Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if I ever tried to have some of you killed.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Just a few bad apples.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Verified, but limited!

This is all too absurd to be reality, right?

We have all the best words.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

‘Forty-two’ said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

How do you get liars to care about the truth?

The house always wins.

Let there be snark.

I personally stopped the public option…

Han shot first.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Where tasty lettuce and good mustard aren’t elitist.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Good luck with your asparagus.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 Coronavirus / Friday Morning Open Thread: One More Week, Almost Over

Friday Morning Open Thread: One More Week, Almost Over

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Progress:

I hate doing this to you guys, first thing in the morning, but it’s kinda an important (unavoidable) topic [Oval Office Occupant warning]…

… In an eye-popping moment, Trump doubled down on his claim that sunlight and the festering humidity of high summer could purge the virus in his latest grab for a game-changer therapy.

Then, he asked aides on camera whether zapping patients with light or injecting disinfectant into the lungs to clean sick patients from inside could cure them of the disease.

“Maybe you can, maybe you can’t. Again I say maybe you can, maybe you can’t. I’m not a doctor. I’m like a person who has a good you-know-what,” Trump said, pointing to his head…

The President spent little time at his daily briefing explaining his thinking on how he might safely pilot the nation out of this crisis, instead reaching for a new narrative more hopeful than the grim reality in his latest example of “miracle” thinking on how to beat the pandemic.

He called upon William Bryan, acting director of the Homeland Security Department’s Science and Technology directorate, to unveil research into the coronavirus’s susceptibility to heat and light.

Bryan presented data showing that in some circumstances sunlight can reduce the half-life of the virus on a surface or in the air from 18 hours to less than two minutes.

“That’s how much of an impact U.V. rays has on the virus,” Bryan said. He also spoke about how effective bleach and other disinfectants could be at eradicating the pathogen in areas that were not exposed to sunlight in interesting research that could help Americans understand how to clean surfaces.

But Trump, who appeared fascinated by the possibilities, posed a question of entirely different magnitude: “Supposing we hit the body with a tremendous, whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light … supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do, either through the skin or in some other way?” Trump asked, possibly thinking of an analogy to radiation treatment, which can be used to treat cancers…

Furthermore:

Reader Interactions

112Comments

  3. 3.

    Ryan

    In his presentation of his “research,” the homeland security guy clearly stated that testing UV light and disinfectant was performed on nonporous surfaces.  Clearly these findings do not hold for porous surfaces, let alone people.

  4. 4.

    Baud

    supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do, either through the skin or in some other way?” Trump asked, possibly thinking of an analogy to radiation treatment, which can be used to treat cancers…

    Why is the media trying to speculate about whether Trump’s thoughts are connected to reality?

     

    ETA: If we’re going to speculate, I bet Trump recently watch a Star Trek TOS marathon.

    Kirk holds a senior staff meeting, asserting they must find a solution before the creatures reach the next inhabited planet, holding over a million people; a solution that doesn’t kill the hosts. While using a computer, he realizes that they have not tried visible light as a means to defeat the creatures. An initial test of blinding light results in the death of the specimen in sick bay. Spock then volunteers to be exposed to an intense beam of light, without eye protection, to prove that a creature infecting a host can be killed. Though the test is successful, Spock is now blind. Analysis of the initial test shows that only ultraviolet light was necessary to kill the creature. The Enterprise floods the colony with ultraviolet light from an array of satellites, killing the creatures on the planet and purging the parasites from the survivors. As the Enterprise prepares to leave orbit, Spock reveals that his Vulcan inner eyelids had prevented permanent blindness and that he can see again.

  8. 8.

    Betty Cracker

    Fresh entry for my new favorite genre: people reenacting snippets of Trump’s incoherent drivel:

  9. 9.

    Betty Cracker

    @Baud: I’m hopeful about Florida! If Trump loses Florida, he’s toast. He’s trailing in polls here — even among the over 65 set — and the Trump Mini-Me governor is flailing badly.

  13. 13.

    trnc

    President Trump appears to be openly mulling coronavirus treatments that could cause people to poison themselves, and has a record of deflecting from the reality of the virus to peddle optimism that may not be matched by facts

    How about “peddle bullshit that has not been matched by facts?” I appreciate that the fact checking has been ramped up lately, but every claim should be met with an assumption of total insanity instead of the current standard response – “Is it true that you can inject Clorox to kill the virus? Weeeeellll, I suppose under certain conditions …”

  16. 16.

    Barbara

    @Ryan: Disinfecting temperatures are around 160F. Some people are ironing masks, for instance, in an effort to get rid of possible pathogens, but no one would raise their body temperature to that level. Because, duh, they would kill themselves.

