Democrats Anticipate Coup Before Inauguration
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INTRODUCTION
June 7 2020
Precipitated by the killing of George Floyd by Officer Darek Chauvin on May 25, our country has first faced an aborted attempt for President Trump to assert rule by decree, which was aborted by resistance from many sources described in this N.Y. Times article. This same spark, led first to marches in the the locale, to spread across the country and the world. The two sides are so embattled that I attempted a long view analysis in the developing article linked to the right.
This article I wrote on American Humanist Assoc.web site, is entitled "The Profound Damage of Trump's "Cure" for Covid-19" The most dire damage of the President personally promoting this cure is that it will exacerbate the already simmering political divide.
The research on pharmaceuticals are based on defined objective international standards, one that removes emotional response from the therapeutic efficacy of the medication.
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On the right side of this page are some current essays
Below are the listing of selected essays starting around 2010. Those that are indented are less important than others.
Last Day at the Zoo
I savored my freedom with man and beast on what could be my last such pleasure.
My Dailykos Experience- Banned after 700 essays
Antibody research and Creationism - Scantibodies Laboratories
A personal day long tour to a different world that merges modern science with ancient religion,
Review of article "Green New Deal, An Historical Prospective
In God We Trust"- The Established Religion of the U.S.A.
A work in progress: "Resistance" Then and Now
This article takes off on one by a man who noticed the commonality between Trump and Hugo Chavez, Trump the Messiah of our times- in all its connotations.
Reversal of Time, a spoof by physicists who love science fiction
A rejection of partisan extremism (is there any other kind) and the dangers thereof
A week to remember, hope on the day Trump becomes President (Dailykos essay)
White House Correspondents Dinner- A critical analysis of the tradition
Atheists are screwed-- Republicans want to convert us and Democrats won't expend political capital to stop them
How Google directs reader to his existing position on separation of church and state
Wikipedia v Twitter- Why the Outcome Matters
In the age of fake news and instant response by the President elect
Depression- being tested for it no longer optional
Essay on liberal blog Dailykos to goad President Obama to demand Director Comey defuse what I argued was a fatal blow to HRC's election. It illustrates how this group mindset treated what would be my accurate fear, that she would lose, with contempt. She has now stated that this release is what caused her loss.
Chronicle of correspondences re: the lN.Y. Times distorted paraphrase of 5th court of appeals decision. Shorter version of First person essay about this with link to longer personal reflections.
The Night I became a Trump Deplorable
N.Y. Times ombudsman packs it in- defeated by Institutional Hubris
This article, Marriage Equality among Primates. is a criticism of the tendentious nature and distortions of a recent N.Y. Times OpEd. It includes response from the author.
Candidate Trump: "Women who have abortions should be punished" what this means
A fictional account of a landmark Massachusetts decision from 2005, that may provide some understanding of underlying forces that elected Donald Trump. Addendum includes only full transcript of the dissent on the internet.
Healthcare Beyond Partisanship This is a website of studies and polls I undertook during the legislative process for the ACA (Obamacare) It has links to Dailykos article, ACA Passage Means Democrat Suicide showing 2 to 1 Democrat opposition at one point in time.
Candidate Romney defines USA as "nation bestowed by God"
Anne Frank, Edward F. Green and Donald Trump
Guest Poem by Sheila- The Swallows
Fareed Zakaria, "I am a Muslim" and then paying the price.
DailyKos Blog Article on my participation at UCSD Lecture, "The Physics of Free Will"
Article and discussion on California's new Medically Assisted Suicide Law, including reference to other societies where this leads to unintended consequences.
This is on Dailykos, on "they" for "he or she"-- but comments ignore the most important "begging the question" for political discourse
Science and Mysticism - the excesses of some theoretical physicists (read the addendum- will be a public discussion on January 26th.
On normal memory loss, one essay many links
After "Obergefell" -- Questions for the Era of Marriage Equality
Note the addendum that refers to the dissent against the first state decision on this issue.
Humanism and the danger of awe looks at how science, the touchstone of secular humanism, can also become its cultish antithesis. This Amazon review looks at a recent book with the same point of view.
"All Global Warming deniers paid hacks" - my refutation poking a hornet's nest in N.Y. Times.
Waco, Two Metaphors for America Two sides of due process
Hoi Polloi, More than a term from Ancient Greece, this essay goes into depth hot links of how this phrase provides a perspective on caste, class and how they affect the most valuable product of civilization, language.
"Negro, the word, gets a reprieve"
May 2016, This is a three part essay, all interconnected written over the course of a year, prompted by different events.
An essay by this atheist who found he is being prayed for, and wonders whether it is working during this Christmas season.
Islam and Secular Democracy, is it compatible based on its religious tenets? As we are about to possibly embark on a major war against ISIS, the violent group that has a an attraction that we can't understand, it becomes necessary to breach the principle of protecting all religions, and look at whether Islam is a central source of this movement. It is not something to do lightly, so my hope is that readers take this developing article seriously, and make their own contributions.
This is the link to , Focus on Encinitas- including this article describing why I resigned from my Commission seat.. On the right are lists of articles if anyone is seeking any topic, especially the one about my opposition to "Peak Democracy." This story of my transition is continued here
More than a book review of "Divide, American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap"
And this NY Times comment, expressing the same sentiment of the book review, (written before) that garnered wide approval on the perversion of our legal system.
This book pre-dated by a year the killings of black people by police that has sparked a national movement to end the easy violence among law enforcement.
An academic website where I challenge their liberal bias, an extensive comment- warning heavy going
The Pledge of Allegiance: A Personal Perspective
And this article just written,
The Pledge, including "under God" added in 1954 is now routine to our population that no longer remembers when this was added.
The Arts in America, Today and Yesterday.
Written early in the morning of Independence Day
Sectarian Prayer in City Councils-Town of Greece v. Galloway My article from October of last year when this Supreme Court case was argued. This comment, that I agree with is from Scotusblog that depicts this as tearing down the wall between church and state brick by brick. With links to the decision.
Chelsea King and Rachel Morrison- two tragedies two reactions
Addendum to "The Humanist" article Normal Aging or Disease, ......
CA, Obamacare, the long and short view. A valiant courageous effort to help the needy sick, or a continuation of the the war between the haves and the have-nots? For archival interest of evolution of the ACA is this essay from liberal Dailykos, that shows a surprising majority opposition in a poll of 400 readers .
Here is annotated article on Traffic Fads and Older Driver from my article in the Coast News-incorporating some concepts from articles below on dementia.
NY. Times: Data Mining comes to medical care- public health--
This article, MCI or CRS, why the diagnosis of a decline of memory matters. is based on a new law relating to cognitive evaluation of Medicare patients. It is an unknown aspect of the ACA. that impacts the culture of aging in this country.
Enlightened Christianity, is Secular Humanism up to the Challenge
This is a story of how the renovation of a McDonalds is affecting a three decade old Informal after tennis social group--and a whole slew of toddlers.
The real clash of civilizations-
No longer economic ideology, but secularism against religiosity
How Concierge Practice defeats The Promise of Medicare
Progress on Immigration reform, and my reality check.
"Facial features of dangerous criminals" an unfounded "science" presented at our own county library.
Breaking the Code of the Presidential Oath of Office,
Response to N.Y.Times "The Stone." Notes on Pop Cosmology and it's consequences
Medicare and the ACA, Obamacare, will fail without a change is societal values, as this essay based on a rather shocking poll of doctors describes. Comments include first person experiences of several physicians.
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The following are old essays that are mostly for my own reference
Article on mass killing in El Paso Texas on Aug 5, 2019
A Timely Thanksgiving Message to on World Peace and Tennis Conflicts
On returning from a local band concert, I initiated an exchange with the music director. It's about the "war on Christmas"
Alzheimers, or dementia, or just plain memory loss of aging? These are medical biological issues but also reflects our culture, how we handle the infirmities of aging. Here's a first person participant research of a major research program at University of California San Diego.
Aunt Lena, 1903-2012
A personal remembrance,
End-of-life care in America
Some ruminations on hospice the hope and illusions of ACA
I have been active The Soledad Veteran's Memorial issue for several years now, and report on the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court not to review the appeals court decision that the existing monument, a 42 ft high Latin Cross, that as of now is deemed an unconstitutional endorsement of religion. The blog, Soledad War Memorial goes into detail of the current court action with links to court decisions and it's history since 1989.
I opposed the comprehensive health care reform referred to as Obamacare, as described in this comprehensive essay, complete with multiple references. These represent multiple essays on the liberal web site, Dailykos.com, that were usually met with a respectful discussion. One article referenced from the N.Y. Times was from 2011, the next article from June 2012. Same conclusion with different focus, interesting in itself.
My report on UCSD conference referenced in the "Reader" Political Civility and Scientific Objectivity: Science, Technology and Public Policy in Democratic Societies is in this ongoing chronicle of my engagement with the issues raised there. There is an element of confrontation with what I view as the entrenched ideological goals of the institution having an adverse effect on open inquiry.
This essay, My neighbor, the inventor of the personal computer, is a narrative of one of the less controversial issues of the conference, the effect of government research funding on major technological advances.
"Chelsea's Law, an Opportunity Lost" is the story of a how a multiple rape murder became the impetus for a law that continues the counterproductive responses to a terrible, but thankfully rare, human aberration.
This is a discussion of my experience surrounding the 2012 Successful Aging Expo, focusing on my interactions with two speakers, research scientist James Brewer and talk show host Mike Slater.
Here is annotated "Coast News" article on Darrell Issa, with links to sources
It is referenced above in contrast to my article on a Democratic Representitive
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The archive list by date is to the right -feel free to browse
Thanks for dropping in. And be sure to leave a comment after reading.
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I have over sixty reviews of films on this list from IMDB, most are those that I enjoyed, or really loved for those who are looking for some recommendations.
