Who knew that being called a thick little chucklefuck could make me feel so warm all over. I guess it is indeed all about context.

Good morning, Raven! I’m glad you finished reading something 😉

This President seems to think the daily volatility of the stock market is the best indicator of whether or not he’s doing a good job, so this certainly would confirm his feeling that opening up America for business in two weeks is the right call, regardless of how effective this quarantine has been. We can probably expect him to listen to his medical experts even less now. (Again, if the gains hold; that’s far from certain. If they don’t, god knows what he’ll come up with next.)

JK47:
I mean “The Hammer And The Dance” is all well and good but we’re not really doing The Hammer, we’re doing kind of a half-assed version of it and we started too late. As far as “The Dance” part, well, that takes a lot of competence, bureaucratic skill, foresight… does that sound like the sort of area where Trump and senior adviser Jared Kushner are going to excel? These guys don’t know how to pull something like that off. They’re real estate grifters. And they think they’re real fucking smart and don’t need to listen to experts. I really strongly don’t trust those guys to pull off “The Dance” to be brutally fucking honest.

They should avoid getting cute and just do whatever the fuck the medical professionals say. But they won’t. As much as I hate those corrupt ignoramus fucks I wish them luck. I hope it works out. Probably won’t but here’s to hoping.

That’s exactly the problem, also in Italy. In time of crisis you have to be able to think long term as a politician, and it means also sacrificing the now for the sake of the future, and also sacrifice popular consensus. To do the hammer and the dance, for example, you really have to do it, and it means taking a strong control over institutions for a long period of time, like in some kind of sanitarian dictatorship, it’s not easy at all.
I’m afraid also Italian effort is half assed and it will lead to a soft hammer/never dance future (like the Knicks), at least for the foreseeable future. I think hammer and dance ar like the spurs, a kind of read and react system that requires a very good organization and perfect management.
China did a strong hammer (like Phila) because they don’t really care about popular consensus..

Our economic system is human created, not some outgrowth of natural law. We can change the rules temporarily to stave off disaster.

well said grocer, really well said…I wish I had more faith in the folks who are responsible for seeing us through these tough times…seems like we’re continually behind the curve…

hope life is moving along safely for you…hope your sewing gang are all doing well 🙂

Llcoolbp — i grew up in your area. Being in the pandepicenter now (well fine, NYS has taken that over, everything’s a competition…), I’ve been really getting into the beauty of spring. Hummingbirds, forsythias, daffodils. Revel in them, assuming you get outside before dark. If you don’t, get a lunchtime walk.

But it does seem like you combined my argument with his. Trump’s position is “I need to get stocks up before the election.” I’m talking about avoiding 1929.

And yes, you’re right: we have not yet deployed an effective hammer. I said that needs to happen first.

I respectfully believe far too many of you greatly underestimate the possibility that the cure is a flood that will drown many of us. That is all. The doctors are just trying to stop the virus. They’re not supposed to think of the economic impact.

Trump’s words and actions in dealing with this crisis are far more deserving of impeachment and removal from office than the Ukraine stuff. This is somewhere between criminal negligence and homicide.