​The first month of his time in office, Trump said that he would have a great new healthcare plan that would be so wonderful it would have more in it that the Affordable Care Act and cost less.  He also said that "No one knew that healthcare was so hard," so, you know there's that.  (And yes, pretty much everyone knew that healthcare was really incredibly hard.)

Over the past 3-1/2 years, Trump kept talking about his wonderful new healthcare plan that would be better and cheaper and nowhere in sight.  And in July, he told Chris Wallace on "Fox News" that his big, beautiful, new healthcare plan would be announced in two weeks.  

For the record, "two weeks" was August 2, which as the calendar flies was 53 days ago.  But what's two months when we're quibbling over...well, never.

But...but...Good News!  Yesterday, Trump finally released his big, beautiful, new healthcare plan!!.  Honest.  And it was really cool, as long as you're only into the environment and conserving paper.  And not actual providing healthcare to anyone.

Trump's plan does the following (sort of, bear with me, don't jump to any conclusions) --

It gets rid of "surprise billing," where people go into the hospital under their insurance plan, and work is farmed out to third parties who aren't covered by the plan, and the patient gets a big bill that they have to pay.

It also protects coverage of pre-existing conditions.

And in addition, it's important to note that if you were expect more, no, that's pretty much it.  Like I said, it's great if you're into saving paper.  There's also a "However...", which I would imagine most people were expecting, even with something this dismal.

The first "However" is that it doesn't actually get rid of surprise billing.  It's just a non-binding executive order.  He directs Congress to work with him to get rid of surprise billing.

And the second "However" is that Trump's Justice Department is currently in the Supreme Court working with 28 Republican states to argue on behalf of eliminating the entire Affordable Care Act which would mean getting rid of protections of pre-existing conditions.

So, that's it.  Pretty much two bullet points, and two "However's..." to go with them.

Trump's big, beautiful, new healthcare plan.  In the middle of a pandemic.  Where 207,516 Americans have died, so far.

Personally, I think Trump would have been much better served to do what he always does, promise and do nothing, just keep putting it off.  He could have said that his big, beautiful new healthcare plan was still on its way, and you'll love it because it will be so amazing.  Few people would believe him, but he couldn't be criticized for the details.  But this -- releasing this as his big, beautiful new health care plan -- this is nuts.  This shows he's got nothing.  This is reaching into your pockets and pulling them out, showing that you have a gum wrapper and a torn, used tissue.

Given that Joe Biden was on the team that passed the Affordable Care Act, I suspect that the topic will come up in the debates.  And that he will have a whole lot more to say about healthcare than Trump.  Especially since we're in the middle of a pandemic where healthcare is really quite important.

And make no mistake, this isn't just Trump's big, beautiful new healthcare plan.  This is the new healthcare "plan" of the Republican Party.

Because, yes, this isn't about Trump, we know who he is.  This is about the elected members of the Republican Party who enable him, support this "plan" and are complicit.

Tragically, according to Worldometer records, deaths of COVID-19 under Trump yesterday afternoon passed the 200,000 mark.

We are now at 200,197 deaths.  So far.

This is not like the flu. 

It will not go away like a "miracle."

The time for miracles is long past. A miracle" would have been if the deaths of Americans had stopped at "only" 60,000 in April when that was the number Trump said he'd "heard."  Or if it had actually been "all over by Memorial Day" in May as VP Pence said, who is in charge of overseeing the coronavirus task force.  Rather than it going away like a miracle, we are now in survival mode. Hoping for at least something near-normal.

And Trump knew all this in early February, as he said on the recording in private to Bob Woodward.  But otherwise in public to the nation.  And still says otherwise, holding an indoor rally in Nevada only days ago..

200,197 dead.

So far.  It's only September.  This is around when the second wave -- considered likely more deadly than the first wave -- is expected to start.

And yet, despite what all America could hear Trump admit on the Woodward recordings, he keeps saying in public that COVID-19 will "just go away."

But OK, let's pretend. Let's pretend his "Miracle!!" actually happens. Let's even say it just went away TODAY, right now - 200,197 Americans would still be DEAD.

