By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on April 10, 2020 Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly resigned Tuesday after calling Capt. Brett Crozier, the commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, "stupid" for pleading with his superiors for permission to dock his aircraft carrier in Guam after an outbreak of the novel coronavirus aboard his ship. Within a week, the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases aboard the aircraft carrier skyrocketed from 2 to 177 sailors. Today, this number stands at 416, with one of the ship's sailors in an intensive care unit fighting for his life. Modly disgraced himself by firing Capt. Crozier a week ago after U.S. media organizations published a copy of the commander's memo pleading with his superiors for permission to dock his ship as the virus quickly spread throughout the aircraft carrier while it was at sea. Modly and other Naval officials in Washington procrastinated in their response to Crozier's plea for help. Capt. Crozier, who has tested positive for the virus, was promptly fired by Modly after the ship docked last week. While departing from the aircraft carrier for the last time, most of the ship's 5,000 sailors gave Crozier a cheering ovation for saving their lives. Modly was livid. He flew to Guam and boarded the aircraft carrier last weekend. Once on board the ship, Modly angrily and profanely criticized Capt. Crozier. After Modly called Crozier "stupid" and used other highly critical language to describe Crozier's brave actions, his speech over the ship's public address system fueled anger on the ship, at the Pentagon, and on Capital Hill. On Monday, Thomas Modly, under pressure from Defense Secretary Mark Esper, issued a half-ass apology for his remarks aboard the ship. He resigned immediately after issuing his apology. President Donald Trump, who had initially backed Modly's firing of Capt. Crozier, called his remarks "rough" during Trump's coronavirus briefing on Tuesday. Trump also pledged to review the case. Modly's resignation had an immediate and positive effect on sailors aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt. Morale within the Navy would be enhanced if Trump directs Mr. Esper to reinstate Capt. Crozier to his command of the aircraft carrier. Capt. Crozier has not commented on the controversy. He has been hailed by his sailors and the public as a genuine American hero. Crozier was willing to sacrifice his career in order to save his sailors. He exhibited courageous leadership under extremely difficult circumstances at sea. Modly, a Naval Academy graduate and former helicopter pilot, became undersecretary of the Navy in 2017. He was promoted to the position of Acting Secretary after Mr. Esper dismissed Navy Secretary Richard Spenser for approving the war-crimes trial of Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher. Trump later pardoned Gallagher after he was convicted of lesser offenses. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday has initiated an internal probe into the COVID-19 outbreak on the USS Theodore Roosevelt and Capt. Crozier's conduct in pleading for help. The investigation is expected to be completed within a few weeks. If the probe is not "rigged" by top Navy brass, Capt. Crozier will be cleared of any breaches of the Navy's standards of conduct for commanding officers. As of Friday, there were 488,903 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the United States and 17,995 deaths from the virus in the country. There is no further word on Capt. Crozier's medical condition.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on April 8, 2020 Because of the nationwide spread of the novel coronavirus, most Americans are on the brink of economic ruin as America's economy experiences a shutdown of epic proportions. The COVID-19 pandemic is making the Great Recession of 2008 look like a hiccup. Many respected economists are predicting that the nation's economy will be shut down for the rest of the year. I agree. As a lawyer, bank owner, businessman in the world of international energy, and taxpayer who successfully navigated the 2008 recession, I offer this annotated survival guide for ordinary Americans -- the "99 percenters" -- who want to survive the current economic depression. Here are my survival tips. 1. Stop worrying about the mega-Wall Street corporations and their super-rich executives and institutional shareholders. These are the "1 percenters." America's entire financial, political, and legal infrastructure is designed to advance and protect their business interests, from top to bottom. This is the business oligarchy that runs America. The Republican Party and Washington lobbyists have always taken great care of them. Please notice how quickly $500 billion in economic stimulus money was wired directly to these corporations by Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin immediately after President Donald Trump signed the economic stimulus legislation (the "CARES Act") on March 27, 2020. None of these companies had to wait in line for their stimulus money. They knew in advance exactly how much each company was getting and planned accordingly. 