the Hollywood Access video, “If you’re famous, they’ll let you do anything. I just grab them by the pussy.”  And what about the more than 20 women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct and assault?  

We need a leader, not a cheer leader, a uniter, not a vindictive, small minded divider.   Someone who thinks first about the welfare of the American people, not his poll numbers.  Trump ain’t it. 

Bill Thibedeau
Gilpin County

(Originally published in the May 14, 2020, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)