  18. 18.

    oatler.

    Remember those ads that promised to reduce body hair and blemishes with laser power? Now there’s one with a cap that promises to grow scalp hair with laser power.

  19. 19.

    debbie

    @Barbara:

    A friend at work said he put his mask in an oven at 170 degrees for 30 minutes every night. Seems kind of lazy to me.

  20. 20.

    danielx

    Bleach, hell – I’m waiting for him to tell people drinking paint thinner has salubrious effects.

  22. 22.

    trnc

    @JPL: Seems like it was just yesterday that people were told not to eat tide pods.

    Constitutional cosplayers still say don’t eat Tide, but now it’s because real muricans go straight for the 409 with bleach.

  23. 23.

    JPL

    What comes next?   Does trump deny that he said what he said, or do they spend millions testing his theory?

  24. 24.

    Barbara

    @debbie: I know of a company that offered to repurpose its commercial disinfecting “ovens” to help hospitals reuse PPE. It is not necessarily safe to do that at home because of the risk of fire.

  27. 27.

    debbie

    @trnc:

    Lysol is unamused.

    The maker of Lysol disinfectants has a stern warning: Please don’t ingest its products to try and treat the coronavirus.

    “As a global leader in health and hygiene products, we must be clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route),” British consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser said in a statement Friday, taking the extra step of bolding the phrase “under no circumstance” in their release.

     
    (their bold)

  32. 32.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @danielx: Back in the day, turpentine was a common ingredient for rot-gut whiskey. Probably why they called it rot-gut.

  34. 34.

    SFAW

    “I’m not a doctor. I’m like a person who has a good you-know-what,” Trump said, pointing to his head…”

    Yes, he’s JUST LIKE a person who has a good brain, except without him being a person, nor having a brain.

  35. 35.

    Barbara

    @Betty Cracker: Who cooda node that the olds value their lives? Seriously, so much positioning around identity politics is grounded in the faith, however misguided, that you will not be personally at risk from the Darwinian politics the GOP has embraced. If you actually don’t have that reassurance, the world looks different.

  36. 36.

    JPL

    nytimes twitter feed    Are they assuming that Hannity and Laura are experts?

    At a White House briefing, President Trump theorized — dangerously, in the view of some experts — about the powers of sunlight, ultraviolet light and household disinfectants to kill the coronavirus

  38. 38.

    Baud

    @Barbara:

    Someone should start spreading the rumor among the olds that this virus is the GOP’s plan to “save” Social Security.

  39. 39.

    Barbara

    @trnc: This tmes 1000. It is simply obscene that there are virtually no Republicans criticizing Trump on behalf of their constituents. It’s all about the poor pitiful politicians who might lose their jobs.

  41. 41.

    SFAW

    @trnc:

    but now it’s because real muricans go straight for the 409 with bleach.

    New song by the Bleach Boys?

    “It’s real fine my 409

    It’s real fine my 409

    My 409″

    It’ll be tough without Carl and Dennis around.

  42. 42.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Barbara:  My bro is a doctor in one of the hot zones, Boston. His wife is Finnish and built a sauna in the back yard. He told us that when he comes home at the end of the day he goes into the sauna fully clothed as the first decontamination step.

  46. 46.

    Barbara

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Yeah, I am not sure that would work but maybe as a first step. I think I would strip and dump my clothes in the washing machine and then go for the sauna for relaxation. This must be really hard on all frontline health care workers.

  49. 49.

    SFAW

    @JPL:

    dangerously, in the view of some experts

    I am a little amazed that the FTFTFNYT did not quote those noted experts — Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, and Dr. Howard — as going against the views of 99-and-44/100ths of the scientific community which say it’s dangerous, with the tagline “opinions vary.”

  50. 50.

    Leto

    He stared directly into the sun during the eclipse with no eye protection. He’s advocating the direct injection of disinfectants into the body. But look at the big brain on Trumpov…

    The ghoulish part of me hopes that his supporters start main-lining Clorox/Lysol like it’s going out of style, helping to fulfill that woman’s sign, “Cull the weak”. The small part of humanity still left in me is kind of looking at the ghoulish part, saying, “You might have a point…” This is also why we have to have labels saying, “Don’t put your hair dryer in water!” Ugh!

    @Baud: my mother has already semi joked about that. If she’s doing that, the olds already know.

  51. 51.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Barbara: There are a few. Gov Hogan of Maryland is one. Yesterday Peter King Of NY blasted trump. Give me a week and I might have another example or 2.

  52. 52.

    Barbara

    @JPL: Seriously, someone should tell Trump very slowly that the trick of most medicines is to kill the germ or tumor without killing the other healthy cells you need to live. That is why Lysol and bleach don’t work. Because they kill everything.

