In a clear sign that malignant narcissist and bungler Donald "Rump" Trump wants to keep spinning his happy talk on the coronavirus outbreak without official contradiction, yesterday he named his adoring lapdog, VP Mike "Dense" Pence to be in charge of his administration's response. (ed., what, master Jared wasn't available?) That means that information disseminated to the public will have to be cleared through Pence, who only has an eye on putting the best face on the crisis ahead of the elections and calming the turbulent stock market for his boss.
If public health is your primary concern, putting Pence in that role signals that presidential politics is Trump's only concern. Pence's track record while Governor of Indiana in handling a health crisis is disastrous. Pence opposed a clean needle exchange effort in the wake of an outbreak of HIV/AIDS, allowing the disease to spread:
"As Governor of Indiana, an HIV/AIDS epidemic flourished until he allowed public health—not ideology—to direct policy & response," tweeted Leana Wen, the past head of Planned Parenthood who now teaches at George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences. "I hope he now follows the guidance of the exceptional career public health leaders @CDCgov & in the admin." (our emphasis)We believe Ms. Wen's hopes will be dashed. Pence is only qualified to stand behind Trump looking adoringly at him and praising him like a god. Count on him bending every bit of data and every advisory to deflect accountability from Trump if the crisis worsens. Fortunately, the public health service and CDC have dedicated and humane professionals who will fight his political motivations.
BONUS: There's already speculation Pence is being set up as the fall guy for when the sputum hits the fan. Perhaps Trump caught him measuring the drapes in the Oval Office again? Sad!
BONUS II: For your consideration --
Mike Pence is the brains of the operation.— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) February 27, 2020
Consider that.
BONUS III: But above all, "Message: don't worry!" --
UPDATE: It seems one of Dense's main jobs will be to control what information about the virus gets out from government scientists, by routing it through Dense for approval. Everyone please bend over, put your head through your legs and kiss your ass goodbye.
(photo: Evan Vucci/AP)