Lincoln would not have prosecuted Trump
"And the war came" is a phase from Lincoln's second inaugural address shortly before the end of the war and of his life,
that looks back on the words of his first. Four years before he expressed hope that differences between the confederacy and the states united by the
federal constitution could be resolved by compromise. We are at a similar place right now, with failure to foresee
the future consequences of such an internecine war making such a tragedy possible.
War and politics are different domains of positions and of public discussion. In reality it is a continuum, something not realized until a transition between the two occurs. Opposing groups in the form of political parties are designed to allow their divergent interests and values to be determined short of actual combat by a structured periodic plebiscite to determine which shall prevail. Politics can be enjoyable, a club that brings people together against a common enemy. It has this carnival quality of an intoxicating unifying institution -- that is until the music stops.
We may actually be closer now than even the prelude to the Civil War. The current President has articulated only somewhat less than an overt threat with words such as these: "I can tell you I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the Bikers for Trump – I have the tough people, but they don’t play it tough — until they go to a certain point, and then it would be very bad, very bad."
The escalation of this saber rattling occurred recently from other side of the political divide from the presumptive Democratic candidate for the Presidency, Joseph Biden It was response to a question whether he would promise to "not pull a President Ford” by pardoning Trump “under the pretense of healing the nation.” Biden emphasized his concurrence with, "Absolutely, yes. I commit.” In this response was a tacit assumption that he condemned Ford's pardoning of President Nixon. This has not been the universal judgement of history, which is illustrated by the words of Ford's 2001 Kennedy Center Profiles in Courage award.
Lost to our public memory is the lesson that could be learned from the similarity between the Nixon presidency and that of Trump. This 1983 Atlantic Monthly article sounds familiar: "I'll tell you what," the prosecutor says. "They'll run for cover. One third of the country still supports him, (Nixon) and we're on the verge of civil insurrection. If he told the Joint Chiefs, 'I want the troops out and I want to dissolve Congress,' they would have done it." The article expresses that while Ford did not specifically agree to pardon Nixon, he did convey his belief that this was the preferable course of action for the country. .
Biden's glib statement is meaningful; as the question was an opportunity for him to define a direction for his administration that would have been a reversal of the hatred, both by and against the incumbent.. He could have responded without denying that his opponent deserves to be punished for his actions, for example, "This is a difficult subject, as the expectation of endless prosecution could energize Trump to foolishly try to prevent the constitutional transfer of power."
War and politics are different domains of positions and of public discussion. In reality it is a continuum, something not realized until a transition between the two occurs. Opposing groups in the form of political parties are designed to allow their divergent interests and values to be determined short of actual combat by a structured periodic plebiscite to determine which shall prevail. Politics can be enjoyable, a club that brings people together against a common enemy. It has this carnival quality of an intoxicating unifying institution -- that is until the music stops.
We may actually be closer now than even the prelude to the Civil War. The current President has articulated only somewhat less than an overt threat with words such as these: "I can tell you I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the Bikers for Trump – I have the tough people, but they don’t play it tough — until they go to a certain point, and then it would be very bad, very bad."
The escalation of this saber rattling occurred recently from other side of the political divide from the presumptive Democratic candidate for the Presidency, Joseph Biden It was response to a question whether he would promise to "not pull a President Ford” by pardoning Trump “under the pretense of healing the nation.” Biden emphasized his concurrence with, "Absolutely, yes. I commit.” In this response was a tacit assumption that he condemned Ford's pardoning of President Nixon. This has not been the universal judgement of history, which is illustrated by the words of Ford's 2001 Kennedy Center Profiles in Courage award.
Lost to our public memory is the lesson that could be learned from the similarity between the Nixon presidency and that of Trump. This 1983 Atlantic Monthly article sounds familiar: "I'll tell you what," the prosecutor says. "They'll run for cover. One third of the country still supports him, (Nixon) and we're on the verge of civil insurrection. If he told the Joint Chiefs, 'I want the troops out and I want to dissolve Congress,' they would have done it." The article expresses that while Ford did not specifically agree to pardon Nixon, he did convey his belief that this was the preferable course of action for the country. .
Biden's glib statement is meaningful; as the question was an opportunity for him to define a direction for his administration that would have been a reversal of the hatred, both by and against the incumbent.. He could have responded without denying that his opponent deserves to be punished for his actions, for example, "This is a difficult subject, as the expectation of endless prosecution could energize Trump to foolishly try to prevent the constitutional transfer of power."
It would
have been bad enough if he had stopped with this vow not to pardon, but he
went further, and in doing so betrayed his lack of mastery of the structure
of the executive branch of our government. He continued with “It’s
hands-off completely. Look, the attorney general of the
United States is not the president’s lawyer. It’s the people’s lawyer.” He is accurate in as far as traditionally, once an attorney general is appointed there is a
high degree of autonomy in specific choice of cases. Yet, as in all
cabinet positions, it is the elected president who defines the broad outlines of
policies.
The AG is the "peoples lawyer" only to the degree that he follows the
principles that are determined by the elected president.
Biden
may have been trying to convey that he would not use the justice department to advance partisan goals, but in doing so he went too far. He passed on the opportunity
to express a higher goal, to reverse the
pathological hatred of one party of the other. Rather, he signaled that
he would adopt an approach to lead his party to the destruction of the enemy, defined in the person of Donald J. Trump. No
prominent Democrat has publically questioned his statement, so the full extent of
the consequences of Biden's promise has not even been aired. Hatred of Trump is
what unites Democrats to the degree that anything short of making him
suffer for what he has done to the the country is blasphemy.
The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese became Japs, to be destroyed after great carnage in a war that ended in a flash that unleashed the specter of nuclear Armageddon. Our country demanded minimal retribution and no reparations. We only required that they become a democracy, which resulted in their becoming a stalwart of the "free world."
The ending of the Civil War was only a cessation of armed conflict; as the residue of slavery was deeper and broader than could be erased by Reconstruction. The resistance began with the KKK the same year the war ended continuing in many forms to this day. The current Democratic party, in proposing destroying the life of the deposed leader ignores the reality that Donald Trump would never have attained power if he did not reflect a movement much larger than himself. The challenge is greater than winning an election, and certainly not to be achieved by seeking retribution on the one who brought the stresses of our country to a head.
Addendum-Alternative laws that would allow presidential rule by decree
Congress, after the shock of 9-11, chose to redefine the Presidency in the "John Warner act
of 2007" It enhanced the power of the federal chief
executive over that of governors. It was to sunset in five years, but
it appears to have been reactivated as recently as 2018 and still is the law of the land.
In
spite of many Americans fearing the President becoming a
dictator, over the last half century or so, the mood of the country was
to enhance the power of this office, whether escorting negro children to
school after Brown v. Board or preventing the encroachment of "evil
empires." Trump
possesses all of the plenary authority that has been enshrined in f,ederal law that can not be negated, even by the high court if it were so
inclined.
My article, "Lincoln....." without
being explicit, proposes that the Democrats negotiate with Trump,
assuming that a fair election would require that he leave the
office he holds. "The deal is you accept the will of the
majority of the electoral college, and in return you get a federal pardon,
which will allow you to continue to build your political base as
a citizen leader, and maybe even return after the Dem's screw
up their term."
So far little support my suggestion. Let's give it a
description,
"appeasement"-- forgetting how this word is now equated with
cowardliness. It is really making the best of a crisis by
opting for compromise instead of a predictable catastrophic
outcome. The British public appreciated Nevil Chamberlain's
efforts using this strategy, and only a revisionist interpretation makes it seem his
doing his best faced by the complex challenge is to be condemned.
There is another side of the
nefariousness of Trump. It is what I view to be the profound defects
of the coalition that forms the current Democratic party. The
chaos in the streets we are experiencing is only partly by those
who want to revise the laws that define acceptable behavior of
the police. For many it is overtly radical, with posters such as "Eliminate
the Police" similar to those who chant, abolish, rather than
reform, ICE.
These events have shifted Biden's "probably choosing a Black VP" to he damn well better, and will do so. The vast scope of presidential responsibilities is ignored when a single identity becomes the primary criteria. The single black woman with experience in the federal government is Senator Kamala Harris, who is one of two candidates castigated in this Washington Post article for accusing the officer who killed Michael Brown in Ferguson. While every list of people of color who were wrongfully killed by police include this event, the article goes into detail why the officer, Darell Wilson is innocent, following the mandate to use lethal force when appropriate.
Police officer Wilson and George Flowd are both victims of our times. While I have no viable prescription for a solution, the first step is transcending the toxic partisanship that is certain to lead to a catastrophe we dare not imagine.
.
These events have shifted Biden's "probably choosing a Black VP" to he damn well better, and will do so. The vast scope of presidential responsibilities is ignored when a single identity becomes the primary criteria. The single black woman with experience in the federal government is Senator Kamala Harris, who is one of two candidates castigated in this Washington Post article for accusing the officer who killed Michael Brown in Ferguson. While every list of people of color who were wrongfully killed by police include this event, the article goes into detail why the officer, Darell Wilson is innocent, following the mandate to use lethal force when appropriate.
Police officer Wilson and George Flowd are both victims of our times. While I have no viable prescription for a solution, the first step is transcending the toxic partisanship that is certain to lead to a catastrophe we dare not imagine.
.
(NmCm --cancelled) Bill Gates- case for a movement to tranform the 2020 election
5/14/2020 -
Following is a draft of proposed NYTimes OpEd written by Al Rodbell, in the voice and with cooperation of Professor Noam Chomsky-
The
extent of polarization of our national politics is illustrated by
something that could not happen to me, but
did yesterday to the person who convinced me to write this OpEd for
this newspaper. Al.R is my intellectual doppelganger, whose childhood
did not provide the stimulation I was graced with that led to a life of
academic achievements and political activism.