2. Immediately halt all non-essential personal spending. In a down economy, cash is king. Only spend money on food, medicines, utilities, shelter, cell phones, health insurance, and Internet service. Everything else is non-essential spending and can wait until you experience better days. 3. Prioritize your debts. Reduce or suspend your payments on unsecured debts like credit cards and signature loans from banks or private lenders. Request a loan modification to your existing home mortgage and/or car loan that allows you to make "interest only" payments for 24 months. If and when the economy bounces back during this period, you can resume your regular monthly payments to all lenders. 4. If your lenders refuse to cooperate with you during this economic crisis, don't be surprised. They are also under a lot of financial pressure themselves, especially lenders who are regulated by state and federal bank regulatory agencies. However, the laws governing the lender-borrower relationship in each state are heavily weighted in favor of creditors and against debtors. The one leverage tool you have as a debtor is the ability to file a Chapter 13 petition for wage earners' debt restructuring, or a Chapter 11 plan for corporate debt restructuring, or a Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation plan. You should not hesitate to use the federal bankruptcy laws to your advantage if your creditors are jamming you. Delta Airlines used them. Ronald Reagan used them before he became president. President Donald Trump used them six times as a businessman. These laws exist for challenging times like the one we are experiencing today, and you should not hesitate to use them. 5. If you own a small business, as defined by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and you seek to participate in the $350 billion in economic stimulus money that Congress appropriated to help small businesses, you should apply for this money at a bank that specializes in SBA loans. Only a small number of banks in America have SBA loans as their core business. These banks are well-versed in the SBA lending guidelines and documentation procedures. I know of only one in Georgia -- TouchMark National Bank in Alpharetta -- that specializes in SBA lending, and they excel at it. Unlike the preferential treatment accorded to Wall Street corporations under the CARES Act, the line for the SBA-guaranteed stimulus loan money is very long, painfully slow, and frustrating most of the time. Applicants who are seeking millions of dollars will get a preference over those seeking a hundred thousand dollars or less. Remember, the SBA lending program was originally established to help struggling minority-owned and women-owned businesses by guaranteeing up to 80% of their business loans from banks. As such, the SBA's treatment of loan applicants from these targeted minority groups has always been second-class, shabby, slow, and very frustrating. Prior to the economic stimulus money, the SBA's entire allocation of loan guarantee money for a federal fiscal year was $25 billion. Whether the SBA loan guarantee program is ready to quickly inject $350 billion into the banking system as loan guarantees for mainstream American business with employees of 500 or less is an open question. I sincerely doubt it. 6. Cash-in or sell your "Whole Life" or "Term Life" insurance policies. Companies like Coventry routinely buy them, and still do. These insurance products were originally purchased for your named beneficiaries, but you may need the money now. 7. Avoid "hard money" and "payday" lenders, as well as title pawn shops. These are predatory lenders who thrive on desperate borrowers. State laws allow these lenders to rip-off borrowers with impunity, especially in Republican-controlled states. 8. Fire-sale all non-essential items in your home or business that you have not used in three years. They can always be replaced in better times. 9. Maintain some form of healthcare insurance, whether with a private insurance company, Medicare, or Medicaid. The poor and working poor in America are treated very badly in our country's healthcare system. You do not want to experience the level of indifference that poor citizens receive in healthcare systems across the nation as a matter of course. 10. Do not become discouraged by the slow, inefficient, and inept performance of the many government agencies that must "qualify" or "reject" you for stimulus money or other government benefits (i.e., unemployment benefits, stimulus checks, SBA officials handling stimulus loans, etc.). If you experienced poor customer service at the Postal Service, I guarantee that you will experience similar treatment by other government agencies in this economic depression. Most Americans have never experienced hard economic times like these, nor have they been dependent on the delivery of government services that is usually reserved for the poor or working poor. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, most of the "99 percenters" will be entering a new paradigm of daily life. It is a difficult existence that poor people navigate everyday. Patience, focus, and endurance are required attributes in this new paradigm.