Jane Mayer writes in The New Yorker:

McConnell and the President are not a natural pair. A former Trump Administration official, who has also worked in the Senate, observed, “It would be hard to find two people less alike in temperament in the political arena. With Trump, there’s rarely an unspoken thought. McConnell is the opposite—he’s constantly thinking but says as little as possible.” The former Administration official went on, “Trump is about winning the day, or even the hour. McConnell plays the long game. He’s sensitive to the political realities. His North Star is continuing as Majority Leader—it’s really the only thing for him. He’s patient, sly, and will obfuscate to make less apparent the ways he’s moving toward a goal.” The two men also have different political orientations: “Trump is a populist—he’s not just anti-élitist, he’s anti-institutionalist.” As for McConnell, “no one with a straight face would ever call him a populist—Trump came to drain the swamp, and now he’s working with the biggest swamp creature of them all.”

An in-depth, informative read.

I am distancing from both the coronavirus and the narcissismvirus. The former spreads through contacts; the latter spreads through lies; and both could be deadly. I feel my friends’ outrage about the daily briefings of the White House Coronavirus Task Force and my advice to them is don’t watch. Don’t let the narcissimvirus get to you.

With the threat to his presidency and power, the narcissimvirus is ruthless. He entertained the idea of reopening the economy when American lives are still in jeopardy. His die-hard followers took up his words for it. They were willing to sacrifice their own lives in order to prevent the economy from crashing. He considered himself doing “a very good job” if only 200,000 people die. Does it sound like a cult? Remember Jim Jones’s followers lining up to drink poisonous Kool-Aid? While Jones killed over 900 of his followers, the narcissimvirus could cost hundreds of thousands of human lives and he won’t take any responsibility at all.

We know he won’t take any responsibility because he has been blaming everyone else but himself for the American crisis under his watch. The coronavirus was not preventable, but it wouldn’t have blown into a catastrophe if someone else led the country. Let’s face it. Not only he is incompetent, but he is also too afraid to take action in this pandemic.

Chém cha cái lũ Việt sùng bái thằng già đạo dụ. Đùa chút thôi đừng tẩy chay tôi như tẩy chay Mẹ Nấm nhé. Cô chỉ nói ra sự thật thôi mà cũng bị lũ cuồng Việt lên tiếng tống cổ cô ra khỏi nước Mỹ. Chỉ một câu phê bình của cô thôi đã gần 12,000 chữ ký (lúc tôi viết bài này) nói cô bôi nhọ thằng già đạo dụ. Mẹ Nấm viết:

Một vị lãnh đạo quốc gia mà hôm nay nói gì ngày mai quên mất, trong khi lời nói của mình có thể ảnh hưởng tới hàng trăm triệu người, đến sinh mạng của người khác thì thật đáng lo ngại.

Tôi không đồng ý với cô rằng ông “hôm nay nói gì ngày mai quên mất.” Không phải là ông không nhớ hay ông đã quên mà vì ông nói láo nhiều quá nên ông cũng chẳng biết mình đã nói gì. Tôi không bênh vực cô vì cô đủ sức mạnh để chống chọi lũ cuồng Việt. Họ sống ở Mỹ mà hành động không thua gì Cộng Sản. Cái gọi là “tự do ngôn luận” ở Mỹ là căn bản mà họ không chịu học hỏi. Cô đã từng sống dưới chế độ Cộng Sản thì cô còn gì sợ nữa? Và cô cũng đã thách thức bọn họ ký tên để trục xuất cô ra khỏi nước Mỹ. Tôi không biết ai đã viết cái đơn xin (petition) nhưng đọc thật buồn cười:

But recently, the Vietnamese community living in the US found she still has a connection with the Vietnamese communist government. She fraud created scam donations online for the Vietnamese government and also trashed the US system and POTUS. We believed she fraud abused the immigration system try to get into the US and spy for communists and disturbed our Vietnamese community.

Please help us to uncover this issue. She challenged all of us here who support the POTUS

“She fraud” là gì vậy? Đồ giả hả? Tôi nghĩ Mẹ Nấm cũng không cần lo ngại. Lũ cuồng thằng già đạo dụ làm hùng hổ lắm rồi cũng sẽ quên thôi. Họ có trí nhớ như con cá vàng vậy. Còn nhớ chuyện của ca sĩ Thu Phương hoặc chuyện của nhà văn Nguyễn Ngọc Ngạn không? Quên bà nó rồi.

My fellow senior American citizens, Dan Patrick, the Republican lieutenant governor of Texas, has a message for you: please prepare to die to make America work again. If you are 70 or older and infected with COVID-19, your existence only takes up younger people’s lives and drags down the entire economy. You should just die so that your grandchildren will enjoy their prosperous lives.

Like his stupid boss in the White House, Patrick doesn’t understand that the coronavirus spares no one. Older people are more vulnerable, but 40 percent of Americans who were hospitalized and needed treatments for the coronavirus between the ages of 20 and 54. They take up as many ventilators as older people. Why are we giving up on our elderly? Since when has America become uncompassionate? My guess was January 20, 2017 when the con man inaugurated.