Those who came of age before the turn of the century know of me, while
those born later rarely do. We wrote this OpEd together, coming to a
shared conclusion from very different lives. He describe this passing
conversation that could only happen to one whose
politics is not widely known.
"Walking
home yesterday, I greeted a neighbor who is a clinical psychologist,
and asked her whether she is busy
now with couples who are together day and night without previous
socializing. She hesitated, interpreting my words as indicating that I
was opposed to such regulations, and then concluded that I must be one
among the angry, perhaps to the point of rage at
those politicians who would deny my God given freedoms, She was a bit
ambiguous, but made the point that she sees no problem, and people are
"doing O.K." Without a single word of partisan politics, I was
identified as a Trump supporter -- verifying the breadth
of our toxic partisanship".
As
of this moment in time, civility across the political divide is still
possible. Whether it will still be so
when the campaign between the two political parties begins in earnest
is doubtful. Al contacted me out of the blue about five years ago,
having been frustrated by a refusal of this newspaper to print a
retraction of a distortion of an appeals court decision
- only a small element of the article. I replied with my own
frustration that this paper over the years did the same to me- which was
the beginning of our.connection.
He
wrote the following to verify we are on a common tract: It is self
evident that the divisiveness between what
is the TrumpRepublican party and the Democratic party is at an
unsustainable level which will escalate with the campaign between the
two putative candidates.
No matter who is elected, the results will be a presidential party
that builds on vilification of the opposition. A two party election
will inevitably continue to exacerbate raw hatred of the other;
exemplified by Pelosi ripping up the text of a vindictive
presidential speech in the midst of an impeachment trial with no
possibility of removal.
Bill
Gates has been thrust into the limelight by the current pandemic, which
he not only predicted but made an extraordinary
effort to alert chief executives of countries throughout the world.
The allocation of his billions through the Bill and Milinda Gates
Foundation are a mix of advanced scientific research to slow climate
change to expanding latrines that prevent disease in
the most impoverished countries of the world.
This recent article, "Bill Gates Has Regrets" in The Wall Street Journal lauding him showed in the
comments, that the mostly Republican readers
overwhelmingly admire him. As of this moment, his being able to be
nominated on the Libertarian ticket is still possible, This would be a
variation of a third party run Michael Bloomberg considered in 2016.
He wanted to be President with at least part of
the incentive being fame, power and glory a normal component of
ambition.. There is no evidence that Bill Gates,having earned such
admiration as a private citizen, would desire, or even accept the
Presidency.
All
of the stability, the redundancy and depth of authority of the party
system would be negated in a hypothetical
Gates administration. The complex party apparatus from vice president
to the cabinet to partisan think tanks and connections to state and
local governments would be gone. This would normally be enough to
reject even one as admirable and talented as Gates
transforming our party system. But it has already been transformed, so
the choice could be between the autocrat who is now in power and one
who is truly trying to save the world.
One
option that would preserve the existing party system, but also
transform it, would be that Biden ask Gates to
accept the Vice Presidency nomination. He would be given the authority
equivalent to Richard Cheney under the Bush administration, which was a
full realization of the autonomy of the position. He would be the
antithesis of the Mike Pence who has no independent
portfolio other than revering his President. Joe Biden chose to
promise that he would appoint a women with a strong hint it will be a
person of color. This promise may have won the nomination for him, but
it enshrines the simplistic and damaging elevation
of identity politics over the reality that it is the individual, rather
than his or her identity that should be evaluated in all aspects of
public life.
We
are at a pivotal time in history, where advances in technology,
specifically artificial intelligence is reaching
new levels of replacement of what had been human functions.
Simultaneously, the ubiquity of these systems have transformed how
populations are influenced, along with vulnerabilities to corruption of
even the most sensitive of networks. Bill Gates' background
as an innovator in this field would make his contributions as Vice
President even more productive.
With
armed men now occupying state capital buildings and others threatening
police who are enforcing social distancing regulations, we already have
the beginning of armed insurrection promoted by the President of the
United States. The upcoming election is the moment to take a stand, one
that will only be effective if the opposition to autocracy is not a
political party in disarray, but includes one individual who transcends
this toxic partisanship.
Bill Gates- original case for a movement to tranform the 2020 election
(This essay has been revised by more recent one)
Life has changed for most people, perhaps in the world, but certainly in the United States. Within a few weeks, this pandemic has preempted everything else that would have been the headlines, with little discussion of how the disease is affecting the upcoming election.
It would be easier if Bill Gates (William Henry Gates III) represented a wing of a political party, an organization of individuals sharing the same values and goals. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Like Jesus of Nazareth, Thomas Paine, and Babe Ruth -- he is unique. Most people who vie for the Presidency must have a desire for the fame and glorythat goes with the position, since they ignore its lethality, assassinations and attempts.
Gates' long interview with Fareed Fakaria on 4/26, along with his three part documentary of his extensive diverse humane projects around the world, convinced me that he, and sadly, only he, is the one who can change the inevitability of one of the two existing parties prevailing.
It is self evident that the divisiveness between what is the TrumpRepublican party and the Democratic party is at an unsustainable level, which will escalate with a campaign between the two putative candidates. No matter who is elected, the results will be a presidential party that builds on vilification of the opposition. A two party election will inevitably continue to exacerbate raw hatred of the other; exemplified by Pelosi ripping up the text of a vindictive presidential speech in the midst of an impeachment trial with no possibility of removal.
Bill Gates, this mere mortal, is caught in a bind. He was graced by the luck of timing, genetics and parenting that allowed him to become what he is. I see him as a unique individual where his God-given skills (He's O.K with "God," but as an idea, not a being) have put an obligation on him, perhaps to the world and country, but also to his own children.
The ultimate direction of our country, be it a socialistic or more conservative bent, can only be resolved if we survive the escalating partisan hatred of another round. Those who despise Trump must acknowledge that he warned us, "I could shoot a stranger dead on fifth avenue,and not lose a vote from my supporters," There is no Democrat who will tolerate absolute amnesty for all of Trump's malfeasance, yet any revenge is certain to escalate forward to a dismal future.
It could be that the horror of our pandemic is an omen from a higher being -- that I absolutely deny exists --that it is time for wisdom and compassion rather than revenge. No Democrat could run on such a forgiveness plank, while Bill Gates could do so. He is also more capable than anyone in political life to visualize the outline of the possibilities and risks of the accelerated expansion of Artificial Intelligence that is just around the corner.
I had written an argument for Bill Gates jumping in to get on the ballot for presidency this year. Realizing the impossibility of this, there is another more viable approach to enlisting the rare qualities of Mr. Gates. Rather than his running for President, he would marshal his personnel friendships with such as Warren Buffet and perhaps George Soros to redirect much of their vast wealth to the immediate goal of forming a third party.
This has been done quietly by the Koch brothers over decades now, their becoming a major force in influencing and energizing the Republican party. In the next few weeks, Biden will select a VP candidate and the campaign for presidency will begin. We've had a taste of the violence that is certainly to accompany this contest, the ending of which is too distressing to visualize.
There are a handful of those with the resources to get on the ballot of enough states to capture at least the Presidency. With Gates on the team, it could provide a new metaphor of what political discourse means. It's a long shot, but the only one that I can conceive of.
Life has changed for most people, perhaps in the world, but certainly in the United States. Within a few weeks, this pandemic has preempted everything else that would have been the headlines, with little discussion of how the disease is affecting the upcoming election.
It would be easier if Bill Gates (William Henry Gates III) represented a wing of a political party, an organization of individuals sharing the same values and goals. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Like Jesus of Nazareth, Thomas Paine, and Babe Ruth -- he is unique. Most people who vie for the Presidency must have a desire for the fame and glorythat goes with the position, since they ignore its lethality, assassinations and attempts.
Gates' long interview with Fareed Fakaria on 4/26, along with his three part documentary of his extensive diverse humane projects around the world, convinced me that he, and sadly, only he, is the one who can change the inevitability of one of the two existing parties prevailing.
It is self evident that the divisiveness between what is the TrumpRepublican party and the Democratic party is at an unsustainable level, which will escalate with a campaign between the two putative candidates. No matter who is elected, the results will be a presidential party that builds on vilification of the opposition. A two party election will inevitably continue to exacerbate raw hatred of the other; exemplified by Pelosi ripping up the text of a vindictive presidential speech in the midst of an impeachment trial with no possibility of removal.
Bill Gates, this mere mortal, is caught in a bind. He was graced by the luck of timing, genetics and parenting that allowed him to become what he is. I see him as a unique individual where his God-given skills (He's O.K with "God," but as an idea, not a being) have put an obligation on him, perhaps to the world and country, but also to his own children.
The ultimate direction of our country, be it a socialistic or more conservative bent, can only be resolved if we survive the escalating partisan hatred of another round. Those who despise Trump must acknowledge that he warned us, "I could shoot a stranger dead on fifth avenue,and not lose a vote from my supporters," There is no Democrat who will tolerate absolute amnesty for all of Trump's malfeasance, yet any revenge is certain to escalate forward to a dismal future.
It could be that the horror of our pandemic is an omen from a higher being -- that I absolutely deny exists --that it is time for wisdom and compassion rather than revenge. No Democrat could run on such a forgiveness plank, while Bill Gates could do so. He is also more capable than anyone in political life to visualize the outline of the possibilities and risks of the accelerated expansion of Artificial Intelligence that is just around the corner.
I had written an argument for Bill Gates jumping in to get on the ballot for presidency this year. Realizing the impossibility of this, there is another more viable approach to enlisting the rare qualities of Mr. Gates. Rather than his running for President, he would marshal his personnel friendships with such as Warren Buffet and perhaps George Soros to redirect much of their vast wealth to the immediate goal of forming a third party.
This has been done quietly by the Koch brothers over decades now, their becoming a major force in influencing and energizing the Republican party. In the next few weeks, Biden will select a VP candidate and the campaign for presidency will begin. We've had a taste of the violence that is certainly to accompany this contest, the ending of which is too distressing to visualize.
