Sore loser hurts himself and the country -- Dec. 3, 2020 column

By MARSHA MERCER

On Wednesday, the United States reported nearly 3,000 people had died in one day from the coronavirus, and President Donald Trump released a speech on video.

It could be his most important speech ever, he said, but it wasn’t about the record loss of life for a single day or that as many Americans died of the coronavirus in one day as perished on 9/11.

Instead, the president railed for 46 minutes about “bad things” in the election, again making baseless claims about fraud, ballot “dumps” and conspiracy theories.

Trump is doing a disservice to the country and to his legacy with his continuing attacks on the electoral process. He will go down in history as a president who was impeached, lost his re-election bid and spread more conflict, distrust and hatred on his way out.

Unfortunately, many of his supporters believe his unsubstantiated claims. History shows repeating a lie often enough makes it seem credible, especially a lie from a trusted figure.

Trump has spun his web of deceit into a successful fund-raising effort that reportedly has reaped $170 million since the election. He claims it is for his lawsuits but could use it for the 2024 comeback presidential campaign he is said to be considering.

He is still being aided and abetted by many Republican members of Congress. And yet, some Trump allies and hand-picked subordinates are finally standing up and refuting his lies.

Attorney General William Barr told the Associated Press Tuesday, “to date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election.”

That prompted Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal attorney, to claim there hasn’t been “any semblance” of an investigation into Trump’s complaints.

But Barr Nov. 9 authorized U.S. attorneys around the country to pursue “substantial allegations” of voting irregularities even before the vote tallies were certified, despite the lack of any evidence of widespread fraud. The Justice Department’s top elections crime official left the post after Barr sent the memo.

Trump badgers Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, as “hapless,” and urges him to use his “executive powers” to undo the election, even after the state counted, recounted by hand and certified the election for Joe Biden. Kemp rightly says he does not have such powers.  

Trump also tried to stop Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, from certifying that state’s electoral votes to Biden.

Ducey had made “Hail to the Chief” the ringtone of Trump’s calls, so he wouldn’t miss one. But when the tone played while Ducey was on live TV at the certification ceremony, Ducey put down his phone and signed anyway.

Trump threatened that Republicans “would remember.”

On Nov. 17, Trump fired by tweet Christopher Krebs, a Republican, Trump appointee and Senate-confirmed director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in the Department of Homeland Security.

Krebs had batted down the president’s claims that election systems were hacked or manipulated, saying in a tweet “59 election security experts all agree, `in every case of which we are aware, these claims either have ben unsubstantiated or are technically incoherent.’”

One of Trump’s legal henchmen said Krebs should be executed. He later said he was just being sarcastic.

Trump previewed his obstinacy long ago. In 2016 and this year, he insisted he could not lose unless the election was rigged. But because someone can’t stand to lose is not grounds to toss out millions of legal mail-in votes.

Courts around the country have shut down Trump’s legal efforts to overturn the election, citing a lack of credible evidence of fraud.

When U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Brann in Pennsylvania ruled Trump’s allegations were “strained legal arguments without merit and speculative accusations . . . unsupported by evidence,” team Trump tried to discredit him as an “Obama appointee.”

Yes, but. Brann is a conservative Republican and member of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal group. The state’s two senators, one Republican and one Democrat, recommended him to Obama for the judgeship.

We rely on free and fair elections to choose our leaders. Trump’s refusal to accept reality exacerbates the gulf between Americans and is dangerous for the future of our democracy.

If Trump wants to run again in 2024, that’s his business. Now he needs to put the country first.

©2020 Marsha Mercer. All rights reserved.

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The right thing: Protect frontline workers -- May 14, 2020 column

By MARSHA MERCER

It’s the least we can do.

We ask essential workers to fight the war on the novel coronavirus every day, even as the rest of us try to stay out of harm’s way.

The least we can do is give them the proper equipment them to do their work safely -- or as safely as possible under harrowing circumstances.

These heroic workers live with the fear they’ll bring the deadly virus home to their families and themselves, and, sadly, their fears are justified.

While no database records cases of COVID-19, the disease the coronavirus causes, among medical personnel, one small federal study found health care workers – including doctors, nurses, aides and janitors – account for about 20% of known COVID-19 cases.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study also reported just 27 COVID-related deaths among medical personnel as of April 14, but noted the count was based on a survey of just 16% of all cases. The actual number of deaths is surely far higher.

Providing personal protective equipment (PPE) – masks, plastic shields, gloves and gowns – to essential workers has been spotty at best, with widespread shortages reported. Shortages are being exacerbated by unscrupulous suppliers flooding the United States with counterfeit equipment.

Millions of masks, gloves, gowns and other supplies in use in American hospitals are counterfeit, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.

The tip-off N95 masks from China were fake, even though they appear to be certified as medical-grade by the U.S. government, was ear loops. Real N95 masks have bands that stretch around the head, not just the ears, to keep the masks in place.

There must be a special place in hell for people who profit by selling shoddy goods that risk lives. For now, the federal government is pursuing the perpetrators.

Operation Stolen Promise, led by Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, has netted 11 arrests and 519 seizures, AP reported.

“And yet counterfeit goods continue to pour in – not just masks, but also mislabeled medicines, and fake COVID-19 tests and cures,” according to the agency.

This is appalling news, but there are glimmers of hope. Some states seem to be meeting the formidable challenges.

Frontline workers in New York now test positive less often for antibodies to COVID-19 than the general public, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced Wednesday.

“You know what that means? That means PPE works. Masks work. Gloves work. Hand sanitizing works,” Cuomo said.

“How do health care workers have a lower percentage of infection than the general population? Because people don’t wear these at home, and they don’t take the same precautions. But this works.”

The lower rate is significant because the largest nurses’ union in New York state had to go to court last month and sue the state health department and two hospitals, to force changes in protective procedures.

New York state, the epicenter of infection with nearly 350,000 confirmed cases, has seen significant improvement, enough to warrant reopening parts of the state.

Cuomo issued executive orders last month requiring all people in New York to wear masks or face coverings in public whenever social distancing – keeping six feet away from others -- was impossible, including on public or private transportation. He also ordered nursing home staff be tested for COVID-19 twice a week.

“This is a social exercise,” he said. “I believe in the people, and I believe when they have the right information and they trust the information and they know the information is actually factual as opposed to some type of political jargon, they will do the right thing. And they have.”

Face coverings are sensible, and the White House now requires staffers to wear them, even though President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence refuse.

Virginia recommends, but does not require, face coverings.

Coverings protect other people, not the wearer. If you are infected but asymptomatic and wear a mask or covering over your nose and mouth, you help stop the spread of disease.

“It says to other people, I respect you, I respect your family, I respect the work of our front-line heroes, the nurses . . . I wear this mask to protect you and your family because I respect you,” Cuomo said.

Show some respect? Yes, that’s the least we should do.  

©2020 Marsha Mercer. All rights reserved.

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