"He claims his country has the lowest mortality rate from COVID-19 anywhere in the world."
"He claims his country has the lowest mortality rate from COVID-19 anywhere in the world."
The latest gaffe from The Donald who happens to be POTUS until 20 January 2021 by the grace of white Americans is a strange interview from his supportive Fox News, where POTUS claimed that the United States has the lowest mortality rate from COVID-19 anywhere in the world.
Ha ha ha! The US in fact has one of the highest death rates of any country in the world, according to its very own Johns Hopkins University, one of the most respected medical institutions in the world.
In the same interview by Chris Wallace, The Donald was confronted by a new Fox opinion poll showing Democrat Joe Biden leading over him substantially. A new Washington Post-ABC New poll has older Joe leading old Donald nationwide by a 15 point margin, 55 percent to 40 percent.
The Donald brushed off the polls as “fake,” saying his own White House surveys show him winning all over the US of A. And then he launched a personal tirade on Biden, questioning his mental abilities, short of calling his adversary senile.
In the latest twist of American handling of the pandemic, The Donald, who has refused to wear a face mask, and questioned its use for months, finally wore one, and said he would encourage people to wear the protective tool. Everyone and his mother in the world’s erstwhile most powerful nation had been wondering why he disregards scientific medical opinion, even those of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading immunologist.
And the numbers keep rising. As of this writing, Trump’s America has recorded close to 3.9 million cases and 143,000 mortalities, 26.5 percent of the world’s total. If you add Bolsonaro’s Brazil, the two nations take up 40 percent of the world’s total number of COVID-19 cases. And there is no seeing the end, nor the trend.
Duque and Roque should not gloat and compare our sterling performance in comparison to their “gold” standard which is the US of A. Last week we were #38 in the most infected; the week before that, we were #40. Now we are numero treinta (30), with close to 70,000 cases. Wonder when our friend Harry will dispute his alma mater’s forecasts again.
Incidentally, mine will commemorate its 400th anniversary this year, having been founded by Don Juan Geronimo Guerrero in 1620, and run by the conservative Dominican fathers along with the Royal and Pontifical University of Sto. Tomas. How do we celebrate a quadricentennial milestone in this year of the COVID — annus horribilis?
But back to Trump’s America: did you know that the once omni-accepted American passport is no longer acceptable for entry to almost all of the world? Today, Americans are only allowed in a few Caribbean islands and some Balkan countries. Others like Ecuador and Ireland accept American passport-holders coming from Trump’s America, but they need to be quarantined for 14 days.
But The Donald is unruffled. So much so that he refuses to publicly commit to honor the election results come November, if he loses. Of course he said the same when he was battling Hillary Clinton in 2016, but then he won the electoral college votes, even if he lost in the actual numbers. By the skin of his teeth thus.
Now the margins are increasing as the COVID numbers likewise increase, and the unemployment figures go up as well. Even traditionally Republican states where The Donald won by as much as a 30 percent margin are turning Biden blue, which makes Trump’s white face redder by the day. Rapper Kanye West who launched his candidacy in beautiful Charlottesville upon South Carolina, has egg all over his face, and is now dismissed as a crackpot.
But still, pettiness does not leave the person of Donald Trump. The two official portraits of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush located in the grand foyer of the White House have been removed and replaced by his “heroes,” William McKinley of “manifest destiny” colonial claim, and his successor, “Bull Moose” Teddy Roosevelt. Bill and Dubya’s portraits were thrown into the small and Old Family Dining Room which is hardly used and unseen to most visitors.
The tradition has always been to hang the portraits of immediate past presidents in the Grand Foyer, where till now, Barrack Obama’s portrait is likewise unseen. Pettiness indeed is characteristic of this white, arguably racist POTUS.
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In a better part of the Americas, just as we in Asia marvel at the COVID handling of Vietnam and Taiwan, even Thailand, there is small Uruguay, which is sandwiched between Bolsonaro’s contagion in Brazil and Argentina.
Uruguay is only 17.6 million hectares, almost half the size of the Philippines. But it has a population of only 3.5 million, 31 times smaller than ours. Like Cambodia, Uruguay is mostly flat plains, with a solitary mountain, and subsists on agriculture and tourism due to it’s long Atlantic coastline with fine beaches.
Its capital Montevideo which is a short ferry ride from Buenos Aires, the bustling capital of Argentina, houses half of Uruguay’s population, but thus far, the country has managed to keep its Covid case numbers at around a thousand with but 33 mortalities, despite a long land border with Brazil to its north.
I learned in 2011, when I spoke at the International Grains Congress in London, that the second smallest country in South America exports rice, and of course, cattle and sheep like New Zealand.
Ah, the advantages of small and manageable populations!