There are a handful of those with the resources to get on the ballot of enough states to capture at least the Presidency. With Gates on the team, it could provide a new metaphor of what political discourse means. It's a long shot, but the only one that I can conceive of.
And the war came... as It will again if we ignore history (5-21-)
"And the war came" is a phase from Lincoln's second inauguration
that looks back at his first, when there was still hope that the
differences between the confederacy and the country defined by the
federal constitution could be accommodated by both sides. My contention
is that we are at a similar place right now, with failure to foresee
the future consequences of war making such a tragedy probable. .
"War" and "politics" are usually different domains of our thinking and of public discussion. It is actually a continuum, something not realized until a transition between the two occurs. Opposing groups in the form of political parties are designed to allow their divergent interests and values to be negotiated short of actual combat, using a structured plebiscite to determine which shall prevail -- until another scheduled election will allow alteration or change in direction. Politics can be fun, a club that brings people together against a common enemy. It has this carnival quality, an intoxicating unifying institution -- that is until the music stops.
We may actually be closer now than even the prelude to the Civil War. The current President has articulated only somewhat less than an overt threat with words such as these: "I can tell you I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the Bikers for Trump – I have the tough people, but they don’t play it tough — until they go to a certain point, and then it would be very bad, very bad."
The escalation of this saber rattling occurred recently from other side of the political divide from the presumptive Democratic candidate for the Presidency, Joseph Biden It was response to a question whether he would promise to "not pull a President Ford” by pardoning Trump “under the pretense of healing the nation.” Biden emphasizing his concurrence with, "Absolutely, yes. I commit.” In this response was a tacit assumption that he condemned the pardoning of President Nixon. This has not been the universal judgement of history, which is illustrated by the words in the of the 2001 Kennedy Center Profiles in Courage award.
Biden's firm statement is meaningful; as the question was an opportunity for him to define a direction for his administration that would have been a reversal of the calumny and hatred of the incumbent.. He could have responded without denying that his opponent deserves to be punished for his actions, for example, "This is a difficult subject, as the expectation of endless prosecution could energize Trump to foolishly try to prevent the constitutional transfer of power."
"War" and "politics" are usually different domains of our thinking and of public discussion. It is actually a continuum, something not realized until a transition between the two occurs. Opposing groups in the form of political parties are designed to allow their divergent interests and values to be negotiated short of actual combat, using a structured plebiscite to determine which shall prevail -- until another scheduled election will allow alteration or change in direction. Politics can be fun, a club that brings people together against a common enemy. It has this carnival quality, an intoxicating unifying institution -- that is until the music stops.
We may actually be closer now than even the prelude to the Civil War. The current President has articulated only somewhat less than an overt threat with words such as these: "I can tell you I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the Bikers for Trump – I have the tough people, but they don’t play it tough — until they go to a certain point, and then it would be very bad, very bad."
The escalation of this saber rattling occurred recently from other side of the political divide from the presumptive Democratic candidate for the Presidency, Joseph Biden It was response to a question whether he would promise to "not pull a President Ford” by pardoning Trump “under the pretense of healing the nation.” Biden emphasizing his concurrence with, "Absolutely, yes. I commit.” In this response was a tacit assumption that he condemned the pardoning of President Nixon. This has not been the universal judgement of history, which is illustrated by the words in the of the 2001 Kennedy Center Profiles in Courage award.
Biden's firm statement is meaningful; as the question was an opportunity for him to define a direction for his administration that would have been a reversal of the calumny and hatred of the incumbent.. He could have responded without denying that his opponent deserves to be punished for his actions, for example, "This is a difficult subject, as the expectation of endless prosecution could energize Trump to foolishly try to prevent the constitutional transfer of power."
It would
have been bad enough if he had stopped with this vow not to pardon, but he
went further, and in doing so betrayed his lack of mastery of the structure
of the executive branch of our government. He continued with “It’s
hands-off completely. Look, the attorney general of the
United States is not the president’s lawyer. It’s the people’s lawyer.”
He is accurate in as far as traditionally once an attorney general is appointed there is a
high degree of autonomy in specific choice of cases. Yet, as in all
cabinet positions, it is the elected president who defines the board outlines of
policies.
The AG is the "peoples lawyer" only to the degree that he follows the
principles that are determined by the elected president.
Biden
may have been trying to convey that he would not turn the office into an arm of the partisan goals of the current president,
but in doing so he went too far, and worse, sacrificed the opportunity
to convey that he would be more changing who is dominant in the pathological hatred of one party of the other. Rather he signaled that he would unleash a tiger of an AG to destroy his predecessor , will not restrain how he goes about it.
The
lack of any media discussion of Biden's promise is further evidence
that the goal of healing has been all but completely replaced by stoking the hatred of one side towards the other.
No prominent Democrat has questioned his statement, so the full extent of the consequences of his promise have not been aired. Hatred of Trump is what unites Democrats to the degree that anything short of making him suffer for what he has done to the the country is blasphemy.. .
Biden is at a point that he could start to anticipate his presidency, where his major challenge must be to show the courage needed to heal the wounds that divide us. Anything less could lead to an unimaginable tragedy that must be avoided.
No prominent Democrat has questioned his statement, so the full extent of the consequences of his promise have not been aired. Hatred of Trump is what unites Democrats to the degree that anything short of making him suffer for what he has done to the the country is blasphemy.. .
Biden is at a point that he could start to anticipate his presidency, where his major challenge must be to show the courage needed to heal the wounds that divide us. Anything less could lead to an unimaginable tragedy that must be avoided.
Citizen Trump-, The Movie and the Man
Only the film was "Citizen Kane" and the central character was a fictional mogul, his fortune from a media empire rather than real estate. Citizen Kane is considered one of the greatest films of all time not for its entertainment value but the scope of Kane's life, from childhood to death. This is not a film review, rather its an attempt to provide a lens to view Donald J. Trump that is removed from the actual moment in time that the world is passing through.
Let's start with a composite Kane-Trump which allows us to create a biography that employs fiction to explore reality. Adult generations too young to know this movie, much less being fascinated by it, presents a challenge. So you in the prime of life can first read the Wikipedia article of the fictional Charles Foster Kane, and then come back to this --(It ain't the same as seeing the film).
I first watched the film on our little black and white TV around 1955, mesmerized for reasons I couldn't describe then, but now can make the attempt. The final scene is a flashback to Kane's childhood. Just before the final shot of a toy being tossed into the furnace, to be incinerated along with the carloads of detritus of his life, my dad who was watching it with me, intervened. He told me what was about to be thrown into the fire, something meant to remain unknown to those immersed in the fictional world of the movie, but never to be forgotten afterwards.
To this day, remorsefully, I remember my anger, my plaintive, "Dad, why did you tell me" and his hurt that I always regret. My father was not a success, most importantly in the context of his peers, first generation Jews in America. Often the route was starting a small business leading to the children's ultimate success in finance or science, perhaps even becoming a plutocrat or a Nobel Prize recipient.
I knew what" toys" I had been deprived of, while I'll never know those of my father that resulted in his living a life that at the time was stigmatized, our family vehicle being his taxi; the stripes and the lit dome light meaning I will follow your directions for a small charge, and you will own the back seat to do or say what you please during the trip. We parked the cab far away from social events for the many years it was part of our lives. He had came close to being on the entrepreneurial tract of his brothers, the little bakery he owned sold only months before war broke out. Then such small bakeries were provided with scarce allotments of flour for bread that was so in demand to require ration stamps, with a reasonable profit allowed to the bakery, or the chain of stores it could have become.
At about the same time-frame of my story from the 1950s, there was another one playing out of a father and son. It is that of Donald J. Trump and his father, Fred Trump. The goal of this article is to see our President, his strengths and his pathologies through a different lens, A well known public intellectual whom I formed a type of connection with over the last years, responded to my request for his comment to "add class" to an article I had published with, "Hard to deal with a sociopathic narcissist"
It sure is, but I'm attempting to do just that. Sociopathy is a personality disorder, one that is rarely remediated since it is deeply ingrained by the circumstances of ones earliest childhood. One who has this condition, even if he is in a position that it causes great harm to the entire world is still a victim, not negated by his victimization of others. The story of Fred Trump Sr., and his two older sons Fred Jr and Donald J. is well described in this Washington Post article, Trump pressured his alcoholic brother about his career. Now he says he has regrets. There is no reason to believe it is other than candid.
Both Donald J. Trump and the fictional Charles Foster Kane share the diagnosis of sociopathic narcissism, which like all personality syndromes are considered intractable, so ingrained that it can't be changed by the most extensive therapeutic intervention. Citizen Trump, unlike Citizen Kane, has actually risen to the position that the fictional character only aspired to.
Rage or pity, President Trump or Trump-(the lack of the honorific reflecting contempt rather than brevity) I have no closure to this essay anymore than the American people do. His approval rating is rising during this pandemic, even though his latest assertion is resisting the professionals' recommendation for everyone to wear masks with, "I'm not going to do it"
What this man realizes, more than epidemiologists, is the vital need for human connection, how we convey stress, anger or friendliness in our face. It is a subtle language of feelings that weaves together cultures and communities, something that Trump knows in his bones, that the scientists didn't consider.
Yet, like a great method actor, this individual can and does use his demeanor, his facial expression both to convey his immediate feeling ,but also to advance the plot of the story, his story, history. His enemies see everything he does and says as self interest, while his supporters enjoy him when he's sharing his feelings, and indulge him when he is performing - especially when they have shared goals.
Those who have never seen the 1941 film, I suggest you track it down. If you are watching it with someone else do not give away what is being thrown in the furnace. And allow time to contemplate how the fictional "Citizen" helps us understand the living one, whether we revere or despise him.
.
