After a long day doing election stuff on Saturday, I turned on the news last night to catch up on what I had missed. Coverage from all the news networks seemed scattered and repetitive, so I finally turned in and decided to catch the first updates this morning at 6 am. Hmmm. Lots of smoke still, but I also see some tactful concern for his condition, along with an unwillingness to do aggressive speculation about the few pieces of info available about the president’s condition.
Not much change today overall really. CNN’s 6 am Sunday morning headlines started with “WHITE HOUSE SOWS CONFUSION ON PRESIDENT’S CONDITION AS SOURCE TELLS CNN NEXT 48 HOURS ARE CRITICAL”. And “WH CHIEF OF STAFF “PRESIDENT’S BLOOD OXYGEN LEVEL STARTED TO DROP RAPIDLY FRIDAY MORNING””
Huh. That’s not much different from yesterday. And now they go to video. It looks like Trump put on a clean shirt and a nice jacket at Walter Reed Hospital to make a statement. OK, double-talk from the president about the “therapeutics” he’s taking for his condition, then whammo! St. Donald of the Beatitudes suddenly looks soulfully towards heaven and piously says that the changes in his condition are “LIKE MIRACLES COME DOWN FROM GOD.” That’s kinda weird.
Now I see a live comment from CNN’s reporter in DC this morning- “We’ve been told he’s consuming a lot of the media coverage about his condition.” Another quote follows from Mark Meadows “He’s not out of the woods. We know the next 48 hours are critical...he’s made remarkable progress since yesterday morning...blah, blah, blah...”
Hmmmm…the next topic on CNN is about the recent and significant rise of Covid-19 cases in many states. Whew- our state isn’t red for a change. Now they’re talking about a new prediction of 2900 deaths a day by the end of December and more clusters of cases in areas that had previously reduced their illness rate. Like in NYC- shit, that’s not good.
OK- so let’s go online for a little more media to try and get the full story. Chris Christie is in the hospital now? Huh. USA Today has an article up that he checked himself into the hospital after having mild symptoms as an “important precautionary measure” due to his history of asthma. Dana Bash at CNN says he had a fever but felt well enough to drive himself to a hospital in Morristown. Now multiple sources say he also started a five day course of Remdesivir.
Wait a god-damned minute. He drove himself to the damned hospital and started a course of Remdesivir already? Doesn’t that stuff get used when you’re really sick? You have to get it intravenously, right? Yet Trump made a big media event of striding confidently towards the helicopter as he left for the hospital, even though he’s a notorious germophobe. It’s hard to get him into a hospital at all, but now he’s talking about how it’s a good thing? Then yesterday Mark Meadows did a clumsy media remark, supposedly trying to go off record, with insinuations about the president’s possibly serious condition.
There’s a whole lot of smoke and mirrors all over media. One thing we do know for sure- Trump’s mouth was moving yesterday in the video, so he is lying. But about what, exactly? And why? Is the president very sick or not really? Is all of this weirdness their poor attempt at spin so that he can take advantage of the sympathy for his own PR benefit? Or is something else going on? Has he found Jesus all of a sudden?
I know I need more facts- let me just Google for more info- “remdesivir criteria for treatment”. First reputable site that comes up is… NIH
Remdesivir has been studied in several clinical trials for the treatment of COVID-19. The recommendations from the COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel (the Panel) are based on the results of these studies.
Remdesivir is available through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for people with severe COVID-19.
Recommendation for Prioritizing Limited Supplies of Remdesivir
- Because remdesivir supplies are limited, the Panel recommends prioritizing remdesivir for use in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 who require supplemental oxygen but who do not require oxygen delivery through a high-flow device, noninvasive ventilation, invasive mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) (BI).
Recommendation for Patients With Mild or Moderate COVID-19
- There are insufficient data for the Panel to recommend either for or against the use of remdesivir in patients with mild or moderate COVID-19.
Let me get this straight. There are still limited supplies of remdesivir available, according to the July 24, 2020 page on treatment guidelines that’s still up at NIH. The federal treatment guidelines still say that people with severe COVID-19 cases should get priority treatment with remdesivir and that there is insufficient data to support use in people with mild or moderate cases. And there’s a whole lot of media double-talk floating around about whether the president is on oxygen or not.
Now I get it. Finally! I’m having that Olympia Dukakis moment from Moonstruck “Why do men chase women?- Maybe because they fear death.” None of the president’s pet treatments are remotely effective as a “therapeutic”, so his “therapeutic” of choice is one that is still limited in availability, but that also requires intravenous use by a patient who already requires supplemental oxygen. And now finally- there’s the reason for all of this double-talk. He needs cover from the doctors and the rest of his crew about his condition so that his treatment with remdesivir can be spun as justified.
Months of hypocrisy about this pandemic added to his innate sense of self-interest = Donald Trump going to Walter Reed for treatment on their presidential floor.
Entitlement for a sick real estate guy = getting the good stuff intravenously in a really exclusive suite.
Add in his continued access to a phone and suddenly his pal Chris Christie jumps in his car and drives to the hospital in Morristown, still miraculously is able to call CNN within hours to chat.
You entitled bastards. Could I drive myself to the hospital with a history of asthma and a middle aged spread and get hooked up to a five day course of remdesivir with a mild fever.? Hah!! That’s the story they don’t want anybody to tell. They don’t meet the federal guidelines for treatment with remdesivir. Let me say that again. THEY DON’T MEET THE FEDERAL GUIDELINES FOR TREATMENT WITH REMDESIVIR.
Those guidelines could change tomorrow. They could be spun as only “recommendations” since NIH isn’t technically a “regulatory” agency and doesn’t have enforcement powers for this situation. Maybe a doctor, faced with enormous pressure, signed off on our president’s treatment with the best therapeutic that’s available. And maybe another one signed off on the same thing for the ex governor of New Jersey. And I would like to know if any of his other pals are getting the same treatment too. Maybe it’s not illegal, but it’s all bullshit. Because THEY DON’T MEET THE FEDERAL GUIDELINES FOR TREATMENT FOR REMDESIVIR.
Thousands of people are still sick. People with a fever in the workplace are sent home and told to get a test on their own dime and report back to work if it’s negative, whether they feel sick or not. Others aren’t even given the option and have to keep working if they want to keep their jobs. That’s the discussion that nobody at the White House wants to have. THEY DON’T MEET THE FEDERAL GUIDELINES FOR TREATMENT FOR REMDESIVIR. And over 25 states are still seeing their covid case numbers increase right now.
There’s only one more thing left to say. Get out the VOTE!!! I’m heading out to help today and you should too.