You Don't Have To Take Dr Fauci's Word For It!

Trump recently shared a video of several doctors endorsing hydroxychloroquine as a treatment/cure for Covid-19. And, as he has done on numerous occasions, Dr. Anthony Fauci again pointed out that this drug is not efficacious in the treatment of this virus.

For those who reflexively dismiss anything that the good doctor says, I thought it would be instructive to share a few words from one of my daughters' good friends who happens to also be a nurse. When the virus threatened to overwhelm New York, she volunteered to travel there from Alabama and work for several weeks with Covid patients. What follows is her report about her experience:

"The STAPLE treatment when I was in NYC was hydrochloroquine and Zithromax. I treated every patient with the appropriate dose of those medications and on my entire unit, only saw ONE PATIENT able to be extubated and get better. So, if this is the cure, why didn’t it work? Why did so many people die? Because I can tell you from experience that those medications are exactly what we were using to treat at that time. The video they put out is massively irresponsible.

You guys can absolutely quote me on this issue. I was there. I administered all those medications and saw almost all of my patients get worse or die. The doctors in the video are seriously misrepresenting actual treatments and are adding fuel to the fire of this being a political issue instead of a human issue. It’s disheartening and frustrating as a nurse who’s worked with these patients, and is currently working with these patients, to work yourselves to death to try and treat this virus and be told “the cure has been here all along” when it hasn’t worked and isn’t working. WE DID HCQ AND ZITHROMAX TO NO AVAIL. I’m not saying that they can’t help, but to be listed as the cure? Go to someone else with your lies. Go to someone who didn’t FaceTime families to say goodbye to their loved ones after administering this “cure”. Go to someone who didn’t have to help load body bags after administering this “cure”. Go to someone who didn’t actively treat people and watch them die over and over and over again with this “cure”. It’s the most harmful and hurtful thing to have ever heard as a nurse who administered this “cure” to hundreds of people and then watched them die.

On a positive note, I am seeing better results with remdesivir. We have been treating people at our hospital with this and seen many become better afterwards. I’m not saying that’s the cure, because I am just a nurse, however I am saying that my coworkers and patients who have gotten COVID have had good results after this treatment. There is always hope. We are doing everything we can. We are working tirelessly to help stop the spread and death rate. My patients are so loved by me and my staff, and we are trying."

Trump Rewards Stone's Loyalty

In his final comment on the post preceding this one, nck wrote: "Does Roger Stone's release signal Trumps commitment to 'law and order', or does it serve his commitment to show that indeed the system is rigged?"

The Trump White House issued the following statement on the subject: "Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Grant of Clemency commuting the unjust sentence of Roger Stone, Jr.

Roger Stone is a victim of the Russia Hoax that the Left and its allies in the media perpetuated for years in an attempt to undermine the Trump Presidency.  There was never any collusion between the Trump Campaign, or the Trump Administration, with Russia.  Such collusion was never anything other than a fantasy of partisans unable to accept the result of the 2016 election.  The collusion delusion spawned endless and farcical investigations, conducted at great taxpayer expense, looking for evidence that did not exist.  As it became clear that these witch hunts would never bear fruit, the Special Counsel’s Office resorted to process-based charges leveled at high-profile people in an attempt to manufacture the false impression of criminality lurking below the surface.  These charges were the product of recklessness borne of frustration and malice." see the full statement here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/statement-press-secretary-regarding-executive-grant-clemency-roger-stone-jr/

In other words, Roger Stone supported and perpetuated Donald Trump's narrative on Russian interference in the 2016 election. To be clear, U.S. intelligence has conclusively confirmed that Putin's Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election in support of its favorite candidate, Donald J. Trump. Moreover, Mueller's investigation confirmed that Trump and his allies welcomed and encouraged that interference. The investigation failed to demonstrate that the Trump campaign's activities rose to the level of collusion as defined by statutory law. And, the Mueller investigation demonstrated that Trump and his allies had actively sought to obstruct the investigation (which his Attorney General declined to pursue or turn over to Congress).

Hence, Trump's commutation of Stone's sentence (characterized by that same Attorney General as being fair) is a continuation of his efforts to obstruct justice and reward those who have aided/assisted him in that endeavor. The White House statement even noted that Roger Stone "is also well known for his outspoken support for President Donald J. Trump and opposition to Hillary Clinton." While the Mueller investigation was still ongoing, Trump signaled that he would reward those who remained loyal to him. Like most mob bosses, Trump demands absolute loyalty and silence from his minions. He abhors, excoriates and seeks vengeance on all who cross him and takes care of those who have to take one for the boss. 

Trump doesn't understand American history!

In an event at Mount Rushmore that was purportedly designed to celebrate Independence Day, Donald Trump accused liberals of trying to tear down America and erase its history. For him and many of his followers, the left is trying to rewrite history and destroy the greatest nation on the face of the earth. For Donald Trump, the history of the United States is a story of continuous success and goodness and should be a source of pride for every patriotic, red-blooded American.

In his speech at the monument, Trump declared: "Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values, and indoctrinate our children. Angry mobs are trying to tear down statues of our founders, deface our most sacred memorials, and unleash a wave of violent crime in our cities. Many of these people have no idea why they’re doing this, but some know what they are doing. They think the American people are weak and soft and submissive, but no, the American people are strong and proud and they will not allow our country and all of its values, history, and culture to be taken from them." (see citation at the end of this post for transcript source)

He continued: "Make no mistake. This left-wing cultural revolution is designed to overthrow the American Revolution. In so doing they would destroy the very civilization that rescued billions from poverty, disease, violence, and hunger, and that lifted humanity to new heights of achievement, discovery, and progress. To make this possible, they are determined to tear down every statue, symbol, and memory of our national heritage." (see citation at the end of this post for transcript source)

Unfortunately, Trump's statements reflect a fundamentally flawed understanding of American history and the folks who are protesting. As with all things human, America is a mix of good and bad. The truth is that there is much to be proud of in America's story, but there is also much to regret about America's past.

Yes, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were great and brilliant men, but they also owned large numbers of their fellow humans and forced them to toil on their plantations. Yes, our founding fathers were influenced by Judeo-Christian principles, but they were also children of the Enlightenment. Yes, the story of westward expansion is one of hard work and heroism, but it is also one of exploitation, murder and theft. Yes, the United States has been an economic success story, but that success was built in part on the use of slave labor and the destruction of our natural environment. Yes, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson were great generals, but they were also traitors to the United States of America. Yes, the emancipation of the slaves is a glorious chapter in our history, but Jim Crow and lynching are also a part of that story. Yes, the 1950's were a golden age for many white Americans, but they weren't so great for many people of color.

The vast majority of the protesters do not want to destroy our values, history and culture. Most of them simply want to extend the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to all Americans. They simply want to ensure that everyone is treated equally before the law. They want to make sure that the telling of our history includes the unpleasant truths that have so often been ignored in times past. They want Trump and his followers to understand that they too are an integral part of American culture - that tacos and pizza are just as American as hamburgers and apple pie!

Transcript Source: https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/donald-trump-speech-transcript-at-mount-rushmore-4th-of-july-event