This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis.
As the U.S. recovers from the pandemic, the Biden administration is working to rebuild relationships across levels of government, from the top to the bottom, that were strained during the presidency of Donald Trump.
“As the U.S. recovers from the pandemic, the Biden administration is working to rebuild relationships across levels of government, from the top to the bottom, that were strained during the presidency of Donald Trump.”
The pandemic is not over. The covid virus isn’t going to disappear. It will eventually be suppressed but it’s here for the long haul. In that regard it is like the flu. Always around and we get annual vaccinations. Recovery will come but it isn’t here now. And we must also remember it went global. Every country.
As @LincolnsBible puts it, “Trump was installed to destroy us.” I don’t know if his administration’s criminal negligence arose from intentional chaos-making seeking population die-off, or merely greed and stupidity… but after the past five years, I don’t not know it.
It takes time and effort to build things, then that can be destroyed in an instant.
So let’s stop electing idiots that destroy shit.
My take on trump is transactional greed and beyond epic stupidity as far as being POTUS is concerned. He was the absolute worse person in that office. And I’ve been around for 14 presidents so far.
…gets my vote.
DJT has the instincts of a spoiled rotten two year old, and he’s in his 70’s! He will never mature. He will never be anything other than greedy and stupid. He will never have compassion. He is a waste of human flesh.
Speaking of Federalism, a commentator on CNN this morning was asking why the Biden administration doesn’t mandate vaccinations for Federal employees.
One of the guests said something I’d agree with, which is that it should be a requirement, but with consequences short of firing an employee who refuses, or who can’t be vaccinated for genuine medical reasons. This would include things like a requirement for frequent negative Covid tests, mask-wearing, working from home where feasible, etc.
Given the degree of resistance nationwide, we’d probably lose a significant chunk of Federal employees if they were fired for refusing vaccination. That isn’t going to help us climb out of this hole. But we can impose some pain and inconvenience on those who refuse, while also taking steps to limit “breakthrough” exposure to those who are vaccinated.
Call it what it was A Hunger Games style of governing is closer to the truth. Remember Jarad Kushner telling the states that the supplies they were entitled to, weren’t really meant for their use.
Bidding wars over critically needed supplies that should have been federally managed.
Callous, amoral greed in broad daylight.
The authors point out the importance of local governments. In our current environment, however, we are going to have to work through the obstacles erected by state legislatures and the state level oversights that they have developed to thwart progress. We’re just starting to see populations respond to some of the damage. As we look at a new school year with rising Covid numbers, for example, school districts and parents are realizing the landmines that have been left for them as far as isolating students who have tested positive, developing mask policies, and limits on distance learning choices, among other things. I fully expect that as the infrastructure plans roll out we will see more state and local attempts to thwart some of the programs. It doesn’t make sense, but neither do a lot of the bills we have seen pass in state legislatures in the past year.
I argue Trump is just stupid, not epically so. He understood transactional crimes and basically has rode the line of illegality all his life.
I’d say he just lacks depth on everything else.
But the presidency is the big leagues (bigly). This lack of depth, shined brightly.
I think it’s arguable Dubya was just as dim. It’s just that the people around him were more competent.
Trump certainly has been worse for the country, but I think Dubya’s administration has the higher body count.
He’s also setting a record for the worst post-Presidential behavior, including a possible 2024 Presidential run that’s basically a revenge tour. I know the consensus here on TPM seems to be that he’ll never run again. He’s too old, it’s too much actual work, and so on. But the author Michael Wolfe makes a good case for it, based on a recent interview with Trump. Including the interesting idea that Trump will run just to keep Pence out of the primary field:
trump’s body count is the count of the pandemic he ignored as best he could. For that he is in league with men (despots all) I don’t even wanna name this early in my morning. My own family was affected and I hate him with the heat of 10,000 suns. And I hate even saying that.
It’s my opinion only, you are certainly free to have yours.
That makes sense from his perspective.
It’s a very nice article that somehow fails to point out that Republicans have made urban areas and blue states their enemy. Be it tax policy, immigration laws, or gun regulations, Republicans insist on demonizing cities and dictating policy from whatever level they hold power. It’s why they call rural areas and red states “the heartland of America”, while denying much needed funds to Blue areas after natural disasters, be it hurricanes or Covid. It’s not federalism, it’s just more fascism.
Fair enough.
I guess the idea that after Trump, the likes of Duyba have had a little unearned public rehabilitation chaps my ass a bit.
Not nearly enough talk about Iraq when Rumsfeld died.
I mean, Liz Cheney is toward top of my list of least hated republican.
Come on, authors. I know everything looks like a nail when you’re professors of public policy, but JFC it’s not about federalism. No system known in history could possibly have responded adequately to the pandemic when headed by a tantrum-throwing moron mentally ill autocrat bent on denying there was a problem at all, with his utterly corrupt underlings scrambling about to scoop up as much of the emergency funds being allocated as they could stuff into their shirts.
I’ll add piss poor advisors, what he wanted and got were lackeys.
I’m convinced Trump will run largely because his narcissism just isn’t being fed as the former guy. He can’t get on the major networks or newspapers, social media, his rallies are moribund, and his juice within his own Party is going to further diminish if he doesn’t run. Plus, there’s even more people for him to wreak vengeance upon. I’m sure he has his ever growing list.
I’ve also seen some comments elsewhere that point out that the vaccines are still under EUAs. So although it is reasonable to demand the vaccine for health personnel, it is going to be a stretch to mandate it for others until the vaccines get full, official approvals. At that time, a mandate may indeed be put in place, putting the onus for protecting the public where it belongs.