Version 2.115

Hurricane Laura will make landfall in a few hours, along the coast of Texas and Louisiana. It is 7 mph away of becoming a category 5, but that small difference hardly matters. Hopefully, it will move quickly and not drop too much rain, but the storm is so massive that the weather service has warned that the surge can go inland for up to 30 or 40 miles. There will be quite a bit of flooding on that account alone. 

The usual official death toll for a Trump storm is about 60-70 people, so that is what I am expecting, but it will be a while until we know the truth. Regardless, the President is not at blame for anything that might happen. Plus, the pandemic has caused upwards of 180,000 deaths in the U.S. and nothing sticks to the man.

About the same is going on in my other country. The Prime Minister is aware that retirement homes do not have adequate medical assistance, but it's not his fault that that is going on. It's not like most doctors work for the public health system and are paid with tax dollars. Of course, one could also question the role of Portuguese media, unless they are trying to tell us that there is censorship in the carnation democracy. 

It's bad enough that folks died in a retirement home that had gone to hell in a hand basket, but now another piece of news showed up to corroborate the point of view of the Prime Minister. The purpose of the media is not to ask the government why medical care is being denied or why the directors of these facilities do not file complaints as soon as it happens and find a way of ensuring that people are properly cared for. 

No, it appears that the role of the media is to say that yes, the Prime Minister knows about the problems that his constituents face, but that is all that is asked of him.  It is of no consequence that he feels no responsibility to govern in a way that mitigates said problems. Nor does he, as the person in charge of the executive, feel responsible for anything that happens under his watch. 

What exactly is António Costa good for besides eating bolas de Berlim?