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on April 5, 2020 The U.S. Navy relieved Capt. Brett Crozier, the commanding officer of the USS Theodore Roosevelt on Thursday following the publication of his memo to military officials pleading for help with an outbreak of the coronavirus on his aircraft carrier. The memo was first published in the San Francisco Chronicle and quickly spread as a worldwide news story. Capt. Crozier had written a March 30, 2020 memo demanding that Navy officials allow him to take the aircraft carrier to the port in Guam to offload sailors who contracted the COVID-19 virus. In a matter of days, the number of sailors who tested positive for the new coronavirus skyrocketed from 2 to at least 114. The Navy airlifted the first 8 infected sailors from the aircraft carrier to medical facilities before allowing the carrier to dock in Guam. "We are at war. Sailors do not need to die," wrote Capt. Crozier. "If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset -- our sailors. Thomas Modly, Acting Secretary of the Navy said he made the decision to fire Capt. Crozier. Some military officials suspected Crozier of leaking the memo to the press. Modly said the memo gave the impression the Navy was responding to the COVID-19 outbreak only due to Crozier's plea, which he said was not true. Modly claims that he made the decision to fire Crozier without input from the White House. Washington insiders say Modly's claim in this regard is incredulous, especially in light of President Trump's propensity to micro-manage potentially embarrassing situations. Modly is generally viewed as a placeholder political flunkie for the Trump administration. In firing Crozier, Modly demonstrated that he cared more about chain-of-command protocols than he did about saving the lives of sailors in his Naval service. Apparently, the Trump administration did not brief Modly on what "time is of the essence" means when a Naval Captain is trying to contain an outbreak of the deadly coronavirus on board his vessel at sea. When Capt. Crozier departed the aircraft carrier in Guam, he received a rousing ovation from the sailors under his command. Crozier was prepared to sacrifice his Naval career in order to protect his sailors on board the USS Theodore Roosevelt from the deadly and quickly spreading COVID-19 virus. There is no telling how many sailor’s lives were saved because of Captain Crozier's desperate pleas for help while his aircraft carrier was at sea. Now Modly is threatening Captain Crozier with disciplinary action. Clearly, President Trump should intervene to stop the disciplinary proceedings and promptly reinstate Captain Crozier's command of the USS Theodore Roosevelt. Trump should also publicly reprimand Thomas Modly for choosing to elevate form over substance in Capt. Crozier's brave efforts to battle a deadly virus aboard his ship at sea. In my book, Captain Crozier is an American hero. Modly is an underqualified and misguided Washington political appointee who is trying to outshine a real Naval hero.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on April 3, 2020 The White House now estimates that a minimum of 100,000 to 240,000 Americans will die from the COVID-19 pandemic. Other more credible pandemic models place the realistic number of deaths closer to one million in the United States from the COVID-19 crisis that is happening now and the second wave of the coronavirus that is expected in the Fall. Whether we view the estimates from a scientific or religious standpoint, these numbers are staggering. Medical experts revealed for the first time Thursday that the coronavirus is spreading when infected individuals cough, sneeze, talk, and breathe around other people. The virus is emitted on invisible respiratory droplets that are airborne for hours. The 6 feet distancing recommended for containing the spread of the deadly virus is clearly not adequate. Frontline doctors who are battling the coronavirus suggest that all Americans wear facemasks in public and inside enclosed areas at all times. Social distancing is the only containment strategy we have to mitigate the spread of the virus. There is no vaccine to prevent COVID-19 and there is no cure for infected individuals. COVID-19 is a Plague Upon the Lands I have written two recent articles in which I expressed my views about what is happening to America (and the rest of the world) with the COVID-19 crisis, and why. While brave emergency room and intensive care unit doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, and other healthcare professionals are doing everything they can to battle the coronavirus on the front lines and save the lives of crashing COVID-19 patients, this plague will end in America only when God sees that we have fundamentally changed our wicked ways toward the "least of these." Religious leaders used to advocate for this change. In recent decades, however, they have become complicit in society's shabby treatment of the "least of these." For example, the Catholic Church has failed to protect millions of innocent young children from clergy sex abuse during the modern era. When faced with