Patrick claimed to be a champion for pro-life, but if you are old then fuck you. If he wanted to be a hero and willing to die for his grandchildren’s capitalism, I don’t have a problem with his personal choice. Urging other grandparents to end their lives for the sake of the economy is greedy and immoral. America is better than that. We value all lives. In a global pandemic, our goal should be saving lives instead of sacrificing lives.

On January 24, the president still ignored all warnings and praised China. He tweeted: “China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus,” he applauded Xi, “The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!”

Instead of taking advice from the U.S. intelligence agencies, he sided with China until he realized Xi and the Chinese officials screwed him. How does a child respond when he knows he is being played for a fool? He called them names. Like a spoiled little brat, he refused to listen to the adults like our public health experts. Instead he listened to airheads like Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Mark Steyn, and Tucker Carlson feeding him alternative facts.

Unfortunately, alternative facts can’t stop the spreading of the coronavirus. The fake news era, which defined this presidency, had come to an end last week. Regrettably, the childish commander-in-chief is still in office while the global pandemic has swept up our streets, schools, and businesses, and has left many Americans fighting for our lives.

As we are hunkering down in our own homes, working remotely, trying to educate our kids, washing our hands over and over again, and waiting impatiently for the development of the vaccine, we need to stay abreast of the facts. Misinformation is as dangerous as the coronavirus. Do not believe in everything you read. Please fact-check the sources. I have seen friends and family spreading fake news on Facebook without knowing. At a time of a global pandemic, misinformations and fake news not only divide us, they also come at a cost of our lives. Stay home and stay informed.

TN:

Donny,

I’m one of those who saw your long ago video “Bonjour Vietnam,” made some comments on it and a few after. Also saw what you went through after the event. I bookmarked your visualgui ‘politics’ read it from time to time.

I’m leaning liberal forever, sided with the Democrats since Jimmy Carter. I can’t stand Trump the chimp and cái lũ Việt đười ươi cuồng Trump, think your latest post on politics a gem.

I thought it’s time to pay you a compliment/contribution.

I glad I am not alone in the Vietnamese-American community to speak out against the incompetent leader whose ignorant and stupidity put us in jeopardy of a deadly pandemic. Not all of us are blinded or manipulated by the con artist. This blog allows me to have a Vietnamese-American voice in this political sphere. Thank you for your generous contribution. I can’t make any promises, but you have my word that I will continue to speak the truth. I hope you stay safe and healthy in this difficult time.

The World Health Organization warned against calling COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus” or the “Wuhan virus.” Yet the ignorant president stokes xenophobia in a time of global pandemic. He and his supporters claim it is nothing wrong with calling the virus where it came from. The example they used is the “Spanish Flu,” which originated from Spain.

They are dead wrong. The flu did not come from Spain. It started in Kansas. The official name is H1N1 not the “Spanish Flu.” Spain was the only country that reported honestly on the pandemic. As for Ebola, scientists pushed back from calling it “Yambuku,” which was the name of the village where the disease first started. Influenza first appeared in North America and we didn’t call it the “North America Flu.”

In a time of worldwide crisis, we must unite and fight against the virus—not against each other. The president knew he mismanaged the pandemic; therefore, he tried to put the blame on someone else and he didn’t care if it had a dangerous impact on the Asian-American community. Hate crimes had risen in New York City against Asian Americans. Over 1,000 cases of xenophobia toward Chinese Americans reported between January 28 and February 24. Between 50 to 70 percent of Chinese-American businesses had been lost.

What I am ashamed of the most is the piling up from the Vietnamese-American community, particularly supporters of the president’s racist remark, referring to the coronavirus as the “Chinese virus” or the “Wuhan virus.” How can we do this to our own Asian-American community? Let’s face it. Most Americans can’t tell the difference between Cambodian, Chinese, Japanese, Laos, Korean, and Vietnamese; therefore, you are not shielded from being targeted with your Asian face. In middle school, I had been called “Ching Chong,” “Chink,” “Dog Eater,” “Gook,” “Slanted Eye,” and any racist remarks against Chinese Americans. I hope that our kids won’t have to go through what I had experienced. My ten-year-old son told me that he and his close friends stood up for their Chinese friend when kids singled him out because of the coronavirus. I was so proud of him and his friends. I urge you to think about your kids too when you make a racist reference and call the “Chinese virus” or the “Wuhan virus.”

We stood with the LGBTQ community when they were being discrimated in the AIDS epidemic. We stood with the Muslim-American community after September 11. Now it is time to stand with the Asian-American community. If you have experienced anti-Asian hate crimes in the wake of COVID-19, please report your incident at the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council website.

Before blaming President Obama, let me remind you that the Obama Administration kept us safe from three epidemics: H1N1 swine flu, Ebola, and Zika.

