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Trump Failed the 3 A.M. Test
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/10/trump-failed-3-am-test/616678/Trump Failed the 3 A.M. Test
Dont let him answer another call.
6:00 AM ET
Conor Friedersdorf
Staff writer at The Atlantic
A memorable campaign ad from 2008 urged voters to ask themselves which candidate would perform better in an unexpected emergency: Its 3 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep, but theres a phone in the White House and its ringing ... Your vote will decide who answers that call. Franklin D. Roosevelt answered Pearl Harbor. John F. Kennedy answered the deployment of Soviet missiles to Cuba. How would this years candidates respond when confronted with an emergency?
Joe Biden has never held the top job, so voters can only speculate. But a pandemic began on Donald Trumps watch, so no speculation is needed. Trump showed us how he did perform in a crisis: He failed. Trump is obviously not responsible for all of the COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. But the U.S. has fared much worse than the median developed country. And among wealthy nations, its per capita deaths rank in the top five. Trump cant avoid blame for Americas subpar performance, because voters can identify specific actions he took that contributed to the countrys failures. Especially damning is that Trump couldnt even protect himself from the disease.
Amy Wilentz: Trump thought hed never get it
Compare the White House to the NBA. Months ago, the league decided to go ahead with its season by bringing 22 teams into a bubble with coaches, trainers, referees, support staff, and media, despite a formidable challenge: Hundreds of young basketball players would run, pant, sweat, jostle for rebounds, huddle together in time-outs, and fill their off hours together, away from friends and family. The league developed sound protocols. Players, coaches, and others executed them competently. And the NBA went months without a positive COVID-19 test, allowing it to salvage a season worth billions of dollars while entertaining the American public.
A presidential bubble is comparatively easy to protect: Trump had all the resources of the federal government, no need for close physical contact, the ability to consult with any expert on optimal protocol, and a Secret Service to enforce whatever he decided upon. Yet he proved unable to stay healthy, not because he was stricken early, when little was known, but because he failed to take the most commonsense precautions, such as wearing a mask or not hosting large events.
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Trump Failed the 3 A.M. Test (Original Post)
sl8
Oct 2020
OP
The Fat Bastard failed the 3 a.m., 3 p.m., 11:45 a.m. tests - and on any other times
sandensea
Oct 2020
#5
empedocles
(15,751 posts)1. nailed that one on trump
Chainfire
(17,620 posts)2. Trump's response would be,
"Turn that phone off." His super power is ignoring disaster.
GeorgeGist
(25,322 posts)3. He cheated ...
and still failed.
mwooldri
(10,303 posts)4. He failed as he was too busy tweeting.
And whacking off (on the golf course).
sandensea
(21,658 posts)5. The Fat Bastard failed the 3 a.m., 3 p.m., 11:45 a.m. tests - and on any other times
Pretty much the only consistent thing about him - besides being a Henry VIII-style beast.
usaf-vet
(6,205 posts)6. He failed the 03:00 hour test AND then became "Patient ZERO" a super spreader by ignoring experts.
211,000 Americans have died. He doesn't deserve another week in office let alone 4 more years.
IMHO 20 years in prison should be his next move.
grantcart
(53,061 posts)7. Failed the noon test
Sherman A1
(38,958 posts)8. Your title could have ended at Trump failed
The rest is just fill in the blank.