recent evidence of this sex abuse, Pope Francis failed to aggressively eradicate it. America's Amish communities share this failure, as well. Amish girls are raped and abused by their relatives and religious leaders. Also, many Evangelical Christian leaders in Southern states have politicized the Bible's teachings and have aligned themselves with unspeakable acts of evil by popular local, state, and federal politicians. Additionally, non-denominational ministries have become flamboyant street hustles in the name of the Lord. Finally, the Ayatollahs in Iran have given aid and comfort to terrorists who kill and injure innocent people in the name of Allah. The list of mistreatment of the "least of these" is endless. Government Action Devoid of God Even in the midst of a global pandemic, many of America's national leaders and some of its state officials still fail to understand the nature and scope of what is happening to us, and why. They believe the United States can economically stimulate its way out of this public health crisis by taking care of Wall Street's mega-corporations. They also believe our world-class doctors and biomedical researchers will develop a vaccine for the coronavirus and a cure for the infectious disease it spreads. They see these two measures -- and not intervention by God -- as the answer to the meltdown America is experiencing. The daily White House briefings never acknowledge the role God is playing in the COVID-19 pandemic, and no Coronavirus Task Force member has ever publicly asked God to lift this plague from America (and the rest of the world) during the briefings. In fact, a discussion of America's relationship with God is completely absent in these briefings. Instead, all of the participants use the briefings as an opportunity to heap praise upon President Donald Trump. Proverbs 1: 23-33 describes how God gave us the ability to obtain knowledge and wisdom through our relationship with him. He shared his heart and words with us. Yet, many Americans and citizens of the world reject his unconditional love and advice on how we should treat mankind. Instead of respecting humanity and practicing humility, we embraced men/women with substantial wealth, power, notoriety, and influence and raised them up as our "Idols" and Gods. The Lord warned us in Proverbs that when destruction comes upon us as a whirlwind, when calamity overtakes us like a storm, when anguish and distress overwhelm us, and when we cry for his help, God will not answer us. We must then eat the bitter fruit of living our own wicked ways and choke on our own devilish schemes. All of those who listen to God will live in peace, untroubled by fear of harm. As a nation, America has continued the very conduct that brought the COVID-19 plague upon us. Just this week, the Trump administration announced that laid off workers who want to enroll in Obamacare to obtain health insurance cannot do so. These innocent workers are being put at-risk for catastrophic medical bills during a pandemic simply because Trump hates Barack Obama and he wants to dismantle Obama's signature achievement as president. As a result, these innocent workers and their families will enter the world of the uninsured during the worst public health crisis the world has faced. Millions of Americans will become infected with the coronavirus and get sick. The ones who get sick and who have no health insurance will die in our "for-profit" medical system. Furthermore, the United States still holds young children who have not been reunited with their migrant parents. This parental separation policy is part of America's get tough policy on illegal immigration of migrants of color from South America. This policy was the brainchild of heartless Trump adviser Steven Miller, who will likely suffer God's wrath during this plague. We are still ignoring the needs of the homeless, the poor, sexually abused women and children, the mentally ill, and the sick and hungry in the richest country on the globe. This systemic neglect of the "least of these" reflects the sad fact that we elevate our love for money over God's love for humanity. The virus will force millions of Americans who despise the "least of these" to live among them and experience the misery of their daily lives. When Will This Plague End? The COVID-19 plague will not leave us until America changes its shabby treatment of the "least of these." In fact, the wrath of God will only get worse as we continue to ignore his words. Among the hundreds of thousands of Americans who will die from the plague will be those who are purveyors of evil in the name of good. They are the modern-day equivalent to the Biblical "Pharaohs." These Pharaohs, and their family members, will be touched by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well. These individuals know who they are and they know what evil they have gratuitously inflicted upon innocent men, women, and children in the name of "making America great again." Their money, fancy sounding titles, government platforms, and power will not matter to God. He will humble all of them. The more America ignores and rebukes God's teachings, the harder God's wrath will be. In the end, God will humble mankind; God's will shall prevail; it always does. Sadly, the weeping in America has just begun. We will see rivers of tears. However, we brought this calamity upon ourselves.