Donald Trump spoke with several Fox News hosts inside the Lincoln Memorial about the Covid-19 pandemic. The White House had Interior Secretary David Bernhardt relax the rules to allow the interview inside the memorial. The original plan was to have the interview on the steps outside the memorial but Donald wanted to be at the feet of the giant inside. As he said, “I don’t think it’s ever been done, what we’re doing tonight, here, and I think it’s great for the American people to see, this is a great work of art, aside from the fact that that was a great man, this is a great work of art.” It would seem that for Trump, the appearance of things is more important than any facts. He is ever the reality show star. However this setting made it clear that this is a tiny man making desperate attempts to seem presidential.
He clearly staged this interview with this air-headed thought in mind, “They always said Lincoln — nobody got treated worse than Lincoln. I believe I am treated worse.” He went on to blame the media, China, Obama, Biden, and State Governors for his short comings. He praised protestors who are spreading the virus.
Trump said, “Look, we’re going to lose anywhere from 75,000, 80,000 to 100,000 people.” He put on his doctors cap to explain, “It — it infects — if you have any problem, heart, diabetes, even a little weak heart, a little diabetes, then, look, this thing is vicious, and it — it can take you out. And it can take you out very strongly.”
Jared Kushner said in an interview that the government rose to the challenge and that this is a great success story. Trump tried to follow that line of reasoning by saying, “That’s one of the — if you call losing 80,000 or 90,000 people successful, but it’s one of the reasons that we’re not at that high end of the plane, as opposed to the low end of the plane.” He pointed out, “We we’re winning bigger than we’ve ever won before.” I guess it is true, in that America has the highest death toll of any country in the world. Maybe that is Trumps idea of winning.
So much of this human suffering could have been mitigated had the president taken the virus seriously. Sadly any time I write down the number of deaths in America it is instantly outdated. To date 72,002 people have died from this virus. Funeral directors can not keep up with the number of bodies. They are stored on ice in rental trucks or they are stored in cardboard boxes marked “Handle with care” each propped up on two chairs and strapped onto a wooden palette with a zip tie. The head is noted much like any “This side up” that you might see on a box. A decorative Greek wreath is also at the head of each box. each Loved ones are unable to say good by in the hospital. With this virus, you die alone.
Families suddenly out of work, are unable to afford the cost of the funerals. People have to resort to GoFundMe pages to try and raise enough to bury their loved ones. The federal government could pay for burials for those who have died. After past tragedies like hurricanes, the government has stepped in to handle burial costs. However Donald Trump refuses to release federal funds for those who have fallen. In past tragedies the government payed out $2,700 for each families funeral expenses. Where the government to pay families that amount it would cost about 195 million dollars. The administration dolled out 500 billion for big business, tens of billions for the airline industry, tens of billions for a luxury hotel in Atlanta. Helping to bury the dead is a basic core measure of human dignity. For what is supposed to be the greatest country in the world, it is the least we can do. Trump will not do it. He does not need congress to make this happen, he just needs to authorize FEMA to release the money.
Instead the president is rage tweeting in the middle of the night. He thinks he and his administration has done a great job. He feels “Our deaths per million are really very strong.” What is happening in America is a nightmare. While many grieve, the president wants to reopen the country with not enough testing to find out who has the virus. As many states began to reopen their economies a new internal report from the Trump administration predicts that will come at a cost: There could be 200,000 new Covid-19 cases and 3,000 deaths EVERY day by the end of May. This study reflects “changes in mobility and social distancing policies.”
― Abraham Lincoln