Pandemic Diary Day 101: Trump's Life and Death Campaign is Getting Critical

Cartoon by Adam Zyglis Copyright 2020 Cagle Cartoons

Dear Diary,

Here's something to think about...

The United States just recorded it's third-highest total of new COVID-19 cases, and the highest single-day total since April, and the third-highest total of any day of the pandemic.

I'm going to pause here.

Despite the above facts we have a president who is pretending the deadly virus is going away. That it's no longer a threat and there's no need to wear face masks (he refuses to and his minions follow) and social-distance in public.

Trump is hoping to convince people only he can save the economy. His plan to reopen states too soon involved sending people back to work with employers that don't take the proper safety measures. Food processing plants for example.

Trump intends to win one way, or another.

The "another" is sacrificing people on the altar of his desperation. No one is safe, friend or foe. He expects undying loyalty, but isn't loyal to anyone but himself.

Reality has been bitch-slapping Trump since January when he ignored the warnings sign of an impending pandemic. 

His overt attempts of denial of the danger that the virus poses was seen when he held his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and then another mini-rally for young Republicans at a megachurch in Phoenix, Arizona. Both no face mask events with thousands of people in attendance.

I'm concerned that Trump's dismal polls are motivating him to take even more draconian measures to ensure a win. That he plans on interfering with the election (perhaps with foreign help) is no secret. He's also doing his best to discredit the election by claiming mail-in votes are a Democratic plot to defeat him at the polls.

Red lights are lighting up in Trump's tiny brain as he realizes the pandemic cannot be bullied.
                     On the Homefront - Medford, Oregon

**The Oregon Health Authority 

reported three new deaths and 171 cases of confirmed coronavirus. 

The death toll is now 200. There's a total of 7,444 cases this far. That number is climbing.

(Photo - Police officers from multiple agencies helped Portland police respond to protests that have been occurring nightly - 29 nights in a row. Photo by Beth Nakamura)

Quote for the Day; "And the worst part is before it gets any better we're heading for a cliff. And in the free fall I will realize I'm better off when I hit the bottom." -Hayley Williams

GOP Headache:
The birther issue:
My recent column on
Obama being my 11th
cousin stirred some
interesting feedback.
They came from so-called "Birthers" who wanted me to know I was wrong about saying Obama was born in the USA. Conspiracies and facts clash in this controversy:
By LISA LERER & DANIEL LIBIT
When lawmakers return home for recess in August, they can expect to hear tough questions from constituents on the economy, health care and government spending.

But Republicans are preparing for something else: the birthers.

As GOP Rep. Mike Castle learned the hard way back home in Delaware this month, there’s no easy way to deal with the small but vocal crowd of right-wing activists who refuse to believe that President Barack Obama was born in the United States.

Photo via AP of Rep. Mike Castle giving a speech during a press conference.

Read more of this article from Politico

'Organ trafficking': Rabbis arrested over massive crime ring

US agents have arrested 44 elected officials and Jewish rabbis in New Jersey in a huge anti-corruption sweep across the state.

Charges of extortion, bribery, money laundering and human organ trafficking were stunning even for a state long notorious for official corruption and organised crime.

Five rabbis were among suspects, along with the mayors of Hoboken, Secaucus and Ridgefield, the Jersey City deputy mayor and council president, two state assembly members, and numerous other politicians, prosecutors said.

Acting US Attorney for the district of New Jersey Ralph Marra told a press conference the sweep demonstrated "the pervasive nature of public corruption in this state".

"The politicians willingly put themselves up for sale," he said, while "clergymen cloak their extensive criminal activity behind a facade of rectitude."

Raids began shortly after dawn on Thursday, officials said, targeting a who's who of state leaders.

Click here to read the rest from The Age