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on March 27, 2020 President Donald Trump got a huge win in Congress this week when the Senate passed his $2 trillion economic stimulus package on a unanimous vote of 96-0. The House approved the package today on a voice vote. This Congressional action virtually guarantees Trump's re-election in November. Here is why: Under the stimulus package, $500 billion will be allocated by the Treasury Department for loans to distressed Wall Street corporations. These loans will be backstopped for losses in Federal Reserve lending facilities. An additional $350 billion dollars will be allocated to mid-size and small business. A small business is defined as one with less than 500 employees. Businesses owned by Trump and his family are excluded from receiving any financial assistance from the stimulus package. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who defied a Congressional subpoena to provide Trump's tax returns to a Congressional committee, will decide (in consultation with President Trump) which distressed Wall Street corporations will divide up this $500 billion in loan money among the designated businesses. This money will be wired out the door before the ink from President Trump's signature is dry on the legislation. The $2 trillion stimulus package is great for the economy, but it was even greater for Donald Trump. In an election year, President Trump/candidate Trump now has the ability to dole out $500 billion in lifeline financial support to distressed corporations of his choosing from a loan fund that he single-handedly controls. The presidential candidate who holds the power to protect and sustain the financial viability of a major Wall Street corporation during a pandemic is the candidate who will receive the big campaign contributions, directly and indirectly, from the rescued companies. Donald Trump holds this power. Democratic front-runner Joe Biden is irrelevant at this time. He cannot save a single distressed business in America, and it is highly questionable as to whether he can even save his own candidacy at this juncture. The Unconscionable Absence of Hazardous Duty Pay for Frontline Healthcare Workers Hospitals and Veterans Administration medical centers will receive about $150 million from the stimulus package to offset the cost of the surge in critical equipment purchases, staffing, bed space and hospital costs associated with battling COVID 19. Equipment vendors and hospital suppliers will be compensated, as well. Noticeably absent from the $2 trillion stimulus package is any hazardous duty pay and/or bonus money for frontline doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, hospital orderlies, laundry workers, food services workers, janitors, and other healthcare professionals who rushed to emergency rooms and intensive care units around the nation in a desperate bid to save the lives of crashing COVID 19 patients. These healthcare professionals practiced heroic medicine in the midst of a global pandemic and declared national emergency. They went to the frontlines of the pandemic even when their hospitals did not have the personal protective equipment to keep them safe. Many of these healthcare professionals contracted the coronavirus themselves. Some of them died in the service of their nation. They sacrificed their own lives in an effort to save ours. Yet, not one dime of stimulus money is set aside to reward them financially for their unselfish service and exceptional bravery in the line of duty. What is worse, not one dime of stimulus money is allocated to compensate the families of frontline healthcare workers who died in the raging battle to save dying patients. At the very least, the Trump administration should order banks, private lenders, and other financial institutions regulated by the federal government to forgive the student loan debts of every doctor, nurse, respiratory therapist, and other healthcare provider who worked on the frontline to bring the coronavirus under control. They deserve nothing less. The Impact of Citizens United v. Federal Election Committee A 2010 U.S. Supreme Court case called Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission gave corporations the legal right to contribute unlimited campaign cash to candidates, PACs, and super PACs in federal elections. At least $1.1 billion of the stimulus money for businesses will eventually find its way into the coffers of candidates for federal office, PACs, and super PACs prior to the 2020 elections. The majority of this money will flow through super PACs. Super PACs use their money only for independent expenditures. Unlike candidates and regular PACs, super PACs can accept contributions of any size from individuals and corporations. They also have the ability to engage in limitless fundraising. Presently, they are the most powerful forces in politics. Super PACs take "dark money," or money whose source is hidden from the public. With super PACs, wealthy