Rage

"I bring rage out.  I do bring rage out.  I always have.  I don't know if that's an asset or a liability, but whatever it is, I do."  Donald Trump, March 31, 2016.

Rage is the second book Bob Woodward has written about Donald Trump's presidency.  It is a sequel to Woodward's 2018 book Fear and covers Trump's entire first term in office. I was thrilled to get one of the first copies of the book.  While reading I sensed that much of the information presented in the book I already knew about, but it seemed new. Trump fatigue has affected my ability to remember. 

The first third of the book concerns all of the scandals, foreign policy problems, impeachment and all of the discord among staffers. Woodward then begins to talk about COVID-19.  Since I am a news junkie I will only mention information that is new to me that I feel is noteworthy. The timeline of events was one of those things new to me. Two U. S. government offices, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institute of Health (NIH), received notice about the coronavirus on December 31, 2019. Robert Redfield immediately began working on a memo.  On January 1, 2020 he distributed the first internal report regarding the virus within the CDC.  On January 3, 2020 the U. S. was aware that it spread from human to human contact by deciphering the lies it was told by a Chinese representative over the phone. On January 5 Chinese social media sites were using #WuhanReportedMysteriousPneumonia and the posts indicated community spread of the virus.  By January 10, 2020 when the Chinese posted online the virus's genome, a vaccine began being worked on by Dr. Anthony Fauci at the NIH. This timeline is vastly different from what the media has reported. Essentially, the U. S. government knew everything it needed to know to act by the end of the first week of January. The problem with acting swiftly was that Trump was not on board. He did not want to act. Trump did not declare a national emergency until March 13.

Another interesting piece of information is how Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner behaved in his role as senior advisor to the president. He stated that the Administration's communication strategy was called "intentional wrongness persuasion."  He was quoting the Dilbert cartoon.  Kushner also told Woodward that "controversy elevates message."  He was further quoted saying "Trump would say that he is going to respect the One China policy, that is wasn't that big if a give because you can always say you wouldn't respect it a day later." Whew!  Is Kushner just as nuts as Trump or is this something he came up with to explain why Trump behaved as he did?

The timing of the publication of Rage is perfect for reminding voters of all we have been through with Trump. Whether you like Trump or not, Rage is the reminder we need in order to determine how to cast our ballots. After all, all of us have Trump fatigue.

5 out of 5 stars.