Originally Posted By: Matter-eater Man
Sorry we disagree about Trump being a piece of shit. Since it’s really mostly just the 2 of us talking I do try to refrain from calling him for what he is these days for you out of politeness. It does slip out though.

Rift grows between Trump, health experts...
 Quote:
As President Donald Trump threatens to cut funding to schools that don't reopen in the fall and continues to host mega-rallies as cases of coronavirus increase, there appears to be a growing rift between the Trump White House and its top health advisers.

The president has taken his criticism of the government's top expert on infectious diseases and of leaders at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention into the public forum in his massive push to reopen the country.

MORE: Fauci, other health advisers at odds with President Trump on whether to slow testing
Despite coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx asking Americans in hot spot zones to avoid indoor gatherings and reduce them to 10 people or fewer, Trump on Friday delivered remarks and attended a home fundraiser in Florida as cases there rise -- one day after the state saw a record death toll.
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As I understand it, Trump doesn't have much of a weapon with the threat of defunding schools that don't open. Most school funding is at the state and local level, and federal funding is about 10% of total funds.

I would argue that Trump thinks opening schools is the right thing to do, from both a health perspective and an economic perspective. Kids who are home schooling are mostly blowing off the school-work and not doing it. And especially among working-class and poor families where the parents aren't as able to keep on them and supervise their studies, they are falling further and further behind.

The one area I wish Trump would give a public message is that everyone should wear a mask. While the cloth masks do nothing (the virus is small enough that it easily penetrates a cloth or other un-approved mask), the N-95 masks block inhaling of the virus. And whether you believe in masks actually protecting or not, at least with masks we can open businesses and continue again with our lives. The alternative is a shut-down. So I think it would be in Trump's, and the nation's, interest. It's a small price to pay, to be able to keep out of lockdown.
But very important: mandatory N-95 masks. Just wearing a cloth or other substandard mask doesn't protect people, and just creates a false sense of complacency.

About Trump's not being a piece of shit, I again point you to Trump's accomplishments. Quantifiably, the most accomplished president in 50 years, more accomplished than even Ronald Reagan. Trump DOUBLED annual economic growth in just his first year, re-negotiated trade deals with Japan, South Korea, China, Mexico, Canada, Europe, Central America, South America. He has slashed unnecessary regulation to further stimulate economic growth. He has enacted prison reform that has freed tens of thousands, mostly minorities, who were over-sentenced. He has re-built our military, from where Obama has broken and destroyed it to an unprecedented level of un-preparedness. And most importantly, Trump has taken a very firm stance against China's military, economic, and cyber-theft aggression. EVEN YOU have to admit, no other president, Democrat or Republican would have done so, and the nation is better and safer for it.
Likewise, securing the Southern border with Mexico. No other president, Democrat or Republican, would have done so.

In a nutshell, Trump is the most accomplished first-term president of my lifetime, and of my parents' lifetime as well. The most transformative president since FDR.

That list of accomplishments doesn't just entitle Trump to, but has earned him a much more respectful label than "piece of shit".
Save that label for the marxist radicals in your own party who are openly trying to overthrow the United States, and have no respect for its laws, its history, or its founders, who they openly endorse the destruction of.