200,197 dead.

So far. Because the time for miracles was last February. Or perhaps on National Prayer Day. Tragically, though, this is very real.

We have passed 200,000 Americans dead. So far.

The question is if Trump considers these 200,197 dead Americans to be "losers" and "suckers" because they believed him that masks and social distancing aren't needed, and it will go away.

I'm pushing aside the Democratic convention for the moment, even with President Barack Obama's magnificent speech and Kamala Harris's historic speech and all the rest, because I track the coronavirus every day.  And while everyone knows how disturbing this is -- and by "everyone" I mean if you're sane, understand that science is real, and aren't a Trump cultist who believes in taking bleach and following potentially-toxic medical advice from a guy who sells pillows or from a crank pushing alien DNA and demon sperm -- I have decided to vent today.

We're in August, the hottest month of the year.  This is the time when Trump (after first having said in February that COVID-19 would be gone like a miracle, though, no, it didn't) later said it would drop to nothing in hot weather. And by all rights, a virus should drop to nothing in hot weather. But because Trump pushed to open business, and the highly-infectious coronavirus got all out of control, we've now been getting over 1,000 deaths a day, almost every day, in the LOW season.

The other day, crack government emergency operative Jared Kusher, whose credentials are as a slumlord and son-in-law with contacts being murderous despots, was interviewed by Wolf Blitzer on CNN.  The anchor had asked Kushner if he felt there was any way he could be pleased by the number of days, and when Kushner did a tap dance and how even one death is a tragedy, Blitzer -- to his credit -- wasn't having it and asked the question again.  Kushner gave an answer along the lines of how there used to be 2,500 deaths a day, but now it was 1,000 and that was a big improvement.  Unfortunately, the conversation moved on and Blitzer missed the opportunity to say, "Wait, no, the word to describe 1,000 deaths every day is "horrible", not "better."  And the reason the deaths are lower is because this is the summer, the hottest time of the year, when all virus infections and deaths plummet, often so much that they appear to disappear, except that there is always a second wave which often is even worse.  And further, you yourself said that American business would be "rocking" by July -- and not only is it not "rocking," unless you mean sinking like a rock, but it was the very push to open businesses that allowed this highly infectious virus to spread out of control and put us where we are now, a pariah to the rest of the world, blocked from traveling to their countries, while they slowly re-open because they followed science."

As I said, I track all this on a site every day, and while the number of deaths in total, but especially every day are horrible and truly tragic -- not Jared Kushner "Even one death is tragic" tragic -- it's critical for people to remember that these horrific numbers are during the LOW season, when viruses usually drop to next to nothing, because the second wave.  Which means these numbers are not just horrific and tragic, but ghastly because it pretty much means that the fall and winter will be hell.

And not just hell because it won't be hot weather than keeps infections lower than otherwise, or because the second wave is often worse than the original wave, or because the psychology of closing businesses, and once more sheltering at home and taking full-protective care yet again is probably going to be very hard on people -- but hell because in the fall and especially the winter...most people are not going to be able to even socially distance at the beach or go bike riding or go out to the park or even just have barbecues in the backyard.  Indeed, in most of the country, people will be living in freezing temperature and snow.  And even if not that bad in some parts of the country, there's another name for it everywhere -- flu season.

There are now 176,548 dead, so far. That we know of.

Not meaning to be bleak, but -- well, seriously folks.  This is what's ahead.  Hopefully, reality will set in for many, and so almost all people will readily take protective health measures to lessen the damage.  And hopefully too a successful vaccine will be developed and be able to be administered sometime by at least the early part of next year.  And also, the one positive thing to keep in mind is that when hot weather ends in September, that is well before the General Election and hopefully any false comforts that some people have created in their minds from the "We're doing better!" summer months will have disappeared by the time they vote.  In which case there could be a third wave -- though very different, a Blue one.

Yeah, okay, a lot of this is about Trump.  And so is screwing up the Postal Service.

But it only exists because the elected members of the Republican Party have allowed it to.  This is about them.  Because they enabled it and are totally, lock-step complicit.

