Never before has party or politics been a factor in my choices for professional services.

Doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc only needed to be competent and have good Yelp reviews.

COVID-19 changed that.  Our response to it may determine if our economy recovers, languishes in recession or craters into depression.

COVID-19 is medical nomenclature for a novel (new) COronaVIrus Disease that emerged in 2019.  It is not, as lying liar Rush Limbaugh and Trump’s soulless lapdog, Kellyanne Conjob falsely asserted, the 19th version of coronavirus.

In 2020, alternative facts costs lives.  And money.

I called my adviser (let’s call him Chris) last week to see what he had in mind, given our current situation.

The conversation focused on America’s response to the pandemic, stay at home orders, the economy and our expectations for the months and years ahead.

Chris began by saying that he doesn’t love Trump and he doesn’t hate him, he’s somewhere in between. In other words, he voted for Trump in 2016 and he’s going to vote for him again in November.

To me, unrepentant Trumpsters are somewhere between pedophiles and smokers.

Chris said it was time to reopen America, especially now because the numbers are coming down really fast.

That was last Thursday, April 16, the day that America recorded 2,400 deaths, the biggest one day total at the time since this thing began.

It was the day that several states saw big spikes in their numbers; Arkansas (60%), Oklahoma(53%), Nebraska(74%), Iowa(82%) and South Dakota(205%).

Chris, if you’re reading this, I have to ask you: What numbers, besides my account balance are coming down?

Today we have over 840,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and at least 47,000 related deaths.

Based on Chris’s whataboutisms and false equivalencies, I have a pretty good idea about where he gets his “news.”

Chris’s TV viewing is his own business, but not when it comes to my business.  Facts, not propaganda are imperative and the person I turn to for financial guidance should know the difference.

On Fox, Mr. Phil (I just can’t call him Dr.) compared the coronavirus to car accidents, which is beyond idiotic.  You can’t catch a car accident.

He also made a claim of 360,000 annual swimming pool deaths.  The actual number of drownings is about 4000, of which only about 400 occur in swimming pools.

Fox’s Laura Ingraham compared coronavirus to HIV, which is (A) Treatable (B) Only transmissible through sexual contact and (C) Can be prevented with a condom.

Chris topped the scale of false equivalencies by comparing coronavirus to abortion deaths.

He meant the fetuses, not mothers, but that is a whole other discussion.  He cited his religious beliefs as the basis for his anti-abortion stance.

My belief is that anyone who wants to impose their beliefs on the rest of us should move to Afghanistan and live under their beliefs.

And why is it you never meet any pro-lifers opposed to the death penalty?

It doesn’t matter what Nancy Pelosi or anyone else said or did.

The President of the United States has access to the best experts and advisers on the planet and, as he’s said many times, he’s responsible for protecting our nation.  Only he can fix it.

His words (should) carry unparalleled weight.  It would be helpful if he listened to the experts and told the truth.

This thing is not going away, either on the health front or on the economic front.

Turning off the lights was easy.  Getting them back on is going to be a struggle.

Our economy runs on consumer spending and it’s going to be a while before American consumers have confidence enough to stock up on anything other than toilet paper.

Many of us are going to have a lot of catching up to do.

Today Trump is denying the probability of a second wave of COVID-19 something he might have heard from Hannity.

The second wave of the Spanish Flu (1918-1919) was more deadly and killed many more people than the first wave.  Failing to prepare for a second wave because of an upcoming election is not just negligent, it is criminal.

On TV’s Dragnet (1951-1959), Sgt. Joe Friday was famous for saying, Just the facts, ma’am.

Chris, if you’re reading this, please take Sgt. Friday’s advice.

For a little more on the subject, please read:  COVID-19 will probably kill someone you know because Little Donnie is more concerned about his “numbers” than he is about YOU: The details

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