Donald Trump's health

[bjn]

Was Trump hanging around with McConnell recently? It would be such a shame if Mitch were to be poorly an unable to attend Senate duties. It would be even more unfortunate if he were to fall seriously ill and also need hospitalisation.

[lpm]

If he declined this fast - not a good advert for "Regeneron's polyclonal antibody cocktail".

Sounds like the sort of snake oil Trump would go for, and would very sadly be ineffective. I mean it could be a genuine thing but it sounds dodgy.

Monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies are a legit treatment approach that's been under investigation for a while, and also proved the most successful approach in trials against Ebola. The question isn't is the approach woo, the question is "is this particular antibody cocktail effective given it's still quite early in its development, and if it is effective, is it effective enough to protect an obese 74yo who probably has a heart problem?"

Surely they shouldn't be experimenting with it on him? You can't use a 74 year old as a guinea pig.

Side effects are real but unknown. Test it, sure, but not on the vulnerable?

[FlammableFlower]

"An abundance of caution"

That's a new euphemism.

[Grumble]

Sounds like the sort of snake oil Trump would go for, and would very sadly be ineffective. I mean it could be a genuine thing but it sounds dodgy.

Monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies are a legit treatment approach that's been under investigation for a while, and also proved the most successful approach in trials against Ebola. The question isn't is the approach woo, the question is "is this particular antibody cocktail effective given it's still quite early in its development, and if it is effective, is it effective enough to protect an obese 74yo who probably has a heart problem?"

Surely they shouldn't be experimenting with it on him? You can't use a 74 year old as a guinea pig.

Side effects are real but unknown. Test it, sure, but not on the vulnerable?

Obviously I have no clue what’s actually been going on in that closed world, but I can well imagine Trump demanding a treatment that he’s heard about and disregarding any advice to the contrary.

[EACLucifer]

Was Trump hanging around with McConnell recently? It would be such a shame if Mitch were to be poorly an unable to attend Senate duties. It would be even more unfortunate if he were to fall seriously ill and also need hospitalisation.

It'd be very unfortunate if he couldn't campaign in his home state, what with the Republicans under so much pressure in the senate races they are having to spend heavily in Kansas and Alaska, and the Democrats having raised half a billion through Act Blue alone since RBG's passing.

[EACLucifer]

Sounds like the sort of snake oil Trump would go for, and would very sadly be ineffective. I mean it could be a genuine thing but it sounds dodgy.

Monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies are a legit treatment approach that's been under investigation for a while, and also proved the most successful approach in trials against Ebola. The question isn't is the approach woo, the question is "is this particular antibody cocktail effective given it's still quite early in its development, and if it is effective, is it effective enough to protect an obese 74yo who probably has a heart problem?"

Surely they shouldn't be experimenting with it on him? You can't use a 74 year old as a guinea pig.

Side effects are real but unknown. Test it, sure, but not on the vulnerable?

There's also issue that most people would not have access to it, he's got it by pulling strings

[Bird on a Fire]

Might be time to start dusting off those Ghanaian pallbearer memes.

[monkey]

He's getting helicoptered. It's only a 30 min drive! And that's without flashy lights.

(I suspect this is a security thing)

[discovolante]

The thing is though, if he dies, HE WON'T KNOW

[Vertigowooyay]

In other news, Joe Biden is refreshingly Covid free.

[lpm]

If he isn't tested for death, there wouldn't be any death.

[JQH]

So far. Won't know for a few days yet if he's definitely safe

[sTeamTraen]

He's getting helicoptered. It's only a 30 min drive! And that's without flashy lights.

(I suspect this is a security thing)

Various people (not Trump fans) are pointing out that the Secret Service prefers the President to travel in Marine One for these sorts of situations. There's the security aspect, plus a motorcade usually gets a great deal of planning (like, weeks in advance), so to suddenly close down the northern half of the DC commuting system as 5pm on a Friday (even with reduced traffic due to COVID) is probably going to mess up the start of a lot of people's weekends.

[sTeamTraen]

It occurs to me that if Trump dies at Walter Reed without being seen again, we are going to see the mother of all conspiracy theories (or rather, multiple mothers). The left will think he got spirited away to Moscow. The QAnon types will think he's still controlling the fight against Hillary's paedophile gang from a secret passage under Mar-a-Lago.

[basementer]

The thing is though, if he dies, HE WON'T KNOW

Are you thinking of the saying that goes roughly
"When you're dead, you don't know that you're dead. It's only a problem for other people.
It's the same thing when you're stupid."
?

[Bird on a Fire]

I actually took one very recently when, you know, the radical left was saying, ‘Is he really dead? Is he really dead?’ I proved I was really dead, because I aced it,” Trump told Hannity. “I aced the test. … "Sleepy" Joe Biden should take the same exact test, a very standard test. I took it at Walter Reed Medical Center in front of doctors and they were very surprised. They said, ‘That’s an unbelievable thing. Rarely does anyone do what you just did.’