It will be gone soon like a "miracle."
Feb. 25
-- Trump 

Now, I'm hearing 50,000
April 20
-- Trump

It will be over by Memorial Day.
April 23
-- Mike Pence

A cause for celebration.
June 16
-- Mike Pence

July will be rocking.
June
-- Jared Kushner

Yes, it will just go away.  It always does.
August
-- Trump

By the way, Trump is right about one thing:  even the Black Plague did just go away.  Though that's because there were no such things as vaccines yet to stop it.  And it didn't just go away like a miracle before killing 50 million people in Europe and wiping out 60% of the population on the continent.

As for COVID-19 -- 176,548 dead.  That we know about.  So far.

Yesterday, Gov. Mike DeWine, the Republican governor of Ohio tested positive for COVID-19. A subsequent test (after this article was initially written, and now edited) was negative, but that's moot to the point here -- the first test might have been false, or perhaps accurate but at the end of its incubation period.  Or, for all we know, it might be the negative test that was false.  At issue though is that he did, at one time, accurate or not, test positive.  I wish him well, whatever the results, and whether or not he still feels he needs the 14-day quarantine he said he was imposing on himself, just to be certain and safe.  I also hope that any people he's come in touch with in recent days are healthy, and that none of them get infected, by anyone.

Gov. DeWine announced this on Thursday in a thoughtful, responsible tweet.

But here's the thing.  The only reason the governor is even aware that he had initially tested positive for the coronavirus is because he was schedule to meet with Trump who was arriving in the state for a campaign event and fundraising.  And all people who are to meet with Trump must be tested immediately beforehand, and they get their results right away.

A few things here:

Mainly, it's therefore pure luck that Gov. DeWine found out about the positive test.  If he wasn't going to be meeting Trump, he wouldn't have been tested.  And wouldn't have known that he was possibly infected.  And would have continued on his way, potentially infected others -- perhaps many others.  Now, I know that people can't get tested every day, let alone get results back almost immediately.  But when you're governor of a state and, I assume, interacting with a great many people every day, it would seem that you should get tested every day, and get the results back almost immediately.

Additionally, this is the second Republican official with the week who found out they had tested positive only because they were supposed to be meeting Trump.  The other was Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) who was going to be flying back with Trump to his home state.  And so he got tested.  And found out he was positive for the coronavirus.  And received his results almost immediately.

Which leads us to perhaps the most notable point -- that Trump, who for five months (as the COVID-19 virus spread across the country and 162,804 Americans have died, and business had to be shut down and 55 million Americans have applied for unemployment) has disparaged testing, has relentlessly and bizarrely and idiotically tried to claim that testing is the reason for the high number of infections...and it is specifically because of testing that Trump has twice, in the past week, been saved from contact with a Republican official who had COVID-19 and likely would have infected Trump.  Potentially, given his age and what appears to me his poor physical condition, saving Trump's life.  Because of testing.  And not only testing, but getting near-immediate results.

And who knows how many other people have been kept from being in contact with Trump over the past five months because they were tested first and found to be positive with the coronavirus.

Because of testing.

Because...of...testing.  And immediate results, not waiting two weeks to find out.

Meanwhile, 5,028,791 Americans have been infected by COVID-19 -- that we know of, so far.  And meanwhile, 162,728 Americans have died of the virus -- that we know of.  So far.

Because the lack of a serious national testing program is non-existent.

On the other hand, yesterday Trump said, "A lot of people have thanked me for fixing showers so they have enough water."

Really. He said this.

It's not true, of course, but GOD, how egregiously needy does a president, the most powerful man in the world, have to be to say this?!

You wish someone had yelled out, "Name one person who thanked you for fixing his shower!!!"

But then, the thing is, if one is desperately searching for a reason to thank Trump about something, it may be that showers are about the only thing on the table.  And that's not even true.

The elected officials of the Republican Party continue to enable him, continue to stand by the lack of a national testing program, continue to twiddle their collected thumbs as 162,804 Americans have died -- so far.  And are complicit.  Which is why this isn't about Trump but about all these elected members of the Republican Party.