  54. 54.

    Leto

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: My occupational therapist friend comes home each day, pulls the vehicle into the garage, strips off in the garage and puts all the clothes directly into the washer, showers in downstairs bathroom, dons new clothes, then sanitizes everything he touched and the vehicle’s interior (because that’s his mobile “office”). Then he finally goes upstairs to see his husband. He’s pretty much absolutely exhausted by the end of each day.

  56. 56.

    p.a.

    @satby: I trend to Pandora’s and RadioTunes’ (an android app) baroque channels.  More melodic than some of the more recent romantic classical works you get on the classical channels.

  57. 57.

    SFAW

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    As far as I can recall — although I don’t hang on his every word — Charlie Baker (R-MA) has not yet called out the Murderer-in-Chief directly. Baker complained about the feds stealing equipment that he had already bought (without using the word “stealing”), but he still toed the party line on not mentioning the Murderer-in-Chief.

  59. 59.

    Barbara

    @p.a.: I listen to my local classical station, WETA, but the one where I grew up is still one of the best, WQED in Pittsburgh.

  62. 62.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Baud: I was thinking along the lines of “CoVid is the GOP plan to save SS” but I feel like that lacks the necessary punch to the olds guts.

  63. 63.

    JPL

    @debbie: Apparently not many and the ones opening are small salons and barbershops.    Restaurants can open on Monday and that is going to be light also    Most places don’t want to be held liable if employees get sick.   A local restaurant realizes that if they opened to few customers, their staff would not get the needed tips in order to survive.   They are holding off so the staff can stay on unemployment.

  64. 64.

    raven

    @debbie:

    Veteran Atlanta restaurateur Bob Amick, who owns several eateries, including TWO Urban Licks, said he has furloughed 100 employees and can’t wait to open up. But he called the governor’s decision “premature.” He has a June restart in mind.

    “I don’t know where the governor was coming from on this,” Amick said. “We were in shock when we heard this.”

    “The governor is far ahead of where he should be. He didn’t check the environment in Atlanta,” Amick said. “We only have one shot at this. We have to have confidence in testing and in the government and the mental state of the public. Are they ready? We don’t think so.”

    He reckons sit-down restaurants might pull in 30% to 40% of normal traffic. At best. Opening up and then having to re-close would be a disaster for most restaurants and their staffs.

    Amick said there are perhaps 150 major operators in the Atlanta area. “There’s a consensus in town,” he said. “Monday is not right.”

    “Everything we do to make a living goes against social distancing,” he said. “The public must trust themselves. They have to have trust in where they’re going. We trail the world in testing.”

  67. 67.

    John S.

    Every day President Trump Camacho is determined to remind us that we are living in the United States Idiocracy.

  71. 71.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Leto: I haven’t gone as far as hoping for Lysol-drinking. But I have no inclination to argue with Trumpers who are going to do it to prove their loyalty. It’s inevitable anyway.

    Unfortunately some of them will “treat” their kids.

  77. 77.

    rikyrah

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    I don’t have a sauna, and am not a healthcare worker,but…

    Whenever I go outside, I make sure that a garbage bag is waiting for me when  I step inside my 2 flat. I take everything off, put those clothes in the washing machine and then proceed to take a shower.

  79. 79.

    bemused

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    We of Finnish ancestry, have a sauna in our basement with Finnleo electric stove. Steam is definitely involved. Perhaps you could ask your brother if steam is good or bad if one does contract the virus. I’ve read conflicting reports.

  82. 82.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @danielx: That’s good too.

    We could do a contest. Bumper sticker a hillbilly’s truck and vote on the favorite. Than we can set up a betting pool on how long before I lose my glass.

  84. 84.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Barbara:

    It’s all about the poor pitiful politicians who might lose their jobs.

    Age and length of “service” (often related) are contributing to bad policy. I dropped a few words on this yesterday. The Prime Minister of Finland is 34. The President of Ukraine is 42. Half the US Senate is over 65. The President of the US and his leading challenger are over 70. Democratic House leadership averages 72.

    Call me an ageist (I don’t care if you do, I’m old myself) but having held office for 20-30 years and being past every business’ mandatory retirement age means you will not be thinking of, let alone enacting, policy that’s in the best interests of your constituents. The median American is 20 years younger than their median Representative. This makes for stale and ineffective politics.

  85. 85.

    satby

    @Leto: people heard the earlier stats on how long detectable virus RNA lasts on surfaces and confused that with how long infectious virus can last on surfaces. And don’t understand relative risk assessment either.

  88. 88.

    danielx

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Well, yes. Aside from their staffs (possibly), how many senators routinely have contact with anyone outside their families who makes less than six figures a year?

