Monroe Dispatch - No Struggle, No Progress

Wow! Three days was all it took to bring President Trump back to life. The president spent three days in a Washington, D. C. hospital after the White House said he had contacted the coronavirus. Three days later the president is back in the White House, as he posed for pictures in a show of physical/mental wellness to America that he is more than ready to assume his job as president. While he is back on the job, maybe he can explain “his working” at the hospital in a staged photo showing him signing a piece of paper that appeared to be blank. Yes, blank. What will be the president’s next move on leading the nation through the coronavirus pandemic now that he still has the virus, is anyone’s guess. In an announcement that caught no one by surprise, but when, President Trump announced that he has the coronavirus and miracles of miracles, he left Walter Reed Medical Center Monday (Oct.5) following treatment. This time, the president had company, as others contacted the virus, including the First Lady Melania Trump. The list goes on with others in the White House, with Kellyanne Conway, Kaleigh McEnany, campaign manager Bill Stiephen, National Chairwoman of Republican Party Rona (Romney) McDaniels, three Republican senators, Mike Lee (Utah), Thom Tillis (N.C.), (WI) Ron Johnson and Hope Hicks. There are others but these are close supporters who have been in the president’s company at recent events. This is one time that the president can’t claim that the virus is a hoax or claim that it is going away soon. Some people will say that the virus “didn’t go away” as the president has said, before it got him and now the president becomes one of the millions of Americans who has contacted the virus and now is undergoing treatment no longer at a hospital, but at the White house. In addition, it is the manner of how doctors had been treating the president at Walter Reed, that has raised concerns. The doctors had given conflicting information about President Trump’s condition, for example they used some kinds of medication that suggested that the president may have been more ill than previously said. High fever, low oxygen level and fatigue, plus the fact that Mr. Trump is considered overweight and in the age group (74) where being infected with the virus poses a serious risk to his life.

The president made a statement that he should have said many months ago, when he said that he has “been schooled”, saying that “he learned a lot” about COVID-19 while he was in the hospital. That in and of itself is an interesting statement from the president. The question that the president should answer is, did he not understand what Dr. Fauci and others were telling him about COVID-19 or did he, as he admitted, downplay the seriousness of the virus just to save the economy (not lives), increasing his chances to be reelected in November? Is this a “confession” and a play for sympathy from those whom the president wants to see him as the victim? Is this a move from the playbook, that if the POTUS can get the virus, anyone can get it? However, one must remember, that this is the same individual who refused to wear a mask, maintain social distancing and even contradicted the medical experts that he hired to work for the American people. This is a president that continued to call for more opening of the country(despite the medical objections), while at the same time holding political rallies and even offering his own versions of medical treatments(using disinfectants); that a few people tried and later died. One other thing, this is the president that wants to get rid of Obamacare, while he gets the “deluxe” service in healthcare. Over 210,000 Americans have died so far on Trump’s watch.

Donald Trump is showing that even as president, the show must go on. As a showman, the president knows that he must give the audience what they want. It was back during the summer during the protests over the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Black people by the police, that President Trump walked from the White House surrounded by police and others to a church where he proudly stood holding a bible upside down, just to “show” how tough he was on crime. Never mind the fact that peaceful protesters in Washington were teargassed as the president stood for his photo-op. Then over the weekend, the president had to “see” his adoring public, as he took a “joy ride” around the medical complex so his fans/supporters could gaze upon his masked face. One doctor said that sojourn was a “ride of insanity”. That mask came off Monday, minutes after he returned to the White House. Oh well, so much for his “concern” for others, or is it “misery loves company”? People are wondering how/why doctors could allow a sick man to leave the hospital in his condition with an infectious disease, putting more people at risk. Though the White House said that doctors “gave clearance” to the president, one could assume that it was President Trump giving the orders. The president had to see/feel the adulation of the crowd. In other words, he made everything about himself. Now that President Trump is back in the White House, perhaps he may enlighten the nation on what he “learned” about COVID-19 and his plans for the nation. Will we see a more “kinder, more gentle” Donald Trump when he realizes that things could have turned out so much differently? Only God knows. Remember, the world is watching. So is God.