Ron Klain was the Chief of Staff for Vice President Joe Biden.  He also headed up the Ebola Response Team for President Barack Obama -- an effort that resulted in zero Americans getting infected and dying from the deadly virus.

He has a six-minute video here that is quite wonderful.  He briefly lays out the history of "how we got here" with COVID-19 in the United States, then explains what Joe Biden would have done to handle the coronavirus if he'd been president (illustrated throughout with statements that Biden did actually make at the time) and then describes what a President Biden would do if he takes office on January 20, 2021.

The video is excellent and zips by.  My only quibble is that it was clearly made a week ago because he references there being 140,000 deaths from COVID-19, when in fact the number now is 150,393.

And so it came to pass that Trump said he took a cognitive test and aced it, getting 35 questions right out of 35.  Mind you, we have no idea in the world how well or poorly he did.  That Trump saying he "aced" it is about as meaningful as him saying "I know more than all the generals."  If it's to his benefit and makes him look good, he'll say it.  Whether it's true or not -- well, the Washington Post has documented over 20,000 Trump lies since he took office 3-1/2 years ago.  Further, Dr. Bandy Lee, a Yale University forensic psychiatrist and violence expert (who I wrote about here), has suggested that if Trump took a test, it doesn't necessarily appear to be the proper test he's talking about and was instead just a very simplistic one that doctors use for Alzheimer's patients to ensure they'll pass -- adding that the doctor administering it, Dr. Ronny Jackson, a then-subordinate to Trump who is now running for Congress, seems to have had an unethical conflict of interest.  So, there's there, too.

A couple of years ago, I too took a cognitive test.  Sort of.  It wasn't the same test that Trump took and was for a totally different reason.  I had to take it because I was applying up for a Long-Term Care insurance policy, and before they will let you have it, they require taking this test -- it's not on your behalf, but theirs.  They don't want to be committed to providing this great policy when it turns out you've already broken down.

It's also different from the one took because it was all done over the phone.  So, there were no pictures requiring you to point out the elephant.  Honestly, I'm not even 100% sure what the test was because I didn't care.  I just wanted the policy because it had been highly recommended.  So, if they said, "You have to take this test whatever in the world it is," I was fine with it.

Though no pictures of animals were involved, there were several questions of lists you had to repeat back.  Some had to be repeated in order.  Others didn't have to be repeated back in order, but the lists were much longer than just five words.  Maybe a dozen or so.  (As the person was reading it off, I kept thinking, "Okay, enough words, already, stop!!"  All the while thinking, "Okay, stop thinking that you want the list to stop, because you have to concentrate on the list.")  And then later on, they asked you again to repeat words from that list again -- though as before, in any order because there were so many.  And I'll admit that it did make me a bit nervous because my mind doesn't tend to work that way -- I'm more visual.  If I see something demonstrated to me, I get it pretty quickly.  If it's described I do flounder more.  So, when someone is describing a task for me, I try to create some visual image to go with it.  (In fact, come to think of it, it's sort of like Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock Holmes "Mind Palace," though without the unraveling a complex mystery part.)

I also have a very mild case of "face blindness."  I can generally match a face with a person fine, but not perfectly. I've often had people say hi and have absolutely no clue what their name is -- or sometimes who they are.  I once introduced myself to someone at a party, and she said, "I know, Bob, we met yesterday."  (She was the executive vice-president of an agency I had interviewed with for a freelance job.  In fairness, there were a half-dozen other people from the agency at the table, but still... She thought it was insultingly hilarious.)  Mind you, I can remember all manner of minute details about the person, but just not always recognize the face.  And though this test was over the phone and, as I said, not visual at all, I still didn't know if this quirk of mine would manifest itself in any way related to what they'd be asking.

I was also admittedly a bit nervous as the test went on, although not on my own health's behalf, but because I wanted to get the policy.  And not knowing what I was going to be asked, I had no idea how hard or easy the next question would be.  And if I failed because I sometimes remember things differently than other people, or -- as a writer -- have a different perception of the world around me, I would be annoyed at not getting the policy, not because I wasn't qualified to be Commander-in-Chief of the United States armed forces.

