thependulumswings

There’s a fine line between civility and incivility in this U.S. of A.  Have you ever been stuck on a crowded plane for an extended period of time?  If so, you know.

And, the line seems to blur by the day these days.   It was there in the White House Press Room for all to see again on Sunday.

Reporters at the briefing repeatedly asked President Donald Trump why he chose not to wear a medical mask after he and his task force recommended that America start doing so just last Friday.  Nevermind that the reporter was not wearing a mask at the time he asked the question.  At least they don’t mask their disdain of the president that ended daily press briefings well over a year ago.

Trump used the backdrop of the loud whirling blades of his Marine One helicopter to “control” these scribes, especially the ones who are “fake news.”  But, the enemy that we cannot see forced Trump to confront the enemy that he can see all over again.

Another reporter, who also was not wearing a mask, noted that former Vice President Joe Biden said he would start wearing a mask outdoors.  That’s going to be difficult for Biden though.  The mask-wearing won’t be difficult, it’s the verification part.  No one has seen Biden outdoors or indoors in quite some time.  The #WhereIsJoe continues to trend on Twitter.

When we do see old school Joe indoors on his disastrous live feeds, he coughs straight into his hand old school style.  By hiding is he attempting to mask his rapidly declining cognitive/communicative skills?  Here is his latest.  If you can decipher the message, please share it in the BBR comment section today.

Could a Cuomo write-in nomination happen?  The NY mayor is getting plenty of airtime from the non-Fox channels.  His leadership during this existential crisis (far greater than climate change right now) is lauded daily.  He’s asked, begged, and demanded more masks, like the ones that no one in the briefing room wears, for New Yorkers.  Ventilators are in short supply as well.  New York didn’t put many of the above away for a rainy day.

Then he asked all hospitals in NY to share their equipment and supplies.  In other words, late to the social distancing need, NY got federal help and now he wants upstate to bail out the boroughs as well.  Have you ever been stuck on a crowded subway train for an extended period of time?  Too many Yanks were until not too long ago.

CNN doesn’t mask its affection for Cuomo.  They haven’t been this enamored with a possible candidate to take down Trump since Michael Avenatti appeared nearly nightly prior to his multiple run-ins with the law. We forget.  Who (er, how many) exploited Stormy?

And then there’s a not-funny irony to all of this.  In the City That Care Forgot, no one forgot to put on their masks for Mardi Gras.  And the result of putting on a costume and a mask and partying in the streets in NOLA has been a disaster.  Latoya Cantrell who has masqueraded as a mayor there for one year said that she received no federal warning not to “laissez less on temps roulet” (let the good times roll).

Do Cantrell and Cuomo play the federal help card, or bash the intervention of same for their political gain as necessary?

It’s the civil thing to do.

Another reporter asked Dr. Anthony Fauci why he was not wearing a mask.  Trump grinned as Fauci responded that the main reason to wear a mask was to protect sick individuals from spreading the virus.

Nevermind that the CDC Saturday advised us all to wear masks.  It’s the civil thing to do.

Heck, if President Trump was wearing one we would have been spared from seeing the grin.

It’s a fine line.