  91. 91.

    Betty Cracker

    @raven: Mr. Amick sounds like a sensible man. Like he says, people aren’t going to feel safe until they know the spread is under control, and that takes testing.

    This is something that honestly puzzles me about Trump’s response. He keeps downplaying the importance of testing and lying about it. It’s no surprise that he’s bullshitting and lying, of course, but it’s 100% in his interest to do widespread testing, and he’s clearly reluctant to do so.

    At first I thought it was because he knows testing will reveal the magnitude of the outbreak, suggesting that he failed to control it, and that’s true. But it should also be clear at this point, even to an imbecile, that we can’t resume normal activities without testing, tracking and tracing.

  92. 92.

    WereBear

    @Betty Cracker:

    But it should also be clear at this point, even to an imbecile, that we can’t resume normal activities without testing, tracking and tracing.

     
    Sadly, we’ve found the lower levels of the condition, and then let one steal an election.

  95. 95.

    Jimmm

    @Leto: @raven: Oh man, I’m not sure; I know it was trending on Twitter last night that during the NFL Draft, the Giants GM, while sitting in his own home, was wearing an N95 mask. People were like… whyyyyy???

     

    Maybe he thought he had been exposed, and didn’t want to expose other people in his household?

  97. 97.

    tokyokie

    The bumper sticker I proposed a couple of weeks ago after Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s remarks was:

    “VOTE GOP

    Because your grandma’s lived long enough”

     

    I think it still works.

  98. 98.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Betty Cracker:But it should also be clear at this point, even to an imbecile, that we can’t resume normal activities without testing, tracking and tracing.

    Obviously you are wrong about that.

  99. 99.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @tokyokie: I like. But I’d probably shorten it to:

    “VOTE GOP
    Nana’s lived long enough” or Mawmaw or some other grandparent honorific.

  101. 101.

    schrodingers_cat

    I don’t think the bleach stuff is funny at all. His acts of omission and commission  to this crisis has killed Americans in huge numbers. This is just the latest in the parade.

    Actually it’s simple he wants to kill as many Americans as he can. That’s what the boss in Moscow would want. Every reporter out there needs to ask elected Rs how many Americans do you want to kill because that’s the cost of your fealty to man in the WH.

  102. 102.

    different-church-lady

    @Baud: I’m all happy at the beginning if that article and then it get shattered by seeing yet another writer who doesn’t understand the meaning of “scortched earth.”

  103. 103.

    different-church-lady

    @Barbara:

    Seriously, someone should tell Trump very slowly that the trick of most medicines is to kill the germ or tumor without killing the other healthy cells you need to live. That is why Lysol and bleach don’t work. Because they kill everything to shut the fuck up.

  104. 104.

    Tenar Arha

    @Betty Cracker: Anything with that fuckhead’s voice in it is so disturbing this genre needs a kind of Twitter version of the warning tag on the fanfic website AO3 which is “DEAD DOVE, DO NOT EAT.”

    Basically that means it’s the ultimate reader beware of all buyer beware type warnings. Like the piece of work has terror combined with disgust to such a great extent that the writer is telling you “don’t enter, and if you do I’m refusing any responsibility for what happens next bc I’ve told you in advance to beware this story, & it wasn’t hype & I wasn’t kidding around.”

  108. 108.

    Miss Bianca

    @Betty Cracker: OMG, I think the only way I can actually listen to what dribbles out of that idiot’s piehole is by watching other people act it out! That video is *dangerously* hilarious!

  109. 109.

    sdhays

    We used to joke that if Obama had told people not a drink bleach, a large number of Republicans would have done it just to spite him. So now we get to run a test of that in real life.

    And I thought I couldn’t be surprised anymore by this shithead.

  110. 110.

    joel hanes

    @SFAW:

    my wife throws her hospital garb in the washing machine when she gets home.

    Home from the grocery store:
    – carry in bags
    – wash hands twice, then wash face
    – put away groceries
    – wash hands
    – wash doorknobs and door edges, other touch surfaces with disinfectant
    – strip in front of washing machine. Throw clothes and mask in washer, and start it.
    – thorough shower, with soap

  111. 111.

    WaterGirl

    @joel hanes: Our routines are similar, but executed in a different order. :-)

    Home from the grocery store:

    – leave non-perishables in the car for quarantine
    – carry in bags of perishables
    – strip in front of washing machine.
    – throw clothes and mask in washer, and start it.
    – thorough shower, with soap
    – washing hands twice, then washing face
    – use fresh towel that gets washed next
    – put away groceries
    – wash hands
    – wash doorknobs and door edges, other touch surfaces with disinfectant, including the car

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