In the end, I'd say it was...well, normal.  It took about an hour, and it had absolutely nothing to do with intellect (which Trump seems to want to imply), but basically how aware your mind is of the world around you.  Most of the questions were pretty basic and therefore easy.  And none were difficult scholastically.  They were all just observation, and some thing require more observation than others.

It takes a few days to get the results back, and I was told I did very well, which surprised me on basic "nervous" principle, but also since I knew there were certain words in the long lists that I didn't repeat back, especially the second time.  But then, I guess the comparative standards for judging the results are different than I presumed.  After all, some people taking the tests are probably in their 80s, and might have difficulty identifying that metaphoric elephant.

One thing I do know for sure -- not once did the person giving the test say after one of my answers, "That's amazing, how did you do that???!", as Trump insists his doctor said to him.  I know that that didn't happen because there was no chatting during the test.  There was nothing subjective going on.  Most importantly, there was nothing for which an answer would even be "amazing."  It wasn't a test of convoluted mental gymnastics to trick you.  Much as I'm sure they'd hope you be able to answer as much as possible, the point wasn't that you'd do that, rather it was simply to see what you would answer.

I'm also not sure if it's even possible to "ace" the test like Trump says he did.  As I said, it's not a scholastic test, but an observational one.on your mental aptitude. That one can get 35 answer "right" out of 35 questions might not even be a realistic concept, since they're really looking more for responses than answers.

By the way, being able to repeat five words back in a row might be a cause for nerves if it meant you would get the policy, or be allowed the nuclear codes, but it's not really something that's "amazing."  A few days ago, when the Trump-Wallace interview aired, I found some of the cognitive test questions online, one of which was to repeat back five words in a row.  The words were "face, velvet, church, daisy, red."  Amazing.  How did I do that?!!!

I also know that I didn't go around bragging to all my friends and strangers on the street that I'd passed my test.  I was pleased -- because I got my policy.  But I didn't challenge others to take the test and see if they would do as well as me.  In fairness, I don't have the slightest idea how I really did.  There was no score.  I just did "very well" and got the policy.  And for all I know, getting the policy by definition means that you did "very well," so everybody who gets the policy is told they've done "very well." 

In the end, what I know most of all is that the reason I took the test was because I was required to in order to get the beloved policy.  It wasn't because my doctor thought, "Gee, y'know, I...er, think it might be a good thing to test how cognitive you are.  Nothing to worry about, but -- well, how soon can you come in?  And make sure someone else drives."

I'm only sorry that it wasn't visual.  Because I know I would have aced the question about identifying the elephant.

I'm not surprised that Trump and his team of ace campaign spokespeople are trying to discredit Dr. Anthony Fauci, perhaps the leading expert in the U.S. on infectious diseases for the past 40 years.  After all, it's a Very Fascist Thing to do.  One of the main tenets of fascism, as I noted here, is to try to discredit other areas of authority in society, as we've seen Trump do with the media, courts and intelligence services.  It's all right out of the Fascist Playbook -- Fascism 101.

But even by Trump standards, which are profoundly low, this is pretty stupid.

1. Even if Dr. Fauci was ever discredited, it's not like he's the only doctor in the country who is saying what he's been saying.  Indeed, pretty much all doctors -- as in "all" -- who have even a semblance of substance have been saying the exact same things...for almost five months.  And whether Dr. Fauci is discredited or not, all those other doctors -- as in "all" are going to keep saying the exact same things.

2.  They're all saying the exact same things because they are experts, too, and this is science, and it's how science works, and...because they are all right.

3.  One of Trump's other main advisers is Dr. Deborah Birx, and though Trump seems to like her because she's does her best to say nice things about him, even she says the exact same things as Dr. Fauci.

4.  When you're trying to discredit the leading expert in the field, you should bring more to the street fight than being the person who recommended drinking bleach and disinfectants and suggested shining deadly ultraviolet lights into people's bodies.

