The Calculation by Chip ProserRNC Chairwoman Ronna Romney told the Washington Examiner that "no matter what, we will be having a physical convention-- or, a physical nominating process." I'm not sure what a 'physical nominating process' is, but she isn't the only Trumpist barking about bringing together large numbers of right wingers. ABC News reported that the Trumpanzee Show plans to get back out on the road-- albeit probably not in normal place, just in places deemed "safe," so... like Wyoming. North and South Dakota, Alaska, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, West Virginia, maybe Hawaii and Vermont if they can find anyone who would want to see Trump do his stand up routine in either state. "But," reported ABC, "as the virus continues to spread across the country and large gatherings are barred in many states to help fight the spread of the coronavirus, public health experts warn against prematurely re-starting the economy while areas around the country still lack crucial supplies. Health experts say the return of events like large political rallies could be detrimental to combating the pandemic... Some Republican strategists point out that if the president's forced to forgo campaign rallies leading up to November it would be a significant blow." Meanwhile, Americans across the political spectrum, trust Dr. Fauci Far more than they trust Señor Trumpanzee. Blow up this chart by clicking on it:The very authoritarian billionaire DeVos family is paying for the promotion of the protests in Michigan and other Midwestern states with Democratic governors through 3 interconnected neo-fascist front groups, Operation Gridlock, Michigan Freedom Fund and the Michigan Conservative Coalition, which are trying to recapture the energy of the Tea Party in time to help Trump and Republicans in November.Friday morning, Trump was encouraging protestors who were rallying against social distancing policies of his own government-- although states with Democratic governors: Michigan, Minnesota and Virginia. Maybe he got the idea from Limbaugh who told his Hate Talk Radio audience yesterday that "People aren’t going to put up with this. People instinctively know we got to get back to work. We have to reopen the economy. People instinctively know now that however bad this is, it isn’t as bad as they all told us." By people he means members of the Republican Party Death Cult. Normal people accept social distancing as a necessity after Trump botched the American response to the pandemic, which has resulted in the most infections and deaths of any country in the world. This chart shows the cases per 1 million as of Friday morning:
• San Marino- 12,820 (435 cases)• Andorra- 9,008 (969 cases)• Luxembourg- 5,559 (3,480 cases)• Iceland- 5,140 (1,754 cases)• Spain- 4,023 (188,093 cases)• Switzerland- 3,129 (27,078 cases)• Belgium- 3,118 (36,138 cases)• Italy- 2,852 (172,434 cases)• Monaco- 2,395 (94 cases)• France- 2,267 (147,969 cases)• U.S.A.- 2,114 (699,850 cases)• Liechtenstein- 2,072 (79 cases)• Portugal- 1,866 (19,022 cases)• Netherlands-1,777 (30,449 cases)• Germany- 1,682 (140,886 cases)• Austria- 1,620 (14,586)• Qatar- 1,619 (4,663 cases)• U.K.- 1,601 (108,692 cases)• Israel- 1,500 (12,982 cases)
Meanwhile, poor African countries look relatively unscathed. But looks can be brutally deceiving. While African countries are reporting tiny numbers on cases and only a small handful per million in their populations, that has more to do with lack of medical infrastructure than good health. Look at these numbers-- from 10 dozen Africa countries:
• Uganda- 6 cases (1 per million)• South Sudan- 4 cases (0.4 per million)• Libya- 49 cases (7 per million)• Mozambique- 34 cases (1 per million)• South Africa, 2,783 cases (47 per million)• Ethiopia- 96 cases (0.8 per million)• Congo- 143 cases (26 per million)• Senegal- 342 cases (20 per million)• Nigeria- 493 cases (2 per million)• Ivory Coast- 688 cases (26 per million)
The Associated Press reported that things aren't as rosy for Africa as those numbers indicate. Even under a best case scenario Africa could see 122 million infections and 200,000 deaths. But Africa rarely gets any best case scenarios, and under a worst-case scenario the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa estimates that with no interventions against the pandemic, Africa could see 1.2 billion infections and 3.3 million deaths. "Any of the scenarios would overwhelm Africa’s largely fragile and underfunded health systems, experts have warned. Under the best-case scenario, $44 billion would be needed for testing, personal protective equipment and treatment, the report said, citing UNECA estimates. The worst-case scenario would cost $446 billion."
Poverty, crowded urban conditions and widespread health problems make Africa “particularly susceptible” to the virus, the U.N. report said. “Of all the continents Africa has the highest prevalence of certain underlying conditions, like tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.”On Thursday, a World Health Organization official said one projection over the next six months shows more than 10 million severe cases of the virus....The new report also warns of severe economic pain across Africa amid the pandemic, with growth contracting 2.6% in the worst-case scenario and an estimated 27 million people pushed into extreme poverty. The World Bank has said sub-Saharan Africa could fall into its first recession in a quarter-century.“Collapsed businesses may never recover,” the new report said. “Without a rapid response, governments risk losing control and facing unrest.”
Back to America, Republican Party strategist and #NeverTrumper Rick Wilson's screed on Trump leading the pro-plague states of America to a COVID-Civil War is right on the mark. "Donald Trump fired the first shots in the COVID Civil War this week, a modern-day Jefferson Davis of the Pro-Plague States of America sending his opening salvo from Fort Twitter at Democratic governors who dared to question if it wasn’t just a wee bit early to end the stay-at-home orders in states still far to the left of the peak. He started the week with claims of “total authority” and then cried about a supposed mutiny by mouthy state leaders. By Friday, he was up to calls to 'liberate' states. Who does he want people to rise up against, exactly: People who don't want to die? People who don't want protesters spreading a deadly disease that's already killed 34,000 Americans? Governors who swore an oath to serve their states and protect their citizens? Science? Medicine?"