individuals and corporations simply give money to nonprofits that turn around and give the campaign cash to super PACs. A super PAC need only disclose the nonprofit(s) from which it accepted money, and the nonprofit donor does not need to disclose where the money came from originally. The donations from stimulus loan recipients are expected to flow to nonprofits that will donate campaign cash to super PACs supporting Donald Trump's re-election. The rescued major corporations, alone, are expected to contribute an estimated one percent of the $500 billion (or $500 million) to super PACs aligned with Trump. Senior management executives at these distressed companies are expected to contribute another $250 million in individual donations to candidates and donations to regular and super PACs. Rescued medium and small-size business will likely contribute another $350 million to Trump's re-election using the same pass-through campaign donation vehicles. Loan money for these businesses will be administered by the Small Business Administration and private financial lenders that participate in the SBA 7(a) lending program. Under the SBA 7(a) loan program, the lenders issue the loans and the SBA guarantees them. Individual recipients of stimulus money are NOT likely to contribute any significant amount of cash to Trump's campaign. However, a majority of them will likely vote for Trump if he leads the country through the COVID 19 crisis. Democrats Outsmarted and Outworked in Developing the Stimulus Package Except for the failure to compensate frontline healthcare professionals fighting the coronavirus, the Republican-sponsored economic stimulus package was conceived in brilliance. It was thoughtfully crafted and packaged. Then, the package was skillfully managed throughout the legislative process. Democratic lawmakers were outsmarted and outworked by the Republican lawmakers who shepherded the economic stimulus package through Congress. Democratic lawmakers never fully understood the stimulus package's multi-dimensional impact on the political landscape during an election year. With one brilliant move, candidate Donald Trump created a potential flow of $1.1 billion in campaign donations for PACs supporting his re-election bid. The rescued companies of all sizes and their executives most certainly will thank Trump in a very tangible way. Joe Biden, the expected Democratic nominee, represents the political version of the Biblical figure named "Lazarus." On Super Tuesday, Biden arose from the dead against Bernie Sanders. However, the Biblical Lazarus arose from the dead only once. The same will probably be true for Biden in the political arena. Barring an act of God, the economic stimulus package virtually guarantees an unprecedented campaign war chest for Donald Trump and a landslide victory for the President in November. Epilogue President Trump has survived three separate coup d'etats (i.e., the Robert Mueller criminal investigation; the effort by renegade White House staffers, cabinet members and Republican dissidents to declare Trump "unfit" for office and remove him under the 25th Amendment; and the failed impeachment initiative). The COVID 19 pandemic is the fourth major test of Trump's presidency. To his credit, Trump had an impressive pre-pandemic track record in creating a surging economy and record low unemployment. This progress occurred during the three-year coup d'etat period. The President has decided to reopen the economy as early as April in order to prevent Wall Street from collapsing. The stimulus package is designed to bridge business and qualified individuals until the economy is restarted. Another stimulus package will be proposed if more money is needed to prevent the collapse of Wall Street. Trump has secured ironclad control over the disbursement of stimulus money for distressed large, medium and small-businesses, hospitals, and state and local governments to keep them afloat during the COVID 19 pandemic. The rescued companies and their executives will reward Trump with an unprecedented amount of campaign cash. All of these factors make President Donald J. Trump the new "Lion King" of American politics.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on March 24, 2020 Nationwide coronavirus testing never occurred in the United States. Our front-line emergency room and intensive care unit doctors, respiratory therapists, and nurses never got the adequate supply of personal protection equipment (PPE) they needed. America was 3 months late implementing social distancing, school and business closings, "shelter in place" directives, and other mitigation and suppression protocols that are designed to stop the spread of a deadly virus for which there is no cure nor vaccine. COVID 19 is killing Americans in "hot zones" and taking down the entire U.S. economy at the same time. The American banking system is on the verge of collapsing, as well. Unemployment claims are skyrocketing and are expected to crest at 30% of the nation's workforce. Hourly workers are being laid off in droves. Small businesses are dying. Major corporations are running out of cash. The airline industry is crashing. America is rapidly approaching