Are you sure that we are not in a pandemic? I believe we are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF) on April 4, 2020 there was an article by their Medical Policy Advisor Dr. John M. Livingston titled Coronavirus pandemic demands skepticism, good data. In a second article on April 9, 2020 titled Service before self he referred to “concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.” In a third article on September 8, 2020 titled Experts and the people he referred to “managing the pandemic.” In a fourth article on October 21, 2020 titled Keep the schools open he referred to “the recent COVID-19 pandemic.”

 

But on January 29, 2021 there instead was a fifth article titled We are not in a pandemic. What’s going on here? On January 23, 2021 I blogged about how Idaho legislators want to magically declare an end to our pandemic emergency. If there is no pandemic, then they can legitimately end the emergency.  The latest article by Dr. Livingston begins:

 

“I feel like I have been under house arrest for the past 10 months, and for what? The fact is (and this isn’t just John Livingston’s opinion) we are not in a pandemic. Who else agrees with me? Why, the state of Idaho does. 

In the state’s Emergency Operations Plan, it very plainly says a moderate pandemic is when there is a fatality rate of 1.5 percent. A severe pandemic is when there is a fatality rate of 2.5 percent. What’s happening in Idaho today? Certainly the 1,700 deaths since March 2020 is heartbreaking, but it is a fact that this number represents 0.1% of the population of the state. Those statistics are consistent with national statistics (assuming that every reported Covid death is truly a Covid death).”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As usual for IFF articles the Doctor did not bother to link to that plan. I looked it up though. The Idaho Emergency Operations Plan web page links to a 410 page .pdf file with the plan. There is an Incident Annex #6 titled Pandemic Influenza  which begins on Pdf page 365. On page 369 they discuss II. Planning Assumptions. Dr. Livingston is quoting two fatality rates from that discussion on page 370. But the first paragraph at the top of page 368 under Situation says what we currently have in more general terms (and a fatality rate of 0.1% still could be a pandemic):

“An influenza pandemic is an epidemic of an influenza virus that is easily transmissible from person-to-person, can cause serious illness or death, and can sweep across the country/world in very short timeframe infecting a large proportion of the human population. The appearance of a new or “novel” virus is the first step toward a pandemic. Most humans have little or no immunity to the novel virus. Because the virus is new, there is no vaccine and production of a vaccine may take six months or more. Initial vaccine supplies will therefore be limited, requiring prioritization of target populations most in need of the vaccine.”

 After I commented on the article as discussed above, Dr. Livingston put up the following medical definition which actually came from a web page at RxList (from William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR):

“Pandemic: An epidemic (a sudden outbreak) that becomes very widespread and affects a whole region, a continent, or the world due to a susceptible population. By definition, a true pandemic causes a high degree of mortality (death).  

I looked up definitions for pandemic in a half dozen medical dictionaries. Except for Taber’s they don’t say that a pandemic causes a high degree of mortality. It's more geographical, as in the Beatles song title Here, There, and Everywhere.

In the 42ed edition of Black’s Medical Dictionary (2009) it says a pandemic is:

 “An EPIDEMIC that has spread so widely that very many people in different countries are affected. Examples include the Black Death - the epidemic PLAGUE, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, that devastated European populations in the Middle Ages, killing more than a third of the people, and the INFLUENZA pandemic of 1919-20 that killed more people than did the First World War. AIDS/HIV is currently pandemic.”

 

And for epidemic it begins:

“A term applied to a disease which affects a large number of people in a particular locality at one time….”

 

In the 32nd edition of Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary (2012) it says a pandemic is:

“a widespread epidemic of a disease. (2) widely epidemic, distributed or occurring widely throughout a region, country, or continent, or globally.”

 

For epidemic it says:

“occurring suddenly in numbers clearly in excess of normal expectancy; said especially of infectious diseases but applied also to any disease, injury, or other health-related event occurring in such outbreaks.”

 

In the 4th edition of Melloni’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary (2010) it says a pandemic is:

“Denoting an epidemic that affects the population of a wide geographic area.”

 

And an epidemic is:

“The outbreak and rapid spread of a disease in one community affecting many people at the same time during a specified time period.”

 

In the ninth edition of Mosby’s Medical Dictionary (2013) it says a pandemic is:

“ (of a disease) occurring throughout the population of a country, a people, or the world.”

