George Rebane
'Most of us will get the Wuhan virus, a small fraction of us will die. But we will continue business and commerce as usual with all the prudence we can each muster, because the death and destitution a depression will bring will be much worse for all of us.' A hoped for statement from President Trump.
The lamestream is very quiet about the Covid19 goings on in Europe. They are focusing all their reporting on Italy which really screwed the pooch on its handling of the virus, and is now the media’s unavoidable posterchild for all the comparisons with the US. Even there they like to dun our feds (i.e. Trump) on stats like hospital beds per person, and testing (of uncertain effectiveness and reliability). However, their unconnected dots involve national preparedness and the response effectiveness of nationalized healthcare – those don’t look so good, so nothing is said about that. Moreover, similar problems are encountered in the rest of the EU countries starting with France, Germany, Spain, …, about which there seems to be a total blackout. And for good reason. Keeping Americans up to date on doings all over the continent would really put a big dent in our socialists’ long- and carefully-concocted narrative about the shortcomings of America under Team Trump. More comprehensive reporting would reveal that President Trump has really done all the right things with what he inherited, and the Europeans are now playing catch-up, starting with the “racist” sealing of their borders. But according to the Dems and their media lackeys, we are to pay no attention to what’s going on behind that curtain. (Here is a website that a young man up in Washington (more here) set up to fill in this shortfall of information.)
Trump and his team look and say like they’re trying to make this a ‘V-shaped’ recession. (See also ‘Your money or …’) If they succeed, they will come out smelling like a rose in November. The other side of our political spectrum, the socialists, will be doing everything they can to make the recession be shaped like a ‘lazy L’, steep down and slow up (you know, like we had with Obama). That will make the case for blaming the whole thing on the Trump administration so much easier. They care not for lost jobs or businesses, the more misery the better. Why? It helps support their anti-capitalist narrative, and gives them a basis for policies to enlarge government, shrink the private sector, and gain firmer control of the lives and fortunes of those pesky liberty-loving Americans. There will definitely be a mounting tension between the central planners and the free market capitalists as this pandemic matures.
[21mar20 update] Urban lightweight versions of the heavier Bradley Fighting Vehicles on Manhattan streets (here). These are actually armored personnel carriers, the modern version of the classic Mk113 APC that yours truly spent some uncomfortable hours in. The government is making a very strong statement that it will not tolerate armed civil unrest during this crisis. This show of force had only one message as these armored and armed urban fighting vehicles were moved to pre-arranged ready areas that are being set up in local sports stadiums and school football fields. The inquisitive readers wants to know why this is not covered on the mainstream media, why only Twitter feeds. Thoughts?
The thin veil of civilization starting to rip. This Twitter video of looting at Walmart (here) is probably a harbinger of things to come. No one will starve to death quietly when there’s food to be had in locations unguarded or easily overcome – write that down somewhere if it’s news to you. Advent of desperate times, therefore, even if you’re ready unlimber your shootin’ arn, it’s better to get on with Alernative #2 sooner than later (here).
[22mar20 update] Sen Richard Burr (R-NC) should resign and be prosecuted for his 13feb20 cashing out of stocks, in violation of the Congressional Stock Act, after a closed-door (not confidential) meeting of the Senate’s Intelligence Committee, the results and reports of which immediately appeared on Twitter – i.e. the information received was public and not privileged, hence no violation of the Stock Act as also interpreted by other senators who sold stock. Nevertheless, that is the position taken on Sen Burr by the media and many congressional colleagues. Before running with the herd, I’d like to note from what we’ve been told that 1) no presented testimony foretold stock markets’ behavior, 2) the attendees and the online public had to connect the dots by themselves, 3) there is no law or ethical imperative requiring a legislator to broadcast his personal assessments (especially dire ones that can panic the public) or private transactions from the broadly available information he receives during the course of his congressional duties. Burr is not a financial expert, but no doubt talked with his financial adviser about the spreading coronavirus. Given the detailed timeline of who knew/said what and when, Burr’s post-committee statements echoed that of the administration which, in the throes of impeachment proceedings, ballyhooed published data on the economy. So again, what is the case against Sen Burr?
'We will fight, the virus' is a timely, well-performed, and entertaining remake of the classic 'Sound of Silence' by Simon and Garfunkel. Enjoy.
rebanesruminations.com 
Leave a comment