an economic depression. If America continues its belated COVID 19 mitigation and suppression protocols, our economy will likely tank despite Congress' bipartisan effort to pass a $2 trillion stimulus package. Wall Street may collapse shortly thereafter. America is rapidly reaching the point of no return for restarting its shutdown economy. Despite all of the medical advice about virus containment protocols, President Donald J. Trump seems to have decided that saving the U.S. economy and American banking system is more critical for the nation at this juncture than saving the lives of America's coronavirus patients. He has publicly stated that the cure for COVID 19 cannot be worst than the disease. He is eager and ready to bring the country's businesses and commerce back online by Easter Sunday. Trump knows that the expected loss of human life from an executive decision to save the economy will be catastrophic. Patient death models based upon medical data collected on the virus from the hardest hit countries were published in a March 16, 2020 report prepared by the Imperial College in London for the World Health Organization. The report forecasts that up to 4 million Americans could die if America does nothing about COVID 19 and tries to ride it out. Included in this number are Americans who tested positive, who are in high risk groups, and who will likely die from other life-threatening medical conditions. How many people is 4 million Americans? It's more Americans than have died all at once from anything, ever. It's the population of Los Angeles. It's four times the number of Americans who died in the American Civil War -- on both sides. It's two-thirds as many people as died in Adolf Hitler's Holocaust. If America's mitigation and suppression strategies are aggressively implemented like they were in South Korea, the country stands a fighting chance of reducing the COVID 19 death rate in America to 2 million deaths or less. The COVID Virus is America's Invisible Enemy The deadly and invisible COVID 19 virus invaded America in January of 2020 and spread across the country in record time. Cases of the virus have been confirmed in every state. It quickly exposed America's shocking lack of preparedness for a nationally declared public health crisis of this nature and magnitude. Trump realizes that America is in the middle of a new kind of war. He is not inclined to allow the medical professionals at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to run the country via their medical advice and expertise during this COVID 19 war. In the President's eyes, it is far more important to keep the American economy afloat than it is to stop the virus from spreading. No other president in the modern-era has faced this dilemma and has made the choice to save the economy over COVID patient lives. In all fairness, Trump has made a genuine effort to support governors in states that are "hot zones" for the virus -- California, Washington State, New York, and Louisiana. Twenty-two of the nation's 50 governors have issued "shelter in place" orders. Rightly or wrongly, Trump believes the primary responsibility for saving lives from the coronavirus rests largely with the nation's governors. The President feels that he must focus on the nation's economic health and national security during the COVID 19 pandemic. Trump knows that the American banking system never fully recovered from the Great Recession of 2008. Since the recession, the federal government has: (a) given adversely impacted banks $800 billion in bailout money [Note: Alamerica Bank, my Birmingham-based commercial bank, never needed, sought, or received federal bailout money]; (b) allowed the nation's big banks to secure trillions of dollars from the Federal Reserve and lend this money to government agencies and major corporations at attractive markets rates for the banks; (c) given all FDIC insured banks and other financial institutions a huge tax cut, which made them appear to be profitable on paper; (d) given big banks like Well Fargo a prosecutorial "pass" on a four-year crime spree that involved two million acts of wire fraud, mail fraud, and bank fraud; and (e) relaxed the liquidity and capital ratio requirements which, standing alone, makes the banks vulnerable during a pandemic. Whether they know it or not, American taxpayers have been subsidizing the nation's banking industry since the 2008 recession. Despite the Federal Reserve's $3.2 trillion injection of cash into the nation's banking system this month, Trump realizes that the Federal Reserve's tools cannot save the America economy or the banking system. Only the President can prioritize the most important national interests and lead the action on them. Trump truly believes that saving the economy may be the best of the bad options in this crisis. History Provides Insight into How and Why Trump is Making His Decision History provides important insight into how and why President Trump is making his decision. Several factors appear to be guiding his instincts, thought processes, and executive actions in this regard. First, from 1906 to 1921, African-Americans once had a thriving "Black Wall Street" in Tulsa, Oklahoma's