 

And an epidemic is:

“(Adj.) affecting a significantly large number of people at the same time. (Noun) A disease that spreads rapidly throughout a demographic segment of a human population, such as everyone in a given geographic area, a military base, or similar population unit, or everyone of a certain age or sex, such as the children or women of a region. (Noun) A disease or event whose incidence is beyond what is expected.”

 

In the 23rd edition of Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary (2017) it says a pandemic is:

“Pertaining to an exceptionally widespread, even worldwide, disease affecting a very high percentage of people, e.g. HIV/AIDS, the bubonic plague in the middle Ages, or malaria. (2) Such a disease. Many infectious disease specialists believe that a pandemic must also cause severe or life-threatening illness in addition to being widespread.”

 

And an epidemic is:

“Pertaining to a disease affecting an exceptionally high percentage of people in a community or larger area at one time.”

 

In the 3rd edition of Webster’s New World Medical Dictionary (2008) it says a pandemic is:

 “An epidemic of disease that is very widespread, affecting a whole region, a continent, or the world. Or (2) widely epidemic."

 

And an epidemic is:

“The occurrence of more cases of a disease than would be expected to occur in a community or region during a given time period. A sudden outbreak.”  

 

It also should be noted that Dr. Livingston’s April 4, 2020 article predicted:

“Seasonal flu takes between 20,000-80,000 lives a year in our country. I believe that as we move forward and as the epidemiological models evolve, the loss of life in our country will be less than double that upper number.”

 

Instead of his160,000 right now we are at 437,000 or 2.7 times higher.  One of his short-term predictions on November 7, 2020 was belied almost immediately, as I blogged about on November 10, 2020 in a post titled A prediction should be good for more than a single day.

 

 

Outdated and incorrect statistics about our fears

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have a daily Google alert on the phrase “public speaking.” Recently it provided links to web pages about a training course by Mangates in both Wellington and Christchurch, New Zealand. (Similar descriptions are at web sites for training in San Antonio and South Africa). Two opening sentences in the first paragraph of their description say:    

 

“According to a 1973 survey by the Sunday Times of London, 41% of people list public speaking as their biggest fear. Forget small spaces, darkness, and spiders, standing up in front of a crowd and talking is far more terrifying for most people.”

 

But that all just is rubbish. The description seems to have come from a Public Speaking course package sold for $499 by Corporate Training Materials (a division of Global Courseware, located in Dover Delaware).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back on October 27, 2009 I blogged about The 14 Worst Human Fears in the 1977 Book of Lists: where did this data really come from? The survey wasn’t done by the Sunday Times. Their article reported on results from R. H. Bruskin Associates in the U.S. As shown above in a chart, speaking before a group was the most common of the fourteen fears people were asked about. They were not asked about small spaces or spiders (but were asked about insects and bugs). There is a difference between whether more people are afraid, and if people are more afraid (the latter question must be answered via a fear survey schedule).  

 

Module 4 of the Corporate Training Materials course is titled Fleshing It Out and it has subheadings of Identifying Appropriate Sources, Establishing Credibility, and The Importance of Citations. They flunked all three subheadings, and didn’t do what they said. On April 25, 2012 I blogged about Why do people still refer to a 39 year old survey? and pointed out that as of the 2010 less than half the people now around (median age 37.2 years) could have been asked questions in 1973.

 

The cartoon was adapted from one titled Tomboy Taylor Doesn’t Seem to Give a Rap Where She Hides in a 1918 book Cartoons by Fontaine Fox – Second Book at the Internet Archive.

 

What are the Top 25 radio stations people in Boise were listening to in fall 2020?

 

There are multiple reasons why people still listen to radio. One is to hear local news and weather on the hour. Another is as a jukebox for background music (country, rock, contemporary, classical, etc.).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On January 19, 2021 there is an article by Michael Deeds at the Idaho Statesman titled Welcome to modern Boise, where an AM radio station is No. 1 in the market. As shown above in a bar chart for Fall 2020, the news-talk station KBOI 670 was number one with a 7.8 market share. Country station 101.9 The Bull (KQBL) was number two with a share of 6.9. 107.9 Lite FM was third with a share of 4.9. 96.1 Bob variety hits was fourth with a share of 4.7. Just behind it at number five, there is a tie for a 4.6 share between two other news talk stations – 580 KIDO AM and 91.5 Boise State Public Radio.  

