DIVERSIONARY TACTICS?

 https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/10/03/diversionary-tactics/

At the 2020 Presidential Debate on September29th in Cleveland the President of the USA said about his adversary Joe Biden: “I don’t wear a mask like him. Every time you see him, he’s got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away, and he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve ever seen.”

At the time of writing this it is not known which way Mr Biden has tested for the corona virus, but the vice President Mike Pence who seems as averse to masks as the President has tested negative. On the other hand, the President and his wife Melania have tested positive for corona yesterday. It is now just a month prior to the elections. It’s an interesting scenario. Given that the President is male (men are at greater risk than women), is 74 years old and the fact that he is clinically (and visually) obese, the prognosis is a bit iffy for him, despite the fact that as POTUS he has the best healthcare in the world.

It is unclear what is to happen now. While Mr Trump is still President, Mike Pence obviously takes over his job and is the acting President until Mr Trump returns to the Oval Office. But should Mr Trump fail to return will Mike Pence take his place in the elections? Does the Republican nomination devolve upon him by default?

Apparently it does. Which means that whether or not Mr Trump survives (and one wishes no one ill), the debates and the elections are likely to go on as planned. The scenario does not have a precedent.

You wonder how a change in candidates will be received.

Mr Trump may have wide support within the country, but support for the Democrats is larger at present, although the way the US elections are with the electoral college system, it does not necessarily indicate a win for Joe Biden. Still, Mr Trump is one of those persons who generate a strong reaction. Following the first debate reaction was not complimentary to either candidate. Mr Trump’s constant interruptions while the other person spoke and Biden’s subsequent frustrated response led to a chaotic shouting match, something that can hardly be called a debate.

According to Wikipedia on the subject:

CNN called it a mess, a fire inside a dumpster and a train wreck. They also called it a ‘disgrace” and a “shitshow” and the worst Presidential debate.

ABC compared the debate to ‘mud-wrestling’ and called it the worst presidential debate ever. They also said that Mr Trump “came across as a bully.”

Fox criticised Mr Trump for not condemning the white supremacist, all male neo-Nazi group the ‘Proud Boys.”

Others have called it a disgrace and an uncivilized and disorderly discussion, and the lowest point in American Democracy.

So, will Pence be seen as a welcome replacement for Mr Trump should the need arise?

You can’t help thinking of something: given the dreadful reception that the ‘debate’ received, was the Covid-19 test engineered? Because really, something like this appeared on the cards ever since The New York Times disclosed the details of ten years of Mr Trump’s tax returns.

That report came out a bit more than a month before the elections and was basically a revelation of years of tax avoidance by the man who loves to boast of his success as a businessman, the man who now holds the highest elected office in the country. Many people felt that a diversion would be created that would take the focus off that report and ease the pressure on Mr Trump and his modus operandi. And that diversion had to arrive soon because the elections were looming and– well here it is.

The Chicago Tribune reported some years ago that Mr Trump is a master at diversionary tactics, something that is surely common knowledge by now. It reports that:  ‘Apart from starting the Obamacare rollback and withdrawing from the TTP, he (Trump) has frozen a reduction of mortgage insurance premiums, allowed the Keystone pipeline to go ahead and is prepared to sign an executive order to begin construction of a border wall.’‘

It reports that he knew that these actions would (and should) cause indignation and protest, so he tweeted– as he does, that ‘I will be asking for a major investigation into voter fraud, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and even those registered to vote who are dead.’

He got what he wanted. The Chicago Tribune reports that the public hared off after that story ‘with news about the border wall coming a distant second.’

So, the positive test. Everyone goes haywire talking about him not wearing a mask and see what happens? Versus someone else did wear a mask and still got it. Meantime seeing that Mr Trump’s debating skills are somewhat flawed. A positive test means that Mr Pence who probably has a better hold on himself takes over the debates and puts up a better show. Probably. Most people would. And then the baton goes back to Mr Trump, who seems certain that he will recover. Remember the tax evasion anyone?

All this however is just conjecture. Let’s wait for the elections to see what really happens. May God have mercy on His people.