I went to the NV rally... I didn’t get inside, but I was able to go there. My friend, an Indian guy, was afraid to go there himself. I decided to go along as support. We got their 3 hours early and we we shuttle down what appeared to be a few miles long line. Everyone was friendly and accommodating. Here is what I noticed:
(1) More then half the attendees were women and they were by far the most enthusiastic.
(2) There were a lot of Hispanics. I mean a lot of them. I was surprised.
(3) There were a ton of Asians! More then I thought were in the entire state.
(4) Many Californians made the trip.
(5) There were not many blacks, a few but not many.
(6) There was not even 1 counter-protester.
(7) There was no one obscene or racist sign. Not one.
(8) No one was mean, rude or belligerent.
(9) People were helping each other out; there were a bunch of people (not part of the campaign) passing out cold water and snacks.
(10) There were people of all walks of life: executives, blue collar, retirees, labors, teachers, nurses, doctors, lawyers etc
(11) It was very peaceful. The cops barely looked like they had to work.
(12) A saw a few police officers get chocked up by the warm greeting people gave them
(13) Made me believe Trump will take NV
In the past year, I've stopped using the term common sense because it's clearly no longer true that being sensible is all that common. My decision has never seemed to be more true than in the last week when several revelations all became common knowledge within a few short days of one another.
The first revelation is that President Trump knew as early as January that the virus was deadly. A few short weeks later he told Bob Woodward that the virus was fatal if and when the wrong person contracted it. In between those two moments and ever since, Trump has "downplayed" the virus (in Trump's parlance) because he didn't want to start a panic. Frankly, I don't believe that explanation for three reasons.
Firstly, by concealing the truth to the general public, Trump was giving a false sense of security to people who might otherwise have reasonably taken greater precautions at quite possibly preventing their own deaths or the deaths of loved ones. This is no minor matter considering that all of South Korea (population 51.64 million people as of 2018) has had only 367 deaths while the USA (population 328.2 million people as of 2019) is now approaching 200,000 deaths. What that means, of course, is if the President had put the full weight of his office into addressing the problem instead of misleading the nation as to the true nature of the virus, The US would now be looking at a death toll of fewer than 2,500 people instead of the 195,000 people who have succumbed to the disease to date.
The second revelation came to light only yesterday when Trump was interviewed after his latest rally in Nevada, which apparently you traveled to without actually attending. Trump was asked by a reporter if he was worried about the virus, and the president responded by saying that he wasn't because he was so far away from the crowd. Well, nobody in the crowd could also make that same claim which means that he knows that the people in the crowd aren't safe at all. For God's sake, these are Trump's own supporters, and he's knowingly placing their lives in danger simply to satiate his own desire for ego gratification. It's nothing short of unconscionable, and why his supporters can't see that for themselves is a mystery to me and to everyone and anyone else who truly has common sense.
And finally, the third revelation is not really new news at all as it's been known for quite some time. It's this: Trump is constantly trying to cause panic in people. Remember just before the 2018 midterm elections when Trump claimed that there were caravans of hardened criminals coming north toward our southern border? It never happened, but I'm sure it scared the hell out of people who live close to the border. How about Trump's recent claims of a planeload of black-clad thugs and rioters that were flying into cities to commit acts of violence? Doesn't that kind of claim induce panic in people?
So, Trump's whole claim that he didn't want to cause a panic just doesn't hold up since he's clearly perfectly willing to cause a panic if and when he thinks it benefits him. Having said that, I think the real reason Trump misled all Americans isn't hard to fathom at all. You see, Trump understood that taking the necessary steps to address the virus would require a shutdown of some degree which would understandably result in an economic slowdown, and he didn't want any kind of economic slowdown, regardless of the death toll because he saw a great economy as his best selling point for a second term. Of course, doing so would have resulted in a short term loss, but it would also result in a long term benefit as the virus was brought under control just like South Korea managed to accomplish. But look at where we are now! States and schools reopened (at Trump's urging) only to again close down as the virus spread rapidly. But the effects on the economy have been arguably even worse than a short term complete shutdown because millions of people have lost their jobs, businesses have closed, many people can't pay their mortgages or their rent, and the virus is still spreading even as tax revenues have fallen off dramatically and deficit spending has ballooned.
And as bad of the current state of affairs is, keep in mind that a second wave is undoubtedly coming this winter which, if like the pandemic of 1918 hold true, it will be far worse than the first wave. has been. And through all this chaos, and disinformation, and death, and economic upheaval, Trump still has no qualms about endangering his own supporters simply to gratify his ego.
At this point all I can say is this: If there was a president who I supported who did all these things, it would be an understatement, to say the least, that I would no longer support him. In fact, I would actively work against him because he's endangering everyone else's interests in the furtherance of his own interests.
One more thing: I feel sorry for the Trump supports who go to the rallies and end up bringing the virus home to their families. I truly do. But when you trust a person who is so clearly and so obviously untrustworthy, and you end up getting burned, you should take a long hard look in the mirror because the face looking back at you is the face of the person who deserves most of the blame.