 

In a blog post on November 30, 2020 titled Overstepping your authority I showed ratings for Spring 2020, when KBOI was number two with a share of 6.5. Another blog post on August 12, 2019 titled Which radio stations are people in Boise listening to? showed that for Spring 2019 KBOI also was number one but with a share of 5.4. In Spring 2020 The Bull was number one with a share of 8.7, and for Spring 2019 it was tied for number two with a share of 4.5.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bar charts for Spring 2020 and Fall 2019 are shown above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bar charts identify the format for each of those stations. Adding them up for Fall 2020, as shown above in yet another bar chart,  the most common specific format is news/talk (17.0), followed by adult contemporary (12.5), country (11.9), rock (11.1) hits (10.9), and contemporary hits (6.2). More broadly contemporary (we put the con in temporary) just is an overblown synonym for modern, which can cover a grand total of 22.5.  

 

Idaho legislators want to magically declare an end to our pandemic emergency

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On November 5, 2020 I blogged about A childish, whining ‘Declaration’ about pandemic restrictions, which sought to end our emergency. Now the legislature is in session and is trying to make it into law, as is discussed in an article by Betsy Russell at the Idaho Press on January 22, 2021 titled Governor: Legislators ‘playing politics’ are endangering state’s efforts to end pandemic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But as shown above, the case count is still higher than it was at our first peak in the summer of 2020. My guess is that we might need to wait for another six months before ending the emergency.

 

The magician was adapted from a poster of Thurston at the Library of Congress.

 

Fluent speech was a struggle for both Amanda Gordon and Brayden Harrington

 

Watch the YouTube video of poet Amanda Gordon reading ‘The Hill We Climb’ during the inauguration ceremony for President Biden. An article by Allison Slater Tate at Today on January 21, 2021 is titled Here’s what poet Amanda Gorman says about her speech and auditory issues.

 

On August 24, 2020 I had blogged about A touching two-minute speech at the Democratic National Convention given by Brayden Harrington. He also spoke on inauguration day, as is described in another article by N’dea Yancey-Bragg at USA Today on January 21, 2021 titled Teen who bonded with Biden over stutter delivers powerful rendition of JFK speech in inauguration special.

 

Old advice revised

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal comic by Zach Weinersmith revises some old advice about giving a speech. His version is:

 

“The best advice on how to do your seminar speech is what my professors taught me. Tell them what you’re gonna tell them. Tell Them. Then tell them what you told them. That way nobody will stay awake through your talk and you will never be scooped.”

 

A image of children writing at the blackboard was adapted from a 1938 photo at the Library of Congress.

 

Street food stores haven’t changed that much since 79 AD in Pompeii

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Roman city of Pompeii on the coast of Italy was buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted back in 79 AD. There were about 150 stores called thermopoliums selling take-out street food. As shown above, they don’t look too different from a chain restaurant you might see in the food court at a local shopping mall. The counters have holes for terra cotta pots heated by fires rather than stainless steel bins on a steam table. Most foods would have been boiled rather than fried (as is now common). The wall has a fresco, but the counter front is missing one.

 

An article by Jason Daley at Smithsonian Magazine on April 3, 2019 described how a Recently uncovered thermopolium reminds us that Romans loved fast food as much as we do. Very recently another article at Pompeii Sites on December 26, 2020 detailed that The snack bar of Regio V resurfaces in its entirety with scenes of still life, food residues, animal bones and victims of the eruption. There also was yet another article at NPR titled What’s on the menu in ancient Pompeii? Duck, goat, snail, researchers say and one at Lonely Planet titled Street food stall discovered in Pompeii reveals dining habits of ancient Romans. Frescoes on the counter front show ducks and a rooster.

 

One of the condiments, garum, is similar to modern fish sauce (but made from fish guts – ain’t it offal?). A blog post by Deana Sidney at LostPastRemembered on April 24, 2012 titled Heliogabalus, delights from the Roman empire made with glorious garum says:

 

“Its factories were the original bad industrial neighbors –– no one wanted to live downwind of a garum factory.  Residue of a garum container found in Pompeii revealed that the garum made there was made from Bogues, a summer-swarming fish of the family of sea breams like porgies in the US.”

 

There also were about 120 popina (wine bars) in Pompeii. A 2004 book by Gregory S. Aldrete titled Daily life in the Roman City (Rome, Pompeii, and Ostia) tell us on page 192 that:  

 

“One common type of small business was the popinae, which was a combination of bar and fast food restaurant. These were housed in small rooms usually located at the intersections of major streets. Across the front was a counter with two or three large clay pots set into it. Underneath the pots were places where small fires could be built to keep the pots warm. These pots probably contained an assortment of gruel, fish stew, and garum, and pedestrians who felt hungry could purchase a ladleful of whatever fast food they wanted.”

