Drink Bleach

Yesterday's post: 

     "a welcome change from trying to predict whether Donald Trump's antics are helping his re-election chances."

                    Herb Rothschild, comment on yesterday's post

Twitter commentary

I am back at it. There is so much material.

Trump doing something so improbable and ridiculous it requires explanation.  Surely this time he has gone too far.

Yesterday the president of the United States suggested injecting disinfectants into a COVID-19 patient. Alternatively, he said, maybe we could just shine light on a patient, maybe ultraviolet light, and that would be a quick cure. Disinfectant "knocks it out in a minute, one minute."

Democrats are having fun with this. It is an archetypal Trump experience. Trump is rambling, moving on from pitching hydroxychloroquine to suggesting other potential quick fixes. He heard scientists say sunlight and bleach kills viruses on metal playground equipment. He needed to chime in. Maybe we could just drink some, he suggested. Or inject it. The professional people around him attempt a steely face respectful silence as they hear him put this out there.

Click: Dr. Birx reaction to Trump. 50 secs.

There are multiple stories here worth consideration, and the video link adjacent focuses not on Trump, but on Dr. Deborah Birx. Birx and Andrew Fauci join a growing list of advisors who understand they must bite their tongue, be careful not to contradict Trump directly, and serve their consciences and country by sweeping up behind him, fixing his errors, minimizing his damage. They will clarify and expand, not contradict. 

Her face is eloquent, yet another example of the brutal honesty of body language. Watch and listen. There is no question what she is thinking. It's irresponsible, dangerous quackery by Trump. Will people people start sipping bleach? One can read her face, thinking, "When will he stop. What a mess to clean up."

Surely this must be bad politics for Trump, another devastating nail in his political coffin.

I think not. 

One simple trick. Americans did not invent the idea that there is some marvelous and powerful outside force that sweeps in to resolve a story or situation, the deus ex machina. Humans believe in miracles. Quarterbacks throw a "Hail Mary." Cartoon Superman and Mighty Mouse sweep in to save the day. I get a popup ad every single day telling me "You can cure your toenail fungus with this one simple trick."  

This morning the Huffington Post--which leads with the featured article mocking Trump for his dangerous simplistic solution--has two stories just below the lead, one saying that stretching is the simple answer to your virus stress and anxiety, and another recommending deep breathing as the simple solution to lung congestion from COVID-19. Simple.

Americans learned an implicit lesson coming out World War Two and the next decade: firepower and invention. Somewhere there is a scientist with the answer, be it an atomic bomb or a vaccine. It might be right under our noses. 

Trump lacks the eloquence of Franklin Roosevelt, but each have the same message of hope and persistence. FDR: "The country needs, and unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all try something."

Democrats see a dangerous blithering idiot. Dr. Birx sees a problem to sweep up. But a great many Americans will see a president open to anything, maybe grasping at straws but if straws are all there are, then, sure, grasp at them. They see an optimist, impatient to get back to normal, someone wanting to look under every rock. We may already have invented the solution, and what with all the already-approved medicines out there, surely one of them does something. Or bleach.

Answer:  Yes.

It is so easy to make Trump look silly that Democrats could mis-read this one. Democrats could come across as mean spirited and condescending. Worse, they could re-affirm themselves as the Party of "No." No hope. No change. No get well. No go back to work. Not willing to try stuff.

Trump looks ridiculous, but he looks ridiculous trying to get people healthy and back to work. The fact that Democrats are making a fuss over it will make sure that Trump's suggested experiments will be noticed.

Net-net, this is probably good for Trump.