After the 2014 Ebola outbreak, President Obama created the White House’s National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense to prepare for the next epidemic and to prevent the next global pandemic. When you took office in 2017, you were warned about the outbreak of H9N2 influenza. Nevertheless, you and your administration dissolved the office that would keep us safe. Now we are paying the price for your incompetent.

Even COVID-19 was not preventable, it was predictable. If President Obama were still in office, we wouldn’t be in such a dire situation like we are in now. So stop pointing the finger and take responsibility for your own fuck-ups.

Đáng lý ra tôi không nên tham gia vào những lời bình luận trên Facebook nhưng không thể kiềm chế. Sau đây là đối thoại với một người bạn sống ở Việt Nam.

NMK viết:

Ngoài trừ Ronald Reagan, thì đây là vị Tổng Thống Mỹ mà làm mình phấn khích nhất. Gọi tên cho đúng cái đã: wuhancoronavirus hoặc chinesevirus cho thuận mồm.

Tôi trả lời:

Cám ơn những lời khuyến khích của ông nên người Á châu ở Mỹ (không chỉ người Tàu và luôn cả người Việt) bị kỳ thị, chửi rủa, và đánh đập dã man.

NMK:

Thứ nhất, chẳng có gì sai trái khi gọi tên đúng với xuất xứ của nó. Về việc đặt tên khoa học, có nhiều loài còn được đặt tên theo nơi nó được phát hiện. Với thói mất dạy của Trung Quốc như mọi khi thì vừa phục hồi lại sau trận đại dịch đã quay trở lại là loài lòng lang dạ sói như mọi khi khi cố tính đánh lạc hướng dư luận. Còn về việc phân biệt đối xử, kỳ thị thì chẳng riêng gì Mỹ, mà còn ở châu Âu. Việc kỳ thị xảy ra có thể do quá khứ phân biệt chủng tộc, nhưng nguyên nhân của yếu bởi lối sống, lối suy nghĩ kỳ cục, lười biếng của đa số người Việt bên đó. Dĩ nhiên việc họ đánh đồng là không đúng vì vẫn có nhiều người Việt trở thành anh hùng của nước Mỹ, hay vẫn đóng góp cho xã hội Mỹ. Nếu đổi lại là mình, nhà mình bị người khác vô ở, làm thì ít mà phá thì nhiều liệu mình có ác cảm hay không. Là em, dĩ nhiên là có. Bất cứ ai, tá túc trên nhà mình, vô văn hoá, thiếu đạo đức em đều chẳng coi ra gì, bất kể người Mỹ hay Tây ở VN.

Tôi:

Là một nhà lãnh đạo nhất là trong lúc trầm trọng như bây giờ cần phải kêu gọi đoàn kết và lên án phản đối những sự kiện kỳ thị vô cớ chứ không nên châm dầu vào lửa.

Anh hiểu được tâm trạng của em nhưng anh không đồng ý với lý luận của em cho là người Việt mình bị phân biệt chủng tộc bởi họ sống lười biếng ở đây. Trái lại theo chính anh thấy đa số người Việt mình sống rất siêng năng cho dù làm nail hay bác sĩ. Tuy nhiên mỗi người có lối suy nghĩ khác nhau.

Anh càng không đồng ý với em về vấn đề “nhà mình.” Từ lúc lập thành đất nước, Mỹ là do dân tị nạn gây dựng. Dù đến trước mấy trăm năm hay đến sau, tất cả đều như nhau cả. Chỉ khác là đến bến tự do với mục đích gì và có cống hiến cho nước này hay không.

Cho dù không đồng ý nhưng anh vẫn tôn trọng lối suy nghĩ của em.

NMK:

Dĩ nhiên lối suy nghĩ của em thì anh không thể hiểu, vì anh không sống dùm cuộc sống của em ở đây và ngược lại, em không sống dùm cuộc sống của anh ở Mỹ. Mỗi người nhìn một quyết định theo hướng khác, vì mỗi người mong muốn một điều khác. Nước Mỹ là Hợp Chủng Quốc thì việc phân biệt chủng tộc lại là điều càng không thể tránh khỏi. Cuộc đời đôi khi không phải cứ màu trắng thì sẽ là màu trắng.

As the coronavirus silently creeps in, it exposes the incompetence of the president. He can’t lie his way out of this one.

His administration shut down the global-health office in the National Security Council. Insteading of preparing for the pandemic early, he ignored warnings. He boasted that the virus will go away one day. That miracle has not come. He lied that the virus had been contained when it had continued to spread. He lied that testing would be available for everyone when it was not. He lied that the vaccine would be available in a few months when it will take a year or more to develop. He admitted that he cared far more about the numbers than the people’s lives.

Because of his massive leadership failures and constant lies, the American people had to make the decision themselves. Responsible leaders including university presidents, supertendents, state governors, and business owners had bypassed the president to shut down schools, workplace, and activities. We can no longer wait for the guidance from this con artist.

He is unfit for this job and needed to be replaced. We need someone who could handle a situation like this to keep us safe. This incompetent president does not know how to keep us safe.