 

A photo of a thermopolium came from Miguel Hermoso Cuesta at Wikimedia Commons.

 

How far can we trust a list of 60 Top Public Speaking Blogs that has just 55 items?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On January 2, 2021 Feedspot has a blog post describing the Top 60 Public Speaking Blogs Every Speaker Must Follow in 2021. But when we scroll to the bottom, we will find it only has 55 blogs! That’s like weighing a package of noodles marked 16 ounces and finding it weighs 14.7 ounces. Anyway, I don’t like being told that I must follow anything. On May 22, 2019 I blogged about An actual top 50 blogs list – and another top 20 blogs list with only 16.

 

Back on December 22, 2016 I blogged about another too long Feedspot list in a post titled How far should you trust a list of 50 Top Public Speaking Blogs that actually has 54 items?

 

The image was adapted from a June 12, 1902 Puck magazine cover found at the Library of Congress.

 

Toastmasters also is for professional speakers, like NSA members

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The January/February 2021 issue of Speaker (the magazine of the U.S. National Speakers Association) has a complimentary article by Dave Bricker on pages 14 to 19 titled Toastmasters for professional speakers? He opens by asking:

 

“Why would a professional speaker be interested in Toastmasters? Isn’t Toastmasters for amateurs who are struggling with stage fright?”

 

Then he presents statements from NSA members who also are in Toastmasters: Patricia Fripp, Ed Tate, Darren LaCroix, Jean Moroney, and Lee Robert (daughter if NSA founder Cavett Robert).

 

Cartoons of a loveable female and charismatic male speaker came from Wikimedia Commons.

 

AMPP: A very bad choice for an acronym

 

On January 6, 2021 there is an article at the web site for Materials Performance magazine titled Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP) is Formed, and also a press release. That organization combines two about preventing corrosion - with acronyms of NACE and SSPC. NACE began as the National Association of Corrosion Engineers and was renamed NACE International. SSPC was the Steel Structures Painting Council.

 

But how do you pronounce the acronym AMPP? Is it Ay Em Pee Pee, or Am Pee Pee. According to Lexico PeePee is a child’s word for urinating or a penis. Before the combined organization chose that name and acronym they should have checked with the mythical Office Of Pronounceable Spellings (OOPS), which I blogged about on April 6, 2018 in a post titled Shouldn’t acronyms be pronounceable?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I see AMPP what comes to mind is the famous statue from 1619 in Brussels, known as  Manneken Pis and shown above.

Keep your hand gestures visible when speaking at a Zoom meeting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last Wednesday, at an online Toastmasters club meeting via Zoom, I evaluated a speech given by one of our most experienced members. The Pathways evaluation form has a section for General Comments with headings titled You Excelled At, You May Want To Work On, and To Challenge Yourself. I was worried about coming up with anything to put under You May Want To Work On.

 

 But his hand gestures were not completely visible because he was sitting too close to the camera (on his laptop computer), as is shown above. His hands were visible, but not his entire forearms. He needed to be further back, where the frame went from the top of his head to below his elbows. That’s what he was used to when speaking in person behind a lectern. I have this problem too. When I move that far back my hands can’t reach the keyboard – because I am not a gorilla. And then the built-in microphone does a poor job (so I got a headset). If you are using PowerPoint with a Wireless Multimedia Presenter, that is ok.

 

In some YouTube videos of professional speakers like Brian Tracy part of their gestures also are hidden. Back on December 15, 2013 I blogged about his Illegal use of the hands? It looked like the cameraman was afraid the audience would get bored, and alternated from a frame showing head-to-waist to one a bit too close-up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What else can you do to improve your gestures? First, take advantage of the smaller frame, and change to make gestures using just one hand, as shown above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Second, also use your facial expressions in that smaller frame, as shown above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Online speaking is different from live presentation where Gesture size usually should match audience size, as I discussed in a 2010 blog post.

 

Images of hands and facial expressions came from a 1912 book by J. Campbell Cory titled The Cartoonist’s Art which I found at the Internet Archive. A cartoon of a clueless man was adapted from Wikimedia Commons.

