There is a disconnect here.
Trump is not operating in "The REAL world". Trump is operating in the "
HyperNormalization World". The REAL world has things like "The testing numbers being accurate helps you make sound policy!" in it, where the HyperNormalization world, has "The outcome of testing can be whatever we say it should be, and our policy can reflect that at will, if we control all sources of testing and testing rates." in it.
I think the linked documentary should be required viewing when contemplating Trump and his "Administration". The HyperNormalization world is all about managing public PERCEPTIONS-- and PERCEPTIONS are intrinsically disconnected from any objective sources of truth. Example: Most people would find the idea of eating ditch weeds abhorrent, even though there are some that are not only nutritious, but also tasty. The objective fact is that those plants are delicious and tasty, and there is no reason not to eat them. The PERCEPTION is that those plants are in some way toxic, or undesirable.
Another disconnect with perception vs objectively-real, is racism. The racist harbors perceptions about another demographic that are incongruent with the objective reality that persons with different skin color are exactly the same kind of being that they are, with a minor physical variation.
Dealing with actual objectively-real situations, rather than the mass-perceptions of a public audience, leads to "Necessary but politically unpopular" actions being forced to be taken, which leads to political suicide. (You know, like ACTUALLY DOING THE RIGHT THING in regards to climate change.) If instead, you can alter public mass-perception (such as via controlling the media, or redefining academic sources of information, et al), you can introduce whatever policy you want, and still retain popular support. Governance is "waaaaaay Easier(tm)".
The COVID-19 situation is an Objectively-Real problem that cannot be ignored out of existence, and intrudes into the HyperNormalized Reality perniciously. Trump wants to try to mitigate that intrusion, through under-representing it, and then spinning it in the media. This is why his rhetoric about "Double edgedness" concerning testing can be seen as cogent. (To people that want to deal with the objectively-real, his statement is absurd. There is no beneficial side to inaccurate test data, it is beyond useless for any objectively real application. In the HyperNormalized world, however, inaccurate test data allows you to keep economies open, and to marginalize the deathrates through failure to report about them in the public consciousness, and continue with status-quo operations, which is "Very beneficial". (ahem. If you don't mind murdering potentially millions of people in the second degree to accomplish it.) )
Trump is VERY CLEARLY operating in the HyperNormalized world.
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Topic: Untamed Virus Containment Thread:COVID-19: Lurking Omni-Flu Edition (Read 497116 times)