Let's start with a composite Kane-Trump which allows us to create a biography that employs fiction to explore reality. Adult generations too young to know this movie, much less being fascinated by it, presents a challenge. So you in the prime of life can first read the Wikipedia article of the fictional Charles Foster Kane, and then come back to this --(It ain't the same as seeing the film).
I first watched the film on our little black and white TV around 1955, mesmerized for reasons I couldn't describe then, but now can make the attempt. The final scene is a flashback to Kane's childhood. Just before the final shot of a toy being tossed into the furnace, to be incinerated along with the carloads of detritus of his life, my dad who was watching it with me, intervened. He told me what was about to be thrown into the fire, something meant to remain unknown to those immersed in the fictional world of the movie, but never to be forgotten afterwards.
To this day, remorsefully, I remember my anger, my plaintive, "Dad, why did you tell me" and his hurt that I always regret. My father was not a success, most importantly in the context of his peers, first generation Jews in America. Often the route was starting a small business leading to the children's ultimate success in finance or science, perhaps even becoming a plutocrat or a Nobel Prize recipient.
I knew what" toys" I had been deprived of, while I'll never know those of my father that resulted in his living a life that at the time was stigmatized, our family vehicle being his taxi; the stripes and the lit dome light meaning I will follow your directions for a small charge, and you will own the back seat to do or say what you please during the trip. We parked the cab far away from social events for the many years it was part of our lives. He had came close to being on the entrepreneurial tract of his brothers, the little bakery he owned sold only months before war broke out. Then such small bakeries were provided with scarce allotments of flour for bread that was so in demand to require ration stamps, with a reasonable profit allowed to the bakery, or the chain of stores it could have become.
At about the same time-frame of my story from the 1950s, there was another one playing out of a father and son. It is that of Donald J. Trump and his father, Fred Trump. The goal of this article is to see our President, his strengths and his pathologies through a different lens, A well known public intellectual whom I formed a type of connection with over the last years, responded to my request for his comment to "add class" to an article I had published with, "Hard to deal with a sociopathic narcissist"
It sure is, but I'm attempting to do just that. Sociopathy is a personality disorder, one that is rarely remediated since it is deeply ingrained by the circumstances of ones earliest childhood. One who has this condition, even if he is in a position that it causes great harm to the entire world is still a victim, not negated by his victimization of others. The story of Fred Trump Sr., and his two older sons Fred Jr and Donald J. is well described in this Washington Post article, Trump pressured his alcoholic brother about his career. Now he says he has regrets. There is no reason to believe it is other than candid.
Both Donald J. Trump and the fictional Charles Foster Kane share the diagnosis of sociopathic narcissism, which like all personality syndromes are considered intractable, so ingrained that it can't be changed by the most extensive therapeutic intervention. Citizen Trump, unlike Citizen Kane, has actually risen to the position that the fictional character only aspired to.
Rage or pity, President Trump or Trump-(the lack of the honorific reflecting contempt rather than brevity) I have no closure to this essay anymore than the American people do. His approval rating is rising during this pandemic, even though his latest assertion is resisting the professionals' recommendation for everyone to wear masks with, "I'm not going to do it"
What this man realizes, more than epidemiologists, is the vital need for human connection, how we convey stress, anger or friendliness in our face. It is a subtle language of feelings that weaves together cultures and communities, something that Trump knows in his bones, that the scientists didn't consider.
Yet, like a great method actor, this individual can and does use his demeanor, his facial expression both to convey his immediate feeling ,but also to advance the plot of the story, his story, history. His enemies see everything he does and says as self interest, while his supporters enjoy him when he's sharing his feelings, and indulge him when he is performing - especially when they have shared goals.
Those who have never seen the 1941 film, I suggest you track it down. If you are watching it with someone else do not give away what is being thrown in the furnace. And allow time to contemplate how the fictional "Citizen" helps us understand the living one, whether we revere or despise him.
.
The Bright Side of this Covid-19 Pandemic
The suffering can't be measured in number of fatalities, which compared to all the diseases of the aged are small, but to the fear, the rareness of such a plague being beyond anyone's memory -- the pervasive feeling of suffocation by a miasma of microscopic entities too complex to understand that can reach us no matter our protections is overwhelming.
What exactly do I find good, maybe even exhilarating about such a scourge!!
First I have to give some background, the answer to "what kind of a life has this guy lived that he's enjoying the suffering of the entire world" Well, first of all I'm not. I have empathy for those who are living in fear, and compassion for those afflicted.
The pleasure, sometimes even happiness, can only be explained by describing my previous life that has been transformed, that just may resonate with others. No, I haven't cornered the cloth mask market, or discovered a secret cure for those afflicted. It's that after eight decades, I am living in a different world. It's a middle class suburb of San Diego, that we moved to based on a fantasy- that even though a lower status area, this time, we would find that community that provides a neighborly setting that I have sought all of my life.
It didn't. Rather it turned out to be even less than I had longed for -- actually all of my life. My wife and I just came back from a long walk, where we started to talk about our parents, all of them from a Jewish East European shtetl, and how their fears of being among non-Jews affected us, differently but with some similarities. Now, most of our faith (usually non-faith) first and second generation have done fine, the number of Democrats in the leadership of Congress being an illustration.
Stone sober, our walk had taken us to the land of Oz, that although threatened by evil, was full of laughter and joy. Those strangers in the land we came from only two weeks ago BC (Before Coronavirus) were now like family, as we walked past each other with a smile and greeting that said we are all together in this battle, so we step away as a sign of caring, of protection for you and your dog, or children from being harmed.
These seem to be the same people who I passed in silence before. The same kids who now I would eke out a smile with some silly joke, that would make her worried mother happy also. When we move to the side to secure that "social distance" that has become like a little dance, often with a tip of the hat to convey the irony of our now formalized routine.
For a while my spouse was engrossed in the catastrophe engulfing N.Y.C. since she had lived their until we moved west two decades ago. We had lived together on the top of a 40 story condo nestled a short walk from Central Park, Lincoln Center and the Hudson River. I had gotten involved, running for the nomination for the state legislature; although losing, getting to know Assemblyman Jerald Nadler in our joint effort to stop a mega-development of an aggressive developer who was later to make quite a name for himself.
I had gone cold turkey, no TV or Newspapers at all, while S. was following the carnage taking place in her home town. Her engrossed in the carnage from our viral enemy, my treating this lightly was unacceptable. "This is no joke" she said expressing her own fear that I would bring this scourge home on my unwashed hands. I could take it no more, to the point I had to take a long long walk, reaching the long strip under the high tension wires that had become a dog walk. There, like our loving pooches, we express no political views, as we care about each other species and party not interfering.
I allow myself to dream that when this scourge is defeated the sense any differences among us being subordinated to defeating our common enemy will remain. If this is a delusion that should be dissipated by the reality of our political divisiveness, it is one I will savor as long as I can. I know that this virus can and will be defeated, but the greater challenge remains, which is find a way to bring us --not exactly together-- but to a point where our differences can be hashed out civilly.
We atheist don't believe in God, but maybe we can make an exception this one time, and all pray that if this scourge is a message to us all, that the kind of hatred that now prevails will cease. and we will not allow all of the works of those who came before us to be in vain. We can have both social distance and neighborly love, something that I may have caught rather than the virus, that I happily share with all.
What exactly do I find good, maybe even exhilarating about such a scourge!!
First I have to give some background, the answer to "what kind of a life has this guy lived that he's enjoying the suffering of the entire world" Well, first of all I'm not. I have empathy for those who are living in fear, and compassion for those afflicted.
The pleasure, sometimes even happiness, can only be explained by describing my previous life that has been transformed, that just may resonate with others. No, I haven't cornered the cloth mask market, or discovered a secret cure for those afflicted. It's that after eight decades, I am living in a different world. It's a middle class suburb of San Diego, that we moved to based on a fantasy- that even though a lower status area, this time, we would find that community that provides a neighborly setting that I have sought all of my life.
It didn't. Rather it turned out to be even less than I had longed for -- actually all of my life. My wife and I just came back from a long walk, where we started to talk about our parents, all of them from a Jewish East European shtetl, and how their fears of being among non-Jews affected us, differently but with some similarities. Now, most of our faith (usually non-faith) first and second generation have done fine, the number of Democrats in the leadership of Congress being an illustration.
Stone sober, our walk had taken us to the land of Oz, that although threatened by evil, was full of laughter and joy. Those strangers in the land we came from only two weeks ago BC (Before Coronavirus) were now like family, as we walked past each other with a smile and greeting that said we are all together in this battle, so we step away as a sign of caring, of protection for you and your dog, or children from being harmed.
These seem to be the same people who I passed in silence before. The same kids who now I would eke out a smile with some silly joke, that would make her worried mother happy also. When we move to the side to secure that "social distance" that has become like a little dance, often with a tip of the hat to convey the irony of our now formalized routine.
For a while my spouse was engrossed in the catastrophe engulfing N.Y.C. since she had lived their until we moved west two decades ago. We had lived together on the top of a 40 story condo nestled a short walk from Central Park, Lincoln Center and the Hudson River. I had gotten involved, running for the nomination for the state legislature; although losing, getting to know Assemblyman Jerald Nadler in our joint effort to stop a mega-development of an aggressive developer who was later to make quite a name for himself.
I had gone cold turkey, no TV or Newspapers at all, while S. was following the carnage taking place in her home town. Her engrossed in the carnage from our viral enemy, my treating this lightly was unacceptable. "This is no joke" she said expressing her own fear that I would bring this scourge home on my unwashed hands. I could take it no more, to the point I had to take a long long walk, reaching the long strip under the high tension wires that had become a dog walk. There, like our loving pooches, we express no political views, as we care about each other species and party not interfering.
I allow myself to dream that when this scourge is defeated the sense any differences among us being subordinated to defeating our common enemy will remain. If this is a delusion that should be dissipated by the reality of our political divisiveness, it is one I will savor as long as I can. I know that this virus can and will be defeated, but the greater challenge remains, which is find a way to bring us --not exactly together-- but to a point where our differences can be hashed out civilly.