 

Do more people fear speaking to large or to small audiences?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On November 21, 2017 I blogged about Is a large audience one where the speaker needs a microphone? Is a small audience one where everyone can see a flipchart? Based on their personal experiences some find smaller audiences more intimidating than larger ones.

 

An article by John C. Bastian on August 20, 2020 titled The stage fright paradox said that more people in the audience was better (less frightening than a small audience). A second undated article by Mike Brown at Lifehack titled 11 Paradoxes of being a better public speaker says the first paradox is to minimize your nerves by looking for as big an audience as possible. He claims:

 

“….the more people in the audience, the smaller amount of your nervousness each member of the audience has to absorb. The theory may sound silly, but with more people in the audience, there’s a greater likelihood of spotting individuals who get your message and show it in their eyes….”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think that with more people in the audience you also would find people outraged by your message who demonstrate their disdain, as shown above. (On January 16, 2016 I had blogged about What percent of your speech audience really likes you? The 20-60-20 rule). A third article by Scott Fenstermaker titled Everything you’ve been taught about public speaking is a myth says the tenth myth is to Start with small audiences and work up to big ones. (I commented on it in December 2014). Scott adds that you should:

 

“…remember that speaking for a small group of people you know and whose faces you can see might be more freaky than speaking in front of an auditorium full of strangers.”  

 

A fourth article by Al Williams at Medium on July 30, 2020 titled A Surprising Public Speaking Secret says in more detail:

 

“But here’s a secret that not many people know about me: if I have any stage fright, it isn’t in front of 1,000 people. It is in front of two people.

 

Think about it. If you are in a room with 1,000 people, most of them can’t see you very well. Half of them at any given time are thinking about dinner or their vacation or their bills. If you misspeak, trip, or even say something wrong, there is a good chance most of the people won’t even notice.

 

Now imagine you are in your office with your boss and one coworker. You have their total attention. If you mess up, they will know. If you tell your boss something wrong, she’s very likely to call you on it right there.

 

So that’s the liberating secret that helped my CEO friend. You lose yourself in a large audience. So if you want to have nerves, save them for the small presentations.”

 

Most of my experience has been with small audiences. Based on less familiarity with them, I have more fear of large ones. Last year’s version of the Wikipedia article on the pseudo-technical term glossophobia includes a statement (not in the current version) that:

 

“The speaker may be comfortable if they speak in front of a group of complete strangers, but when it comes to speaking in front of family/friends, their anxiety skyrockets, and vice versa. Some speakers are more comfortable in larger groups, and some are more comfortable speaking to smaller groups.”

 

Is there better evidence contrasting large or small audience? Yes! I found three surveys with data on percentages who fear them - and more people fear large audiences. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back in 1977 Philip G. Zimbardo published a book titled Shyness: What it is and what to do about it. On February 3, 2014 I blogged about it in a post titled Busting a myth – that 75% of people in the world fear public speaking. A shown above via a bar chart, he found that (When I am focus of attention) 73% were shy in a large group (as when giving a speech), but only 52% were shy in a small group.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1996 there was a magazine article titled Public-Speaking Fears in a Community Sample which described a survey of 499 people done in a Canadian city. I blogged about it on June 20, 2011 in a post titled Public speaking fears in Winnipeg. As shown above via a bar chart,  167 or 33.5% were much more nervous than other people when they were speaking to a large audience (had a substantial fear of public speaking). Of those who did, only 59 or 11.8% of the total sample rated themselves as much more nervous than other people when they were speaking to a small group of familiar people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In May 1998 there was another magazine article by Ronald C. Kessler, Murray B. Stein, and Patricia Berglund titled Social Phobia Subtypes in the National Comorbidity Survey published in the American Journal of Psychiatry. I blogged about it on November 2, 2008 in a post titled Public speaking is still the #1 specific social fear, according to the latest results from the NCS-R survey. As shown above via a bar chart, 30.2% feared public speaking, while 15.2% (half as many) feared talking in front of a small group.  

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On November 5, 2017 at Manner of Speaking John Zimmer posted an article titled The public speaking fear grid with four quadrants based both on size and familiarity. My version (shown above) adds axis labels. John made suggestions about how to become comfortable in each of those four quadrants. Members of a Toastmasters club may find a club meeting is a small audience of people they know. For a large audience they might try presenting at a Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI) given by a Division, or even a District Conference (I have done both).