5.  People actually understand there is a pandemic and that over 138,000 Americans have died and that social distancing and wearing face masks is a good thing to help keep you from getting infected, perhaps infecting others and possibly dying.  And it's really hard to discredit someone who is saying all this that people actually know.  And if you even did, people would still know it.

6.  Dr. Fauci has a Trust rating on dealing with COVID-19 of around 67%.  Trump has a Trust rating on it of about 28%.  Trying to convince people not to trust a person who they already highly trust when they barely trust you at all is a Sisyphean task doomed to failure.

7.  During a pandemic, most people actually want to support the experts they trust to help them get out of the hell hole they're all in and likely look deeply askance at the "leadership" of those who are trying to get rid these experts they trust so highly.

So, no, I'm not surprised that Trump is using a fascist tactic to trying and discredit Dr. Fauci, which he won't be able to do.  I'm not even surprised that the elected Republicans in Congress aren't pushing back at Trump in his lamebrained fascist effort.  Why not?  Because -- well, yeah, this isn't about Trump, we know who he is.  This is about the elected Republican members of Congress who enable his fascist administration, have blood on their hands and are complicit.

Tennis star Novak Djokovic, perhaps the #1 player in the world, has been hosting a tournament in Serbia and Croatia.  At least four players have tested positive for COVID-19, including Djokovic, as well as his wife. The tournament has been cancelled, and Djokovic has issued an apology.

On the surface, this is a very nice apology.  But living on just the surface never tells the full story.

​For one thing, Djokovic -- if not a "science denier" per se -- has been living by somewhat alternative "skepticism" standards after beginning a relationship with a self-styled wellness guru Chevrin Jafarieh, who previously was a real estate businessman...which is, of course, where all ace science practice comes from.  Among other things, Jafarieh preaches that you can change the molecular structure of water by positive thought.  And that bending your body in certain ways can release toxins.  And that using a trampoline can detoxify the body. 

Djokovic has embraced these attitudes, and has been an outspoken anti-vaxxer, including about not taking a vaccine for the coronavirus.  He also has stated that he holds a strong friendship bond with a fig tree in Brazil.  And he supports his wife's belief that the coronavirus is part of a conspiracy involving 5G broadband technology.

So, y'know, when he writes that they organized the tournament "believing that the conditions for hosting the Tour had been met" -- well, yeah, not so much.

Among other things, for example, players hugged each other, there was high five-ing with fans, there was no social distancing in the stands, and parties were held at night

Yes, I know.  It's pretty ghoulish, most especially as far as meeting safe conditions goes.

And Djokovic also took time to relaxing playing some basketball with other tennis pals during a break in the tournament, here  on the right along with Grigor Dimitrov.

Oh, by the way, it may not shock you to learn that Grigor Dimitrov is one of the four tennis players who, with Djokovic, tested positive for COVID-19.

So, yeah, "believing conditions for hosting the Tour had been met" requires a very flexible defining of the word "believing."  And "met."

To be completely honest, I'm very sorry that anyone gets COVID-19, and I hope everyone at the event has a healthy recovery. Good luck to them all.

However, the issue isn't having a tournament, which is what Djokovic is apologizing for.  The issue is the willful disregard of science protocols for safety at the event. Hugs, parties, no masks, no social distancing, high-fives, basketball. It put OTHERS not at the event at risk -- of spreading infection and death.

So, on full consideration, while the apology some nice things in it and which seem heartfelt, it's largely apologizing for the wrong thing.  At best, as standards go for the Apology Institute of America from Nell Minow and myself, I initially decided I could give this a C- by stretching kindness as far as I could because of him being infected along with his wife, his philanthropic intent, and his sincerity of what he is saying -- though after more thought, it gets downgraded to a D+ because of what it doesn't say and when you remove the sympathy factor and good intentions for putting others at risk of their lives and then prorate for the photos and total disregard for science, which he tries to whitewash.  If perhaps he had noted "I was a total asshole and will work hard the rest of my life, which I hope is long, to make up for this and will be donating time and money to the World Health Organization," he might have gotten a bump..

Mainly, though, this isn't about apologies.  This is about reckless stupidity.

​No Djok.