Trump is positively negative!

Not only did President Trump test “positively toward negative”, but he tested perfectly, “meaning I tested negative.” 

One way of coping with the stress associated with Covid-19 is to follow the hilarious and insane comments by Donald Trump. I will not recommend this to anyone living in the US, because it will probably create more stress to think that in such a period of crisis when leadership means so much you are governed by such an incompetent one; one who lacks empathy, one who finds himself golfing on the memorial day weekend while America was on the edge of having 100,000 persons dead from the coronavirus. But that was not all. He used his time tweeting as usual, poking fun at Stacy Abraham, a potential Vice-Presidential candidate, and at Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Assembly.

 Although as is commonly said, when America sneezes the rest of the world catches a cold, we can suspend that for a while and find something to laugh about as the rest of the world is actually doing. His humorous, insane sayings are becoming legendary. The man should be a Comedian, a sit down comedian at that, preferably with a mask on. This regrettably is the man who might possibly be re-elected president. This will be food for the comedians who might relish it, but there are other more serious dangers. It is possible that America will see a true Hitler-like figure, one who, not having to be worried about being re-elected will be free to reveal the real person within him. His re-election will indicate to him that Americans like it so, a valid conclusion to arrive at.

 Those, like me, who once believed that America could never be ruled by an autocrat will have to re-examine that belief. Trump’s ‘greatness’ is his ability to dismantle the many checks and balances that the framers of the constitution had put in place to avoid that kind of situation. He is not only dismantling some, but also making others ineffective. Americans, it appears, cannot handle this. Their only hope is that he will not be re-elected, but they better not bet on that. He has captured the Republican party, hook, line, and sinker and has it bowing to his every demand, regardless of how ridiculous it is. It shows what power and the quest for power can do. How sad is it to see professional medical persons being quiet or even smiling when the president flouts his unscientific and maddening outbursts. He claims to have taken daily doses of hydroxychloroquine to provide immunity to the coronavirus, which the medical profession has warned against. When earlier he visited the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, he reported that people were surprised that he knew so much about the “stuff”. As far as I know, no one present has disputed him. So maybe he is indeed a ‘stable genius’ and has ‘natural ability’!
 Is all of this nonsense really going on! The media joins the charade because he gives them a talking point. They assemble a hosts of experts in just about anything imaginable. They discuss his sayings as if they really think he is serious. They report his daily lies, but believe him when he claimed to be taking ‘Chloroquine’ and spent enormous time discussing it.

Trump realises this and says the most absurd things to distract their attention from more serious matters. But I am convinced that Trump is not aware that he is lying. He says the first thing that comes to his mind and believes it, but ironically when the questions arise, he denies in the face of all the evidence that he ever said so.

 And so, this incredibly oxymoronic figure goes on and spouts his ignorance which is swallowed and believed by many. His ignorance knows no bounds. Puerto Rico is an island “surrounded by water, big water, ocean water”. He claimed to have met with the President of the US Virgin Islands. I could go on and on pointing to his insane and absurd sayings. Maybe the person who called him a “national mental health crisis” knows something that many do not. But so much for that. There are more serious matters that should command our attention, as people in Vincyland. The latest is, of course, the tragic death from fire of the three persons from Union Island, two of them young people! A sad story indeed!

Dr Adrian Fraser is a social commentator and historian