The Art of Blame-Shifting

On March 6 Donald trump had this to say - Anybody right now, and yesterday, anybody that needs a test gets a test. They’re there.  And the tests are beautiful…. the tests are all perfect like the letter was perfect. The transcription was perfect.  Right?    

Of course he was lying again.  The level of testing in this country - while improved - remains dismally low.  One of the key steps to reopening the economy during a pandemic is data-gathering.  This means widespread testing and contact tracing.  Trump and his coterie of sycophants have botched each and every last opportunity to boost testing capacity.  Trump has now washed his hands and blame-shifted it to the governors.  As a consequence, in states like Wisconsin there is ample capacity to process tests.  Alas, there are an insufficient number of test kits.  

This is a pandemic that recognizes no state borders.  And Trump has annulled all federal responsibility and in a breathtaking act of cowardice has shifted it to the states.  Marinate on that profound demonstration of resolve.

Last Monday, on the subject of reopening all of the state’s economies, Donald Trump asserted - When somebody is the president of the United States, the authority is total.   If you are a reader you saw this here.

Of course, that’s nothing more than Trump running another pair of skid-streaked underwear up his flag pole to see if it flies.  He took the dirty drawers down by Thursday backing-away from another lie.  And my prediction is he is setting himself-up to take credit if people go back to work and things go smoothly; and setting up our country's governors to take the blame if they don’t.        

I call this preemptive blame-shifting.     

I will then be authorizing each individual governor of each individual state to implement a reopening and a very powerful reopening plan of their state at a time and in a manner as most appropriate.       

Translation:  Donald Trump is telling states what to do without forcing them to do it.  By doing so if the reopening is smooth he will take credit.  If things go south – predictably, Trump will say that he gave the governors a plan and they botched it.           

Shifting whichever way the wind blows Trump followers have long forgotten the 'total authority' of only a few days ago and now insist that Trump is the champion of federalism.  The president is letting governors decide what is best for their states.  Trump critics insist he is chicken and once again failing to lead when the going gets tough.  I’m inclined to side with the latter point of view in lieu of the former.   

Admittedly I am a critic.  Which is because the kingdom has no leader.  And every day that passes the people place more faith in their governors - Democrat and Republican - than they do Donald Trump.

Stay tuned……