We atheist don't believe in God, but maybe we can make an exception this one time, and all pray that if this scourge is a message to us all, that the kind of hatred that now prevails will cease. and we will not allow all of the works of those who came before us to be in vain. We can have both social distance and neighborly love, something that I may have caught rather than the virus, that I happily share with all.
The prfound damage of Trump's pushing his "cure" for covid-19
This is published on the website of The Humanist Association of America 3/26/20
----addenda follows
----addenda follows
The deep damage of Trump's promoting the drugs, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, effective for treating malaria, has not been broached by the media. In the widely viewed daily report on this pandemic, Dr. Fauci, delicately — yet forcefully — pushed back, explaining that there was only anecdotal evidence that the drugs, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, may be effective. The dialog between the two, began with Trump saying“I’m a smart guy,” Fauci, acknowledging he couldn’t predict the drugs would work.and up saying, “I feel good about it. And we’re going to see. You’re going to see soon enough.
President Trump has hundreds of million's of fans, those who trust and admire him, in this and many other countries in the world, all fighting this global pandemic. Trump is, in fact, a smart man, as he reminds us of frequently, yet he could not explain a principle of epidemiology, "double blind verification of the efficacy of a medical treatment. Dr. Fauci chose not to go into this, as it would have damaged their tacit agreement, that he would correct only the very worse of Trump's actions, but would not do or say anything that challenges his authority.
Fauci did delicately —
yet forcefully — push back; explaining that there
was only "anecdotal evidence that the drugs, chloroquine and
hydroxychloroquine, may be effective." They engaged in a dialogue, that was really a battle of wills between the two, with the President concluding by saying, "Nobody's going to get killed by trying it"
It is certain that those who do have the Covid-19 will feel better after taking chloroqune. This is as certain as those who visit Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes to genuflect at the shrine do actually feel better, with some even living a bit longer based on their emotional boost. This a beneficial side of the "placebo effect" but there is also the vast harm that is done when there is widespread belief in a nostrum, a cure that is actually of no curative value.
There is another dimension, more profound and devastating that has been ignored by the media. Trump is known for his spreading hatred against institutions, such as the free press, the protection of the first amendment not limiting his calumny of any critical report defined as being "fake." Trump's introduction and enthusiasm for chloroqune is already having the effect of causing shortages for those with diseases that this actually helps..
This "blessing" of this medication by President Trump will divert his acolytes, which are not a small group, to shift see this untested medication as a cure for this fatal disease. The painful and distressing treatment that now is the only one that works, is excruciating for many, a version of national "lockdown." where the entire public is in virtual house arrest. The emotional distress, even beyond the actual inability to acquire necessities of living, is not a trivial matter.
While Trump is an intelligent man, he knows nothing about epidemiology. But ignorance about an area has never deterred his asserting expertise, made more vivid in his own mind by his never bringing into conversations those who have spent their careers in delving into complex areas, examples being Global Climate Change, the technology of evolving military weaponry or colonization of our planetary system.
Tragically, President Trump, by making specific suggestions of treatment for this pandemic, has politicize this tragic challenge to the world. Even if he eventually softens his enthusiasm for this drug, there is no reason to believe this will not have been assimilated by his base, and perhaps those of his style of leadership in other countries.
This seemingly benign recommendation, based on the divisiveness of our country, will only fuel such hatred that is little affected by the outcome of a few tests that are ongoing, among international venues. The brief effort of Trump uniting our country against a common enemy, his proudly stating on multiple occasions, "I'm now a war president" is only a fragile conceit, as he does not seem to understand the very concept.
The ancient Hippocratic Oath of physicians starts with, "First, Do No Harm." This must not be breached, especially by a President who is asserting his role as Physician in Chief in a war that he can't begin to understand.
------------The following is addenda to the above article------------------------
This quote that couldn't be located for the Humanist article, is from this CNN article, ""The nice part is," he (Trump) said last week, "it's been around for a long
time, so we know that if things don't go as planned, it's not going to
kill anybody."
More important is this report just posted in the NY Times, No, These Medicines Cannot Cure Coronavirus, it includes this:
As psychiatrists, we are worried about the shocking increase in people self-medicating with these drugs. To emphasize this point: These are not harmless medications. They could have serious consequences — like death.Doctors have known for decades that chloroquine and related medications like hydroxychloroquine and mefloquine can cause psychiatric side effects even after just one dose. While some patients experience mild anxiety, insomnia and nightmares, others have severe symptoms like personality changes, paranoia, hallucinations and even suicidal thoughts.
Extensive
testing of chloroquine is proceeding outside of agencies such as the
World Health Organization that Dr Fauci heads. This is sponsored by the
founder of Oracle, Larry Ellison, in defiance of the recommendation of
the medical research community, as described in this article.
=ll the leading
immortalists started out in tech, and all had a father who died young
(as Ray Kurzweil’s did when he was twenty-two), or absconded early (as
Aubrey de Grey’s did before he was born). They share an early loss of
innocence and a profound faith that the human mind can perfect even the
human body. Larry Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle, lost his adoptive
mother to cancer when he was in college—and later donated three hundred
and seventy million dollars to aging research. “Death has never made any
sense to me,” he told a biographer. “How can a person be there and then
just vanish?” Bill Maris, who conceived of Calico, said that, when he
pondered the inevitability of death, “I felt it was maybe our mission
here to transcend that, and to preserve consciousness indefinitely.”
Immortalists fall into two camps. Those who might be called the Meat Puppets, led by de Grey, believe that we can retool our biology and remain in our bodies. The RoboCops, led by Kurzweil, believe that we’ll eventually merge with mechanical bodies and/or with the cloud. Kurzweil is a lifelong fixer and optimizer: early in his career, he invented the flatbed scanner and a machine that reads books aloud to the blind. Those inventions have improved dramatically in subsequent iterations, and now he’s positive that what he calls “the law of accelerating returns” for human longevity is about to kick in.
I met with Kurzweil at Google, where he is a director of engineering, but he emphasized that he was speaking in his private capacity as a futurist. Though a few days short of his sixty-ninth birthday, he looked much younger. After discovering, in his thirties, that he had Type 2 diabetes, he changed his life style radically and began taking supplements. He swallows some ninety pills a day, including metformin; Basis; a coenzyme called Q10, for muscle strength; and phosphatidylcholine, to keep his skin supple. “How does it look?” he asked me, plucking at his forearm. “Supple!” I said.
Kurzweil thinks of such efforts, which attempt to slow aging by using current technology, as Bridge One to indefinite longevity. But he also subscribes to the belief that the body is essentially a computer made up of overwritable data and updatable apps. Therefore, we’ll soon be in the midst of a biotech revolution, which will offer personally tailored immune therapies for cancer as well as organs grown from our own DNA. This is Bridge Two, which he believes will bring us to longevity escape velocity within about fifteen years. “I’m actually a little more optimistic than Aubrey,” he said. Bridge Three, which he expects us to cross by the two-thousand-thirties, is nanobots—blood-cell-size devices that will roam the body and the brain, cleaning up all the damage that de Grey wants to fix with medical interventions. “I used to call it the killer app of health technology,” Kurzweil said, “but that’s not a good name.”
Immortalists fall into two camps. Those who might be called the Meat Puppets, led by de Grey, believe that we can retool our biology and remain in our bodies. The RoboCops, led by Kurzweil, believe that we’ll eventually merge with mechanical bodies and/or with the cloud. Kurzweil is a lifelong fixer and optimizer: early in his career, he invented the flatbed scanner and a machine that reads books aloud to the blind. Those inventions have improved dramatically in subsequent iterations, and now he’s positive that what he calls “the law of accelerating returns” for human longevity is about to kick in.
I met with Kurzweil at Google, where he is a director of engineering, but he emphasized that he was speaking in his private capacity as a futurist. Though a few days short of his sixty-ninth birthday, he looked much younger. After discovering, in his thirties, that he had Type 2 diabetes, he changed his life style radically and began taking supplements. He swallows some ninety pills a day, including metformin; Basis; a coenzyme called Q10, for muscle strength; and phosphatidylcholine, to keep his skin supple. “How does it look?” he asked me, plucking at his forearm. “Supple!” I said.
Kurzweil thinks of such efforts, which attempt to slow aging by using current technology, as Bridge One to indefinite longevity. But he also subscribes to the belief that the body is essentially a computer made up of overwritable data and updatable apps. Therefore, we’ll soon be in the midst of a biotech revolution, which will offer personally tailored immune therapies for cancer as well as organs grown from our own DNA. This is Bridge Two, which he believes will bring us to longevity escape velocity within about fifteen years. “I’m actually a little more optimistic than Aubrey,” he said. Bridge Three, which he expects us to cross by the two-thousand-thirties, is nanobots—blood-cell-size devices that will roam the body and the brain, cleaning up all the damage that de Grey wants to fix with medical interventions. “I used to call it the killer app of health technology,” Kurzweil said, “but that’s not a good name.”
Last Day at the Zoo
Started 3/15/2020 Posted 3/19/2020
The word "zoo" can denote an actual place - a collection of animals for display, or the word can be a state of confusion and disorder where reason does not exist. A widely covered speech by President Donald J. Trump, on March 13, 2020 was when he abruptly became a different person, like the fictional "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" The President in his previous persona had dismissed the coronavirus, COVID-19 pandemic as a "hoax" fomented by his many enemies, while the latter spoke like a world leader who accepted a challenging reality. The "last day"is a weekend the day before closing to the public for two weeks, even though unless this virus is miraculously eliminated from the world, it will possibly remain closed for months, even years.