 

I have spoken to small audiences I didn’t know (insurance claims adjusters), about lamp analysis after vehicle accidents. On January 21, 2020 I blogged about it in a post titled The right prop can pull your presentation skyward. For me the most intimidating situation was a large audience with many people I knew – a couple hundred at an international conference about hydrogen embrittlement of metals.    

 

Images of large and small audiences came from the Library of Congress. A cartoon with a disdainful audience was adapted from a 1908 Puck magazine at the Library of Congress.

 

Spouting Nonsense: a second Spoutly for Donald J. Trump

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was appalled when I watched yesterday’s events at the US Capitol on TV. This crisis of anarchy was manufactured by demonstrators led by the Proud Boys walking there from President Trump’s rally at the Ellipse. His minute-long speech is the worst I have ever heard from a politician:

 

“I know your pain. I know your hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election and everyone knows it especially the other side. But you have to go home now. We have to have peace. We have to have law and order. We have to respect our great  people in law and order. We don’t want anybody hurt. It’s a very tough period of time. There’s never been a time like this where such a thing happened, where they could take it away from all of us, from me, from you, from our country. This was a fraudulent election, but we can’t play into the hands of these people. We have to have peace. So go home. We love you, you’re very special. You’ve seen what happens. You see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel. But go home and go home in peace.”

 

This election was not a landslide win for Trump. He had previously referred to the 2016 one as a landslide win for him. An article by Jim Drinkard at the Associated Press on December 12, 2016 titled AP FACT CHECK: No ‘landslide’ election win for Trump noted then the Electoral College votes were 306 for Trump and 232 for Clinton. For 2020 the Electoral College votes were 306 for Biden and 232 for Trump – a landslide loss.

 

The 2020 election was not either stolen or fraudulent. Trump’s flunkys made claims but never could back them up in court. Of the post-election lawsuits 10 were dropped and 27 were dismissed. Instead of calling others bad and evil, Donald should look in the mirror at himself, since he has much to answer for.     

 Another article by Dean Obeidallah at NBC News Think on September 30, 2020 is titled Trump’s Proud Boys ‘stand back and stand by’ debate moment was more than a dog whistle. Yesterday Trump should have told the Proud Boys to stand back and stand down from now on.

 

On August 1, 2019 I blogged about Who is the least racist person?, and awarded Trump a Spoutly. Yesterday’s performance deserves another one, with an orange (hair color) and black (anarchist) color scheme like a murder hornet.    

 

Today there was a longer speech worded as follows:

 

“I would like to begin by addressing the heinous attack on the United States Capitol. Like all Americans, I am outraged by the violence, lawlessness, and mayhem. I immediately deployed the National Guard and federal law enforcement to secure the building and expel the intruders. America is and must always be a nation of law and order. The demonstrators who infiltrated the Capitol have defiled the seat of American democracy. To those who engaged in the acts of violence, you do not represent our country. And to those who broke the law, you will pay. We have just been through an intense election and emotions are high. But now tempers must be cooled and calm restored. We must get on with the business of America. My campaign vigorously pursued every legal avenue to contest the election results. My only goal was to ensure the integrity of the vote. In so doing I was fighting to defend American democracy. I continue to strongly believe that we must reform our election laws to verify the identity and eligibility of all voters and to ensure faith and confidence in all future elections. Now Congress has certified the results. A new administration will be inaugurated on January 20th. My focus now turns to insuring a smooth, orderly, and seamless transition of power. This moment calls for healing and reconciliation. 2020 has been a challenging time for our people. A menacing pandemic has upended the lives of our citizens, isolated millions in their homes, damaged our economy, and claimed countless lives. Defeating this pandemic and rebuilding the greatest economy on earth will require all of us working together. It will require a renewed emphasis on the civic values of patriotism, faith, charity, community and family. We must revitalize the sacred bonds of love and loyalty that bind us together as one national family. To the citizens of our country, serving as your president has been the honor of my lifetime. And to all of my wonderful supporters, I know you are disappointed, but I also want you to know that our incredible journey is only just beginning. Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.”       

 

President-elect Biden replied in outrage that those were not demonstrators, they were domestic terrorists. Trump claimed his only goal for lawsuits was to ensure the integrity of the vote. That’s not true. He needed to bring in a pile of money to pay off campaign debts and retain influence. An article by Stephen Robinson at Wonkette on November 11, 2020 explains how Fake billionaire Donald Trump sets up post-presidency GoFundMe PAC.