Diagnosing the Coronavirus and Trump Derangement Syndrome

Allan Giberti

There is the growing concern over China’s coronavirus and the growing number of those infected. Since January 14,550 have been infected globally and killed 304. Many countries have declared health emergencies, restricted travel from China and some have even closed their borders.

As of this writing, we have 8 confirmed cases here in the US, but I am unable to find a number of suspected cases. The last I heard it was over 100 spread out among 26 states, but that was over a week ago.

One of our biggest problems is what we don’t know about the virus. You have reports that the virus may be spread well before symptoms of the virus appear. How long is that? Two weeks? Fourteen days seems to be the standard time allotted for quarantine and the last test to screen for the virus took three days to yield the result. On the other hand, you have experts saying that the number of infected should level out and begin to drop in a month or two.

​What is China not telling us?

 We should have concerns that China is not being forthcoming with all the information, especially after the lack of information China provided when S.A.R.S. was the immediate concern. No one wants a repeat of that, especially when you consider that this strain of the coronavirus has already infected more people than S.A.R.S.  It’s been less than two weeks since China said there was “no need to panic” and that the virus was not spreading significantly within China.

To help put it in perspective here in the US, the CDC estimates that from October 2019 through January 25, 2020, the flu has caused between 19 and 26 million illnesses and resulted in 10 to 25 thousand flu related deaths. That doesn’t make me feel any better; the flu is deadlier but now you have to worry about catching the coronavirus in addition to the flu. How’s that for a perspective?

Another concern about the coronavirus is it spreading to a less developed country without quarantine protocols or readily available medical treatments. If an underdeveloped nation became infected with the coronavirus, it could quickly become a nightmare.

However, in the midst of these global emergencies one syndrome has gone unchecked for more than three years. T.D.S., otherwise known as Trump Derangement Syndrome.

While the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) doesn’t list T.D.S. among its hundreds of mental disorders but the lack recognition doesn’t mean that TDS isn’t a real condition.

The DSM-5’s official definition of mental disorder states that "a mental disorder is a syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual's cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior…mental disorders are usually associated with significant distress in social, occupational, or other important activities."

Why am I talking about coronavirus and T.D.S.? On Tuesday, President Trump sent a tweet with some pictures from a coronavirus task force briefing which was criticized by CNN as being too white.

“It’s a statement that’s as predictable as it is infuriating: President Donald Trump’s administration lacks diversity.

Who are these experts? They’re largely the same sorts of white men (and a couple women on the sidelines) who’ve dominated the Trump administration from the very beginning.

By contrast, former President Barack Obama’s circle of advisers in the face of the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa was hardly so monochromatic. Neither was it so abysmal in terms of gender diversity. (Of course, to contextualize, Obama’s administration, on the whole, was far more diverse than Trump’s.)”

Should I note that the Obama administration completely screwed up the Ebola outbreak. That’s what happens when you try to make your own Benetton commercial instead of gathering the most qualified people for the job.

Just wait until the social justice warriors try to equate containing the coronavirus to racism. It’s coming, we all know it is.

Influenza is expected to kill millions and we have no idea how many will succumb to the coronavirus. T.D.S. however will allow many more to suffer because if President Trump manages to keep the American people safe the mainstream media will say it’s because he’s a racist xenophobe.

​If I have a choice, I’ll take the coronavirus or the flu hands down.

​Allan Giberti is the host of RI Red Radio on 990WBOB.com. You can listen to Allan live on Mondays and Tuesdays at 7pm Eastern.

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