March 10th 2020

By Mark Sumner

Daily Kos

For decades, radical conservatives like Grover Norquist sought to reduce government to the point where they could “drown it in a bathtub,” but Donald Trump has done them one better. Trump has produced a government that could drown in a mud puddle, because it lacks even the ability to roll over and save itself. From Kellyanne Conway insisting that the coronavirus is “contained,” even as cases are spreading across the nation, to Larry Kudlow not just repeating that claim, but complaining about canceling large international conferences and people choosing not to travel, to Donald Trump’s absolutely bizarre visit to the CDC, it is impossible that the nation could have been provided less valuable, less consistent, or less accurate advice in dealing with a genuine crisis that threatens every city, town, and individual in the nation.

At some point, everyone has to stop thinking of the incompetence of this White House as a side effect, and start seeing it as the goal. Trump hasn't just built a car that falls apart the first time it encounters a bump, he's built one that is designed to do just that.

On Friday, Donald Trump was scheduled to visit the CDC, then that was called off when Trump caught word that someone at the agency — though not at the location he was visiting — was thought to be infected with the virus his surrogates were claiming was “contained.” Then, when it was clear that the coast was absolutely clear, Trump appeared at the CDC to deliver some of the absolutely most ridiculous, self-serving statements of his entire time in office.

Trump, speaking from the CDC, declared that there were plenty of test kits, that “anyone that needs a test, gets a test,” and he went beyond declaring their availability to claim that the tests were “beautiful.” In fact perfect — just like his call to the president of Ukraine. And yes, Trump made that comparison.

But even as Trump was firmly declaring his own genius—and calling Washington Governor Jay Inslee a “snake” who should not be trusted—back in Washington, Mike Pence was explaining that the CDC had fallen short of goals. Again. Though hundreds of thousands of tests are supposedly “in the mail,” it will be at least another week before they begin to be available in the numbers needed. As a result, only a fraction of suspected cases around the nation have been tested, patients with good reason to suspect exposure are still denied tests despite supposedly relaxed guidelines.

As Americans are genuinely frightened and looking to the government for leadership, what they’re getting instead is Donald Trump bragging about how he can put on his big boy panties all by himself, while being smiled at with approval by a CDC director Trump put in place not in spite of the fact that he was considered “an abysmal choice” whose contribution to the AIDS crisis was working with a group that considering it “God’s judgement on homosexuals.” He was put in that role because he’s just a terrible choice — because he knows he’s there for no other reason than to praise Trump and take a paycheck. He’s just another part of a system built to fail.

Meanwhile, a few words from the former CDC director.

Posted with permission