For most people, adults as well as children, a zoo is like a circus for the entertainment of looking at different animals not seen elsewhere. Only at the "last day" did I appreciate this facility as an elaborate museum of the evolution of life on this planet -- every animal being an illustration of our Earth evolving over eons; such a rumination only at this moment when there is the possibility that human life as we know it could be at risk, brought down not by "evil empires" unleashing nuclear Armageddon but something different. Those with a scientific-atheist bent are amazed by the process, as they search for a way to defeat it. . For others, it is confirmation of action by a higher being, "God" in his many forms and incarnations-- such beliefs historically having resulted in wars, hatred and carnage.
For the first time in my many visits to this zoo, I looked at every animal through a different lens, some consigned to isolation without a mate; while other such as the amazing pink flamingos living in masses where the choreographing of their ballets have meaning that is still undecipherable to scholars who spend their careers in the attempt. Just as we humans, at times are individuals, we often often move in unison as the most disciplined Company of Marines or performers in a Busby Berkley film of the 1930s, We know how and why the Marines and the dancers do what they do, or why masses of others humans marched in unison to a more dire fate, yet the "how" and "why" of the same chorus of these birds is unknown.
There is another aspect of this "last day" at the zoo, which is my feeling towards the animals in cages had similarities with that of human visitors. With nothing to lose I started up dozens of conversations, that, in reaction to my own mood, were engaged by every single person. It could have been started by a smile and quip, or something more detailed like engaging a man from Australia on the culture of the aborigines who still are living the lives of those ancestors who were there forty millennia ago, with no connection to other cultures.
One bird had no companion at all, with the odd species name of "Secretary bird" These birds are a smaller version of the same extinct creature of which there was a sculpture only, large enough to have killed a human being the same way the living descendant can stomp to death a snake. I was fascinated by the living bird, as it was stamping to death an insect to eat, but if it were in the wild in it's natural environment it would be small bird or snake, so it could procreate and continue to survive -- perhaps for millions more years -- or until anthropogenic climate change or nuclear Armigedian intervenes. Such a creature, if never seen could certainly be depicted as the fruit of a Dr. Seuss' fantastic imagination, But only the ceramic model of it's ancestor is a human-created artifact, the actual bird is alive, stomping for food and walking his cage alone.
Having a last day at the Zoo, (actually spread over two days) was in anticipation of a civilizational catastrophe- either from COVID-19 or the over-reaction that disrupts the human interactions that have become integral to cultures everywhere. The warning of a type of sequestering, "social distancing" meaning not coming closer than six feet from another person. No one at the zoo, except two Asian out of the many thousands, wore face masks. I connected with people on a different level, one that resonated best with children who were just beginning to walk and talk. I put on my invisible bright red volunteer shirt that indicated I could be trusted as an official of the complex, and often just offered to help those who couldn't find their way in the byzantine maze of trails. When a grown up, especially men (in the olden days) can't find his way when studying a map, there is a sense of anger, despair and failure, a tiny dose of a destructive self image that is intolerable.
One man, whose cap read, "Viet Nam Veteran," had experienced this with his wife as they were studying the map. A few minutes later he was sitting by himself . His wife had gone on alone and after a minute or two of talking about how confusing it was to get around the zoo as I got up to leave he said, " I really appreciate your taking the time to talk to me." I knew exactly how he felt, how we all feel when the challenges of the world, whether making a living, or helping one's kids, or getting lost in the woods, life is not working, and at least there is someone who commiserates, understands -- asking nothing in return.
As the long day was closing that very well could mark the end of an era, a certainty for those who do not survive the pandemic, there was one interaction with a middle age couple that would not have happened in another time and place. They were an educated couple, introducing themselves as Ann and Ralph, with a slight accent, a decade or two younger than me. They were friendly and on the same intellectual wave length, our common antipathy towards Trump leavened by our agreement that he reflects tensions that predate him. My recounting as metaphor of him, how a supersaturated solution (reflecting stresses of society) congeals by adding a particle precipitant, a small crystal of solute (a single charismatic leader) was completed by Ralph. We began to talk about our lives and experiences. Ann brought up how we Jews faced discrimination, only a half century ago not being allowed to reside in some local neighborhoods. I affirmed this, but made the point that as a result of the rejection by the larger community, there is enhanced cohesion, a sense of belonging among other Jews.
With the announcement of closing, we started strolling to the exit. I continued our discussion, illustrating my point that the name for the human species, "homo sapiens" really should be demoted, as "sapien", meaning wise, entails a process of investigating and discovery "the scientific method" which is actually quite rare among we humans. I started to give an example, describing how Israel has no compunction to kill masses of Muslims in Gaza ....... At that point Ralph spun around, and confrontationally said, "I'm Israeli, and I'm not taking any of this shit that we are ruthless murderers........ " I tried to calm him down by finishing my example, but he had already reached his conclusion that I was one of the Israel haters, whmo he is not about to even talk to.
I thought about speaking louder, talking over him, explaining that the next sentence was to be......"and the Muslims in Gaza have no compassion towards the Israelis they kill or maim with their missiles." But I was not going plead that he hear me out. I simply waved them on as they sped up to walk away from me. I was hurt, yet also the exchange was a confirmation of what conversation has descended to. Among certain sects of Christians the phrase is "Get behind me Devil" meaning I will not even listen to your deceiving words. Experiencing a variation of this from the mouth of my fellow Jew with a PhD, after getting over the hurt of their rejection, turned out to be confirmation of my new understanding of our species. Yet the hurt lingers, as the intellectual confirmation does not begin to compensate for the destruction of this half hour long "friendship"
Postscript: Now, it's four days after the starting this essay -- the referenced Trump speech is ancient history. The "Two week" closure of the Zoo, has now officially been revised to last many months. The day after I started this essay the elderly (never precisely defined) were instructed/mandated by local governments to "shelter in place" meaning to stay at home- as if everyone had a home rather than a tarp to cover them at night. It also struck a chord with the restrictions after Kristalnacht, the beginning of the end for Jews in Nazi controlled Europe.
I got stuck trying to find a way to close out my essay, and could not seem to do it outside of a scholarly tome on evolution of species and the physical planet's vulnerability to destruction, such as the meteor that caused mass extinctions illustrated by multiple exhibits that were not as much fun as watching the animals. Knowing this could be my last visit ever to the zoo, I wanted to share what I had missed for so many years, going beyond this zoo as a circus, but what these caged animals,tell us about the commonality with their extinct forebears, and their close cousin who are entertained by them outside of the cages.
My Cousin, Martin Rodbell happened to write a poem to close out his Nobel Prize lecture in Stockholm earned for discovery of the G-protein, that ironically is a step in the possible defeat of the current pandemic. It expresses what I had been struggling to convey. I personally included it on his Wikipedia site, at the end under the heading, " Rodbell's Personal Philosophy of Science" and have prevented its removal, as poems are not usually a part of a scientist's biography. I will take the liberty of putting in italics words that put the current pandemic and economic collapse in the context of the unimaginable scope of time and extent of our universe.
To which I simply add, "Amen"
Related essay here on the life of Martin. Rodbell's wife during German occupation of the Netherlands
The word "zoo" can denote an actual place - a collection of animals for display, or the word can be a state of confusion and disorder where reason does not exist. A widely covered speech by President Donald J. Trump, on March 13, 2020 was when he abruptly became a different person, like the fictional "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" The President in his previous persona had dismissed the coronavirus, COVID-19 pandemic as a "hoax" fomented by his many enemies, while the latter spoke like a world leader who accepted a challenging reality. The "last day"is a weekend the day before closing to the public for two weeks, even though unless this virus is miraculously eliminated from the world, it will possibly remain closed for months, even years.
For most people, adults as well as children, a zoo is like a circus for the entertainment of looking at different animals not seen elsewhere. Only at the "last day" did I appreciate this facility as an elaborate museum of the evolution of life on this planet -- every animal being an illustration of our Earth evolving over eons; such a rumination only at this moment when there is the possibility that human life as we know it could be at risk, brought down not by "evil empires" unleashing nuclear Armageddon but something different. Those with a scientific-atheist bent are amazed by the process, as they search for a way to defeat it. . For others, it is confirmation of action by a higher being, "God" in his many forms and incarnations-- such beliefs historically having resulted in wars, hatred and carnage.
For the first time in my many visits to this zoo, I looked at every animal through a different lens, some consigned to isolation without a mate; while other such as the amazing pink flamingos living in masses where the choreographing of their ballets have meaning that is still undecipherable to scholars who spend their careers in the attempt. Just as we humans, at times are individuals, we often often move in unison as the most disciplined Company of Marines or performers in a Busby Berkley film of the 1930s, We know how and why the Marines and the dancers do what they do, or why masses of others humans marched in unison to a more dire fate, yet the "how" and "why" of the same chorus of these birds is unknown.
There is another aspect of this "last day" at the zoo, which is my feeling towards the animals in cages had similarities with that of human visitors. With nothing to lose I started up dozens of conversations, that, in reaction to my own mood, were engaged by every single person. It could have been started by a smile and quip, or something more detailed like engaging a man from Australia on the culture of the aborigines who still are living the lives of those ancestors who were there forty millennia ago, with no connection to other cultures.
One bird had no companion at all, with the odd species name of "Secretary bird" These birds are a smaller version of the same extinct creature of which there was a sculpture only, large enough to have killed a human being the same way the living descendant can stomp to death a snake. I was fascinated by the living bird, as it was stamping to death an insect to eat, but if it were in the wild in it's natural environment it would be small bird or snake, so it could procreate and continue to survive -- perhaps for millions more years -- or until anthropogenic climate change or nuclear Armigedian intervenes. Such a creature, if never seen could certainly be depicted as the fruit of a Dr. Seuss' fantastic imagination, But only the ceramic model of it's ancestor is a human-created artifact, the actual bird is alive, stomping for food and walking his cage alone.
