Feeding the beast
It has really come to something when the headlines from Trump's daily briefings almost scare me more than the virus! More than headlines such as 'One in five deaths [in UK] now linked to Coronavirus' or 'World faces worst decline since 1930s depression' or 'German zoo may have to feed animals to each other' or even 'One Direction speaking about reunion'.
The BBC North American editor Jon Sopel wrote an amazing editorial following Monday's briefing where he said, "This has been the most dizzying, jaw-dropping, eyeball-popping, head-spinning news conference I have ever attended."
The purpose of the White House Coronavirus Task Force briefings is supposedly to provide medical information to the public. On Monday however, the briefing started with what was essentially an election campaign video trying to re-write history on Trump's response to the coronavirus. How unbelievably distasteful. When the room of bewildered reporters tried to question some of the 'facts' misrepresented in the video, Trump got angry and called the reporters 'disgraceful' and 'fakes'. "We really have done this right" said Trump. "The problem is the press doesn't cover it the way it should be."
Jon Sopel from the BBC sums up the conundrum of Trump and the media saying, "So here we have a president who apparently hates us [the media]. But. But. But. He stuck around and answered questions for a full hour and a half. It was like a band on their farewell tour wanting to do one more encore. He loves it. He is in his element. And he hates us too."
Is it actually beneficial, or even ethical, for these briefings to be covered by the press? Some news outlets think not and are taking action. CNN and MSNBC cut away from the campaign video on Monday and only returned once question time began. A National Public Radio station in Seattle, KUOW, has decided to stop airing the briefings since the live setting makes it too difficult to fact-check in real-time. Live broadcasts of the briefings would go against their mission "to create and serve a more informed public". Examples of Trump's statements that they gave to support the decision were:
“Nobody knew there’d be a pandemic or an epidemic of this proportion,” President Trump said at a live White House briefing on March 19 despite warnings from the U.S. Intelligence community earlier this year.
“You’re seeing very few empty shelves,” our listeners heard live from President Trump on March 20. Local reporting shows many stores are out of basic supplies, including hand soap.
We’re going to be able to make the drug chloroquine “available almost immediately” said President Trump on March 19. The president claimed, incorrectly, that the FDA had fast-tracked approval of its use to treat COVID-19. There isn't current medical evidence of the efficacy of that drug in treating COVID-19.
(See KUOW's full statement here.)
On Monday, Trump's 2 1/2 hour briefing included him saying “When somebody is the president of the United States, the authority is total. And that's the way it's got to be." He was talking about how he would make the country 'open for business' again by reversing the Governor-ordered state lockdowns.
About the 'total authority' statement, a reporter in the room said, "That is not true. Who told you that?” but Trump declined to answer and when she pressed him he just said, "Enough."
Even ThingOne, whose main understanding of American history comes from memorizing the musical 'Hamilton', weighed in saying, 'Doesn't Trump understand that he is a Republican?'
By Tuesday, Trump appeared to be back-peddling saying that he had actually been "authorizing" Governors to decide for themselves when best to lift the social-distancing measures. But that news was quickly overshadowed by the latest move on the campaign trail when it was revealed that some Americans (those who had not provided bank information for direct deposit) would be receiving stimulus checks by mail adorned with Trump's name.
I heard a really beautiful episode of a podcast the other day called Partners hosted by the velvet-voiced Hrishikesh Hirway. The partners being interviewed were the poets, actors, writers, and directors Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal. At one point, on being complemented for his talents, Rafael Casal said, "I'm not good to roll with I statements, they feel self indulgent. I was raised to not feed an ego that feels constantly eager for food."
Here is the strange puzzle that is America - the same country that raised such self-aware humility combined with talent also fed a privileged inflated ego that bullied and bulldozed its way to the White House.
Well, in this house, we firmly believe in trying to feed the soul and not the ego.
By popular demand here is the recipe for the Internet sensation: the chocolate chip caramel skillet cookie.
Adapted by ThingOne and ThingTwo from 'Baking with Kids' by Leah Brooks
Ingredients
1 cup (120g) white whole wheat flour
3/4 cup (90g) all-purpose flour (or Coconut flour if you are in a pandemic-induced flour shortage)
1 heaping teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 sticks (140g) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup (100g) light brown sugar (or whatever is in your cupboard)
1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar (as above)
1 large egg (OR turns out you can use a banana instead of an egg! who knew!?)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups (350g) semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C or gas mark 4) and grease a big cast iron skillet.
2. In a pretty big mixing bowl whisk together flours, baking soda and powder, and salt.
3. In another large bowl cream butter and sugar, then add egg, vanilla.
4. Add dry ingredients in two batches, mixing until just combined.
5. Sprinkle in chocolate chips.
6. Transfer to skillet and bake for 15 minutes - take out when golden brown but still pretty soft.
While baking make the caramel:
https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a24568214/how-to-make-caramel/
Pour over the cooling cookie.
Try not to eat all at once!
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