[Bird on a Fire]

The thing is though, if he dies, HE WON'T KNOW

Yes. I want to see him realise, even acknowledge, that he's a failure. But I don't know that he's capable of it.

After the election, when he realises none of the institutions he needs will support him in a coup, he'll be whisked by his handlers in an oligarch's private jet to Moscow, where he'll live out the rest of his days in a luxury apartment, posting increasingly deranged internet videos about talking points provided for him by Western capitalists, filtered and augmented by the KGB. Melania will leave him, be rehabilitated over the next presidential term and end up with a ghastly "lifestyle" talk show.

His sons will continue grifting right-wingers and laundering money for wealthy criminals, cashing in on their high-profile father's predicament - but never visit him. Ivanka will pop over for a quick shag, be taken into custody at JFK on her return but later released, prompting media speculation that she's working with US intelligence. Barron will be radicalised at university, become an anarcho-communist and run a hipster coffee place in Seattle. A few token minor bit-players in the Trump conspiracy will get lengthy jail sentences.

Might as well just f.cking die.

[Bird on a Fire]

He's getting helicoptered. It's only a 30 min drive! And that's without flashy lights.

(I suspect this is a security thing)

I choose to believe you mean the Urban Dictionary definition of "helicoptered", and some guy's wang is slapping him in the face at 60 RPM.

[EACLucifer]

This is Regeneron's own release on their antibody treatment. AFAICT, it's a promising but as yet unproven approach. Trump's promoted total quack b.llsh.t, but it does not mean every drug he takes is woo.

[Cardinal Fang]

Normally I try to avoid giving credence to conspiracy theories, but keep coming across people suggesting that Donnie is faking it because he's cottoned on there's a real possibilty that he may lose the election, and pulling out of the race because he's got long COVID is a face saving way of doing it.

Personally I think that requires too much self awareness on the part of Trump, but as conspiracy theories go, it's one of the more plausible ones.

CF

[monkey]

Normally I try to avoid giving credence to conspiracy theories, but keep coming across people suggesting that Donnie is faking it because he's cottoned on there's a real possibilty that he may lose the election, and pulling out of the race because he's got long COVID is a face saving way of doing it.

Personally I think that requires too much self awareness on the part of Trump, but as conspiracy theories go, it's one of the more plausible ones.

CF

I don't think he'd get away with it. Maybe he could if he was in the White House being "treated", but there's lots more people in the hospital to go to the press who might not be so loyal to trump as a white house staffer.

[Woodchopper]

It occurs to me that if Trump dies at Walter Reed without being seen again, we are going to see the mother of all conspiracy theories (or rather, multiple mothers). The left will think he got spirited away to Moscow. The QAnon types will think he's still controlling the fight against Hillary's paedophile gang from a secret passage under Mar-a-Lago.

And some of his supporters will think that he was kidnapped and murdered by the deep state in order to prevent his otherwise inevitable second term.

[Brightonian]

Kellyanne Conway, who was also at the Amy Coney Barrett thing in the Rose Garden, has tested positive.

[bolo]

He's getting helicoptered. It's only a 30 min drive! And that's without flashy lights.

(I suspect this is a security thing)

Various people (not Trump fans) are pointing out that the Secret Service prefers the President to travel in Marine One for these sorts of situations. There's the security aspect, plus a motorcade usually gets a great deal of planning (like, weeks in advance), so to suddenly close down the northern half of the DC commuting system as 5pm on a Friday (even with reduced traffic due to COVID) is probably going to mess up the start of a lot of people's weekends.

I've been stuck in traffic in DC because of presidential motorcades, and yes, they are a huge mess. It wouldn't just be Trump in a car with flashy lights. It would be a whole parade of Secret Service SUVs and decoy cars and whatnot, preceded by hordes of police cars and motorcycles to clear the route and block off every single effing side street until the parade has passed. In fact, given the number of police required, it wouldn't surprise me if the helicopter option is actually cheaper.

[bolo]

GOP Senator for Utah Mike Lee has also tested positive

https://twitter.com/SenMikeLee/status/1 ... 7992753152

He was at the White House a few days ago

Met with Judge Barrett, too, which will be interesting if she has to quarantine

Presumably that would blow a big hole in the timetable to get her through her nomination hearings unless they can do it via Zoom or something.

Filibuster is a tw.t’s move but Shirley with the election this close the Dems could run the clock down without breaking a sweat.

Barrett tested positive a while ago and has since recovered (WaPo). Does that mean she won't be advised to quarantine? I don't know, but any quarantine advice wouldn't be mandatory anyway, so I'd be surprised if her exposure delays anything.

Btw, some congressional hearings these days are indeed being held at least partially via video, but it's possible that this requires bipartisan consent, at least under current rules. I don't really know that though, just guessing.

The filibuster was eliminated for Supreme Court nominations in 2017 (for Gorsuch). It had been eliminated for other executive and judicial nominations in 2013 (by the Democrats).