Trump is wrong and endangering everyone.

The coronavirus starts and there's a lot of nonsense coming out from the whitehouse. 

Then it spreads, and as a nation we're looking for leadership. Someone to calm the fears. And when that doesn't happen, the news media breathlessly runs stories about how bad this and starts a panic. And the population starts stocking up as though the end of the world is near. 

Because they're looking for someone to selflessly act and show us the right way to react. 

It's certainly not the fool in the Oval Office. He says it's a hoax. Which helps no one. And because of his cuts and neutering of agencies that are equipped to deal with this, he has no real plan. He asks for money - but why not just reallocate from his insipid wall. No. Heaven forbid! I'm sure he's using the "caravans of people bringing the virus that we need to keep out."

And he assigns mike pence to somehow lead an effort to combat this. The very same mike pence who blundered his way through several health crises while governor of Indiana. 

Meanwhile his own son (Donnie jr) posits a theory that this is somehow a conspiracy to hurt daddy's re-election chances. 

And trump lets it go. Saying nothing. And absurd people  with a platform are espousing similar conspiracy theories that this is contrived or as trump said "a hoax."

Meanwhile his "tell" is that he looks afraid when you see him. He's a germaphobe and surely this scared him. But he talks tough, while saying nothing. 

This is real life. People are scared. People are dying. If he can't take it seriously, then he must be removed him from office. (This is another in a long list of reasons). 

His ineptitude here will lead the country to ruin. 

Do people care? Will people figure out he's actively endangering them? 

He plans to hold his rallies because...yeah. 

Wake up people. His cowardice and blustering here should make you see what he really is: a scared little man who is in way over his head. 

Short. Sweet. To the point. That's the beauty Dave's iPhone.

Charge on!

As my own kids head off to college, I'm reminded of my own experiences at university.

I got my bachelors degree from UCF, and stayed on for my masters. But here's the thing: I got those degrees in the late 80s/early 90s, when UCF was still finding its way after fairly recently moving on from being Florida Technological University.

As an aside, UCF continues to grow, and they are trying very hard to recruit students. But many still think of it as "second tier" behind Florida and Florida State. (To be fair, one of my sons friends eschewed her chance to go to Florida in favor of UCF. She's always welcome to drop by, while those gators and seminoles aren't!)

It's a funny thing when I look at it. I started off at the University of Miami. That was where my dad went. It was the local school. It was home in some ways. But it turned out not to be right for me, and the expense was hard on me and my parents.

So I dropped out and looked for a new school. I wasn't interested in Florida or FSU; at the time they didn't fit me. USF was an option. And there were a few out-of-State schools I considered, and got into.

But in the end, UCF worked for a bunch of reasons. Certainly in-state tuition was a plus. But it was amazing how the university was small but growing. There was a ton of research going on, and they were recruiting professors like crazy. And had adjunct faculty from industries. So it has a richness you weren't likely to find elsewhere.

There's a scene in "Hidden Figures" where one of the main characters wants to attend college but can't because segregation is an issue. She persuades a judge to let her take classes because someone has to be first.

I felt kind of like that. UCF could only grow if some of us - the kids who could go elsewhere but might choose it for own reasons - went there and succeeded. We had to be first.

The experience overall was good, but there were stops and starts, goods and bads. I had lots of opportunities, and there was always research available. But it was a spit of land on the east side of town, near little forgotten towns, and far from the flashy theme parks.

I graduated, took a job for a few months and decided to go back to grad school. I hadn't moved, so why not UCF? I knocked on doors until I got a research project I wanted: a nasa funded study. Cool. I was part of something. And maybe that's why I think of hidden figures?

(And this is why I find the connection between UCF and the space center so interesting)

That experience was great. I learned more in that 18 months than I did anytime after. Both in the classroom and beyond.

I look back on it fondly. I did consider staying on to get a PhD, but the timing was wrong and I moved on.

Did I make the right choices along the way? I can't look back with regret. So yes, I think I did.

Today, no one asks where my degree is from unless it's in a broader context. Sometimes being a knight makes an interesting connection. But I find that living in south Florida, saying I attended Miami (technically I'm considered an alumnus even though I don't hold a degree from there) makes better connections.

Not that I am dismissive of where my degree is from. It's just interesting to me how some people think of UCF as second tier while others don't. And Miami is pretty universally respected.

But I have two degrees in engineering from a school I mostly enjoyed.

People can think what they want. I lived my collegiate life to the fullest.

So "charge on!"

Stupid is as stupid does.

Garth Brooks performed at Ford Field. You know where the Detroit Lions play.

Their most famous player was RB Barry Sanders. A hall of famer and personal friend of Brooks. So Brooks wore a Sanders jersey to his own concert.  By the way, Barry wore #20.

But stupidity ensued as the basket full of deplorable folks who think the dotard is the messiah went nuts. They stupidly and hilariously assumed that Brooks was touting *Bernie* Sanders in '20.

Barry heard about it and tweeted he was up for Brooks being his VP. And then the lions also promoted the ticket.

🤷‍♂️🤦‍♂️

Rubio reminds us that trump can be defeated in Florida.

I wound up on lil Marco Rubio's mailing list, likely because I feel the need to contact him regularly to remind him he is accountable to all Floridians, not just the ones that contribute heavily to him.  

Anyway, while most of his mail is drivel, this particular info struck me:

Democrats have a 225,115 person advantage at the start of a Presidential year. 

 Number of Democrats in Florida: 4,986,520 

 Number of Republicans in Florida: 4,761,405 

Here's why it matters:
* Floridians' pick for president has won 18 out of the last 20 elections.
* The Sunshine State is a perpetual target of campaigns because of our 29 electoral votes.
* Democrats have won the electoral votes nearly half the time since 1936.

Of course, he's right.  And that means if you want to help get trump out of office, you need to GET OUT AND VOTE. 

Verify your registration, and start thinking about your plans for November. 

Sent from my iPad

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