Louisiana Voice

“They claim pandemics only happen once every hundred years but what if that’s no longer true? We want to be early, ready for the next one, because clearly the Obama administration did not leave to this administration any kind of game plan for something like this.”

— Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), in an online discussion hosted by the Trump campaign, May 11, 2020. [Sorry, but there is no other way to say this: McConnell lied through his teeth. It was an unabashed, outright, unadulterated lie. It wasn’t just political rhetoric; it was a damn lie—and he knew it when he said it. That, folks, is deceit, pure and simple.]

“We literally left them a 69-page Pandemic Playbook…. that they ignored.” 

Ron Klain, former “Ebola czar” in the Obama administration.

“Most notably, the color-coded document lists dozens of pointed and detailed questions that top policymakers should be asking themselves if a novel virus suddenly emerges overseas. For instance:”

‘Is there sufficient personal protective equipment for healthcare workers who are providing medical care? If YES: What are the triggers to signal exhaustion of supplies? Are additional supplies available? If NO: Should the Strategic National Stockpile release PPE to states?’

“Instead, the Trump administration placed a big bet on a limited travel ban on non-U.S. citizens coming from China — and then scrambled to fill gaps in stocks of PPE when cases of covid-19 exploded after the administration failed to rapidly set up a nationwide testing regime. The document laid out a series of other steps, recommending a faster pace than the approach undertaken by the Trump White House.”

“McConnell is wrong to say the Obama administration left ‘no game plan’ to deal with a pandemic; the Obama team crafted a detailed document setting forth questions and policies that should be considered, as well as put in place programs that might have helped spur action sooner. The Trump administration ignored that document and pursued its own course.”

—The Washington Post, May 14, 2020. [Putting aside the argument of whether or not the Obama plan was sufficient, the indisputable fact remains that there was a plan….and the Trump administration ignored it.]

“You lied to the FBI about three different topics, and you made those false statements while you were serving as the National Security Adviser — the President of the United States’ most senior national security aid. I can’t minimize that. I mean, arguably, that undermines everything this flag over here stands for. Arguably, you sold your country out.”

—U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, at Michael Flynn’s hearing, December 2018.

“You know, people sometimes plead to things — that turn out not to be crimes.”

—William Barr, in justifying the dropping of charges against Flynn by the Department of Justice.

“The judge could be concerned this is cronyism. I would predict that he holds a hearing and has the prosecutors justify the decision they made. When a defendant has gone all the way down the line to pleading guilty, the bar to dismiss has to be high,” she said.

—Former federal judge Nancy Gertner, who now teaches at Harvard Law School, on the decision by DOJ to drop charges against Flynn.

The Next Top Ten Things Which Demonstrate that Donald Trump is a Stable Genius

10.) Only he is smart enough to change the path of a hurricane with a Sharpie.

9.) Only he knows that DOJ actually stands for “Donnie’s Own Judicial” system
and Bill Barr is his personal lawyer.

8.) His genius has determined that Senate acquittal means he was never really
impeached.

7.) Only he is smart enough to know that the Corona virus is just a fad and will be
gone when the weather warms up.

6.) Trump is smart enough to know that everyone else is just plain stupid,
especially the ones he hires and eventually fires for all his cabinet posts and
staff.

5.) Foregoing his $400,000 Presidential salary while he bills the government for
$140 million in golf expenses at his resorts is pure genius.

4.) It was a genius move to give The Presidential Medal of Freedom to Rush
Limbaugh at the State of the Union address. Nobody could possibly disagree
with that, right?

3.) Firing Gordon Sondland as EU Ambassador and keeping his $1 Million campaign
donation was brilliant.

2.) Using the National Prayer Breakfast to swear revenge on his impeachment
enemies was something only “The Chosen One” would be smart enough to do.

1.) He is brilliant enough to divert $3.8 Billion from Congressionally allocated
military spending to fund his wall, which Mexico was supposed to pay for.

“I have tried and I have failed to find anything about Donald Trump that is admirable, respectable, decent, genuine, kind, altruistic, intelligent, capable, competent or sane. And I’ve tried. I want more than anything to find something truly good about this man that I can hold onto because I don’t like feeling this way towards another human being. I don’t like this unfamiliar feeling of insecurity, worry, fear that I’ll wake up one day soon to find my country and my children’s country just flat out destroyed. I don’t like not being able to find anything good about a person. But the way I feel about him right now is basically the way I felt about him 20-some years ago when I stopped watching his TV show because he was just too stupid, disrespectful, racist, sexist and mean for me to stomach.”

–Lynna Pinse Legal researcher, Make it Legal, on Donald Trump.