Having a last day at the Zoo, (actually spread over two days) was in anticipation of a civilizational catastrophe- either from COVID-19 or the over-reaction that disrupts the human interactions that have become integral to cultures everywhere. The warning of a type of sequestering, "social distancing" meaning not coming closer than six feet from another person. No one at the zoo, except two Asian out of the many thousands, wore face masks. I connected with people on a different level, one that resonated best with children who were just beginning to walk and talk. I put on my invisible bright red volunteer shirt that indicated I could be trusted as an official of the complex, and often just offered to help those who couldn't find their way in the byzantine maze of trails. When a grown up, especially men (in the olden days) can't find his way when studying a map, there is a sense of anger, despair and failure, a tiny dose of a destructive self image that is intolerable.
One man, whose cap read, "Viet Nam Veteran," had experienced this with his wife as they were studying the map. A few minutes later he was sitting by himself . His wife had gone on alone and after a minute or two of talking about how confusing it was to get around the zoo as I got up to leave he said, " I really appreciate your taking the time to talk to me." I knew exactly how he felt, how we all feel when the challenges of the world, whether making a living, or helping one's kids, or getting lost in the woods, life is not working, and at least there is someone who commiserates, understands -- asking nothing in return.
As the long day was closing that very well could mark the end of an era, a certainty for those who do not survive the pandemic, there was one interaction with a middle age couple that would not have happened in another time and place. They were an educated couple, introducing themselves as Ann and Ralph, with a slight accent, a decade or two younger than me. They were friendly and on the same intellectual wave length, our common antipathy towards Trump leavened by our agreement that he reflects tensions that predate him. My recounting as metaphor of him, how a supersaturated solution (reflecting stresses of society) congeals by adding a particle precipitant, a small crystal of solute (a single charismatic leader) was completed by Ralph. We began to talk about our lives and experiences. Ann brought up how we Jews faced discrimination, only a half century ago not being allowed to reside in some local neighborhoods. I affirmed this, but made the point that as a result of the rejection by the larger community, there is enhanced cohesion, a sense of belonging among other Jews.
With the announcement of closing, we started strolling to the exit. I continued our discussion, illustrating my point that the name for the human species, "homo sapiens" really should be demoted, as "sapien", meaning wise, entails a process of investigating and discovery "the scientific method" which is actually quite rare among we humans. I started to give an example, describing how Israel has no compunction to kill masses of Muslims in Gaza ....... At that point Ralph spun around, and confrontationally said, "I'm Israeli, and I'm not taking any of this shit that we are ruthless murderers........ " I tried to calm him down by finishing my example, but he had already reached his conclusion that I was one of the Israel haters, whmo he is not about to even talk to.
I thought about speaking louder, talking over him, explaining that the next sentence was to be......"and the Muslims in Gaza have no compassion towards the Israelis they kill or maim with their missiles." But I was not going plead that he hear me out. I simply waved them on as they sped up to walk away from me. I was hurt, yet also the exchange was a confirmation of what conversation has descended to. Among certain sects of Christians the phrase is "Get behind me Devil" meaning I will not even listen to your deceiving words. Experiencing a variation of this from the mouth of my fellow Jew with a PhD, after getting over the hurt of their rejection, turned out to be confirmation of my new understanding of our species. Yet the hurt lingers, as the intellectual confirmation does not begin to compensate for the destruction of this half hour long "friendship"
Postscript: Now, it's four days after the starting this essay -- the referenced Trump speech is ancient history. The "Two week" closure of the Zoo, has now officially been revised to last many months. The day after I started this essay the elderly (never precisely defined) were instructed/mandated by local governments to "shelter in place" meaning to stay at home- as if everyone had a home rather than a tarp to cover them at night. It also struck a chord with the restrictions after Kristalnacht, the beginning of the end for Jews in Nazi controlled Europe.
I got stuck trying to find a way to close out my essay, and could not seem to do it outside of a scholarly tome on evolution of species and the physical planet's vulnerability to destruction, such as the meteor that caused mass extinctions illustrated by multiple exhibits that were not as much fun as watching the animals. Knowing this could be my last visit ever to the zoo, I wanted to share what I had missed for so many years, going beyond this zoo as a circus, but what these caged animals,tell us about the commonality with their extinct forebears, and their close cousin who are entertained by them outside of the cages.
My Cousin, Martin Rodbell happened to write a poem to close out his Nobel Prize lecture in Stockholm earned for discovery of the G-protein, that ironically is a step in the possible defeat of the current pandemic. It expresses what I had been struggling to convey. I personally included it on his Wikipedia site, at the end under the heading, " Rodbell's Personal Philosophy of Science" and have prevented its removal, as poems are not usually a part of a scientist's biography. I will take the liberty of putting in italics words that put the current pandemic and economic collapse in the context of the unimaginable scope of time and extent of our universe.
To which I simply add, "Amen"
To my Friends:Thoughts from “On High” By Martin Rodbell
Life on a roller coaster, oscillating from hither to yon, no respite for the iconoclast, wandering from dusk to dawn. Conjuring strange thoughts foreign and twice forbidden, like Prometheus unbound, this Nobelist climbs in vain to Andean peaks, seeking what most would proclaim insane.
Why, he ponders, are there no answers to protean questions when others thinking cleanly and simply with Occam’s sharp razor proclaim what seems obvious given the beam of their unerring laser. Nature, happily unfettered with philosophy, or with cunning, or with intent moves relentlessly onward or even backward with energy unspent while we mortals test and probe with twinkling machines blinking precisely at each movement, striving to unravel its irresolute randomness, its fathomless, unlimited, meaningless rush into spiraling chaos, oblivious of its multitudinous trials & errors which we pontifically believe must be unerring truth & resolution.
The laugh is on those who, burdened with pretensions of truth, believe they can fathom within 15 minutes of human existence what has transpired over eons of space and time in this Universe . So, I extol the intuitions encapsulated in the folds of my mind from whence occasionally they hurtle to the forebrain and in a twinkling of a proton’s discharge bring to fruition a thought, an idea borne on the feathery appendages of teeming neurons wedded in a seamless synergy.
Those fleeting moments are cherished as are those precious impulses imparted by the innumerable individuals who nurtured and instilled unknowingly their encrypted thoughts in mine. So, with these fanciful thoughts in mind I give praise to you - my friends, my colleagues, my soul-mates, my loved ones - for letting my soul and thoughts meander hither and yonder in this attempt at philosophy and poetry. We now belong to the Gods on high who praise us for our frailties and our achievements.
Original Submission, article based on the one sponsored by AHA on the web.3/28/20
The deep damage of Trump's promoting the drugs, chloroquine and
hydroxychloroquine, effective for treating malaria, has not been
broached by the media. In the widely viewed daily report on this
pandemic, Dr. Fauci, delicately —
yet forcefully — pushed back, explaining that there
was only anecdotal evidence that the drugs, chloroquine and
hydroxychloroquine, may be effective. The dialog between the two, began
with Trump saying“I’m a
smart guy,” Dr. Fauci, acknowledging he couldn’t predict the drugs
would work.and up saying, “I feel good about it. And we’re going to
see. You’re going
to see soon enough.
President Trump has hundreds of million's of fans, those who trust and
admire him, in this and many other countries in the world, all fighting
this global pandemic. Trump is, in fact, a smart man, as he reminds us
of frequently, yet he could not explain a principle of epidemiology,
"double blind verification of the efficacy of a medical treatment." Dr.
Fauci chose to challenge Trump on this, as it would have damaged their tacit
agreement that he would correct only the very worse of his actions,
but would not do or say anything that challenges his authority.
Fauci did delicately —
yet forcefully — push back; explaining that there
was only "anecdotal evidence that the drugs, chloroquine and
hydroxychloroquine, may be effective." They engaged in a dialogue, that
was really a battle of wills between the two, with the President
concluding by saying, "Nobody's going to get killed by trying it"
It is certain that those who do have the Covid-19 will feel better
after taking chloroquine. This is as certain as those who visit Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes to
genuflect at the shrine do actually feel better, with some even living a
bit longer based on their emotional boost. This a beneficial side of
the "placebo effect" but there is also the vast harm that is done when
there is widespread belief in a nostrum, a cure that is actually of no
curative value.
There is another dimension, more profound and devastating that has been
ignored by the media. Trump is known for his spreading hatred against
institutions such as the free press, the protection of the first
amendment not limiting his calumny of any critical report defined as
being "fake." Trump's introduction and enthusiasm for chloroquine is
already having the effect of causing shortages for those with diseases
that this actually helps..
This "blessing" of this medication by President Trump will divert his
acolytes, which are not a small group, to view this untested
medication as a cure for this fatal disease. The distressing treatment, that now is the only one that works, is
excruciating for many, a version of national "lockdown." where the
entire public is in virtual house arrest. The emotional distress, even
beyond the actual inability to acquire necessities of living, is not a
trivial matter.
While Trump is an intelligent man, he knows nothing about epidemiology.
But ignorance about an area has never deterred his asserting expertise,
made more vivid in his own mind by his never bringing into conversations
those who have spent their careers in delving into complex areas,
examples being Global Climate Change, the technology of evolving
military weaponry or colonization of our planetary system.
Tragically, President Trump, by making specific suggestions of treatment
for this pandemic, has politicized this tragic challenge to the world.
Even if he eventually softens his enthusiasm for this drug, there is no
reason to believe its efficacy will not have been assimilated by his base, and
perhaps those of his style of leadership in other countries.
His seemingly benign recommendation, based on the divisiveness of our
country, will only fuel such hatred that is little affected by the
outcome of the few tests that are ongoing among international venues. The
brief effort of Trump uniting our country against a common enemy, his
proudly stating on multiple occasions, "I'm now a war president" is only
a fragile conceit, as he does not seem to understand the very concept.
The ancient Hippocratic Oath of physicians starts with, "First, Do No
Harm." This must not be breached, especially by a President who is
asserting his role as Physician in Chief in a war that he can't begin to
understand==============
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