“I’m shocked, shocked that there is gambling going on in here.” The famous line from Casablanca as the head of the police force closed Rick’s bar and collects his winnings. We all recognize the hypocrisy of one of the great scenes in American moviemaking. Well, in the same vein, I’m shocked, shocked at the new revelations in Bob Woodward’s new book: Rage. I’m shocked that there is lying in the White House and other government agencies.
Too many people just assumed that President Trump wasn’t smart enough to understand the severity of the Covid-19 virus and the death and destruction it would cause. But he did understand and chose to lie to the people so that they would not panic. Too many others didn’t care if he understood or not, they would just do what he led them to do and reveled in ignoring the “educated elite scientists” who wanted to have them wear a mask. Image that!
Rage also revealed that Trump had told Woodward that the US has new weapon systems that China and Russia can’t even imagine; and that is when the arms race started again.
A Whistleblower in the Department of Homeland Security filed a complaint with the Inspector General claiming that he was told to skew intelligence briefing material so that it more closely conformed to the President’s view of the world. Specifically, the Acting Director told him to spend more time investigating why China was meddling in our elections and less time looking into Russia’s continued interference.
Chaos theory, to oversimplify, is often illustrated with the notion of a butterfly’s flapping its wings will set in motion airwaves that cause a hurricane half-way around the world; random really isn’t. The result of not wanting to panic Americans about the virus, and mocking those who did try to get the truth out and observe scientific protocols set in motion billions of ideas, thoughts, and actions that caused tens of thousands of people to die needlessly. Total deaths have surpassed 190,000 souls.
In normal times the simple act of holding back information of the virus and lying about it, in addition to total fiasco-level mismanagement of the pandemic would be cause for a President to resign in shame. To tell a reporter about secret weapons systems would ignite Congressional investigations, hearings, and possible impeachment proceedings, or a simple resignation.
The last week or two has seen a new shocking revelation nearly every day. It’s whack-a-scandal time in DC. We are so accustomed to the daily chaos that by Monday these events may all be forgotten.
These revelations are not Democrat or Republican issues. They speak to competence, to reliability, to honesty, to the American Spirit. We deserve better.
