Posts Made By: Rod Kaufman

Originally Posted by James Lacey

I agree, for the most part, of course. I was merely tweaking Richard a little.

Suppose Biden wins all of the states that Lean Biden, then he easily wins. Trump, on the other hand, not only has to win all the toss-up states, but he also has to win some of the lean Biden states. The odds are in Biden's favor. Too close to call is too strong, in my humble opinion. If you had to bet a $1,000 on who would win, who would you bet on right now? Clearly, the only choice is Biden. The usual caveats apply, i.e., even an underdog can still win, but no one would seriously bet on Trump winning right now if the betting odds are even.

Originally Posted by Darian Rachal

Rod, let's say in spite of all this "information", Trump ends up winning. What conclusion will you reach?

Originally Posted by Russ Carroll

Somebody with balls. Probably a Navy guy 🙂 Finally!

"Walter Reed Attending Physician Calls Trump’s Brief Drive-By ‘Political Theater’ And ‘Insanity’"


"That Presidential SUV is not only bulletproof, but hermetically sealed against chemical attack. The risk of COVID19 transmission inside is as high as it gets outside of medical procedures. The irresponsibility is astounding. My thoughts are with the Secret Service forced to play."

— Dr. James P. Phillips, MD (@DrPhillipsMD) October 4, 2020


https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2020/10/04/walter-reed-attending-physician-calls-trumps-brief-drive-by-political-theater-and-insanity/

Originally Posted by James Brown

Russ,

I understand that Trump's approach to the pandemic caused/is causing many people to exercise less vigilance than I believe is good for them.  Nonetheless, it is not like the knuckleheads who refuse masks, go clubbing, and eschew distancing don't know, but for something Trump said, that they are taking unnecessary risks.  Consider our own Darian who is pretty darned laissez faire about masks and distancing.  He has his own reasons.  I seriously doubt Darian would be exercising the level of caution expressed by Dave Cotterell for example, no matter what Trump might say or do.  

Tying  this to your analogy, if someone fully aware that they don't know how to swim jumps in anyway, that person has a great deal of personal culpability, even if a bystander lets them drown.

Covid 19 is a new and deadly disease.  In an imaginary hypothetical, if we did everything "right" many people still would have died.  You can demonstrate that we, as a society, did not do everything right, from the top down.  Therefore we have extra deaths over some hypothetical baseline.  But it is impossible to apportion culpability for those excess deaths among all of those who didn't do everything exactly right i.e. Trump, Faucci, Cuomo, and each and every one of us who has let our guard down from time to time.  Blaming Trump for the entirety of the excess deaths is irrational.

From my perspective, without the dramatic social measures we did implement, many more would have died.  Maybe twice as many?  Maybe ten times as many?  Who knows?  Who gets credit for those lives saved?  Not Trump.  In my book it is the everyman who took reasonable precautions who gets credit for preventing those deaths.  

Jim

p.s.  Even by the terms of your own analogy, the person who fails to tell the lifeguard is not a murderer.  He didn't kill anyone.  The water killed the drowned man.  The person who passed up the opportunity to save the swimmer is a coward and a scoundrel I suppose, but not a murderer.

Originally Posted by James Lacey

It's great advice when you are only a helicopter ride away from the best medical care available and can access the best treatments and medications for COVID, and you don't have to worry about how to pay for it. It's not such great advice for the average person.

The only reason you haven't gotten sick, Darian, is because you haven't come in contact with a sick person. I don't live my life in fear either, but I'm well aware that if I'm in public and come across someone who is actively shedding virus, I'm most likely going to contract it. Wearing a mask can help reduce the viral load I get or give, but if you come in close contact with someone infectious, you will likely get it. So, it makes sense to take common-sense precautions, wear a mask, stay distant when possible, wash your hands, and avoid large crowded indoor groups. It's only necessary to look no further than the Rose Garden super-spreader event to understand this.