Greenwood community. Black Wall Street allowed African-Americans in Oklahoma and around the nation to (a) generate significant wealth, (b) become self-reliant and self-sufficient, to network with each other in financial ventures and to pool their money as a means to achieve economic empowerment, and (c) create an epicenter of commerce and culture that uplifted their overall quality of life (even in the Jim Crow era). Before the dollar left Black Wall Street, it changed hands in black communities in Oklahoma and across America 19 times. Black Wall Street produced a level of economic prosperity for African-Americans in the nation that has not been seen since 1921. Tragically, Black Wall Street was burned down in May 1921 by an angry mob of 1,500 white Tulsa residents and vigilantes. More than 3,000 blacks were killed. All of the business and financial institutions on Black Wall Street were destroyed. The African-American community nationwide never recovered from the destruction of Black Wall Street. Nearly one hundred years later, only 12 of the 4,000 publicly traded companies on New York's Wall Street are black owned businesses. President Trump also knows that without a thriving Wall Street, a strong economy, and a sound banking system, America will become a "third world" country overnight. If America's economy collapses, the entire nation will experience a level of financial neglect, disrespect, and second class treatment in the international financial centers that is comparable to what blacks in the U.S. experienced in America's financial markets from 1921 to the early 2000s. No American, regardless of his/her ethnicity, wants to experience this kind of shabby treatment. Trump will never allow this kind of economic calamity to happen on his watch. No U.S. president would. Second, the U.S. dollar is the world's most frequently used currency in business transactions. Even transactions not involving a U.S. party are often cited in dollars. If the economy collapses, the U.S. dollar would immediately lose its designation as the reserve currency of the world. The British Pound held this designation for decades before America obtained it, but Great Britain lost it due to the country's decimated economy from World War II. America's designation of the U.S. dollar as the reserve currency of the world, together with its impressive victory in the War, propelled America to the top as a global world power. America's most powerful adversaries -- China and Russia -- would love to see America lose this currency designation. In such an event, they would likely combine to form a new reserve currency of the world. Third, if America loses the U.S. dollar as the reserve currency of the world, the country's $17 trillion deficient would crash the domestic economy. This designation allows America to print money that is not backed by an adequate supply of gold reserves. In reality, much of America's seemingly unlimited check writing ability rests upon credit that is not backed by gold reserves. This is the primary reason why every U.S. dollar now is clearly marked as a "Federal Reserve Note." Fourth, America also controls the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications or "SWIFT" system, a bank-owned network for processing securities trades and transferring cash and international messages between member banks. Major corporations have limited access to the SWIFT system through their banks. SWIFT facilitates the international transfer of money between signatory banks around the world. All of the world's major banks participate in the SWIFT system. America's control of the SWIFT system protects the country's national interests and constitutes one of the most powerful tools America has in fighting (a) terrorist groups and nations, (b) international money launderers and black market arms dealers, and (c) international drug cartels. If America's banking system collapses, Russia or China would also control the SWIFT system. Epilogue Trump knows that the sacrifice of COVID 19 patient lives will likely be massive. The expected deaths will cut across all age groups, all ethnic groups, all religious groups, all income levels, and political parties. Most of these casualties will be men. In times of war, there will always be casualties. During the "Spanish" flu in 1918, 675,000 Americans died in a matter of months while America was engaged in World War I. Hopefully, the worse case scenario of .08% or 4 million deaths will never materialize in America. However, it appears that President Trump is prepared to do whatever it takes to prevent America's economy from collapsing, regardless of the number of COVID 19 war casualties. He seems ready to leave it up to history as to whether this is the right decision for America in its war against the coronavirus.

By: Donald V. Watkins © Copyrighted and Published on March 20, 2020 I believe in God. I also believe that God created the universe and populated earth with human beings. I believe that God gave us a perfect environment that could produce everything we needed to create life and sustain it in perpetuity. We are God's creation. Over the course of hundreds of millennia, mankind has taken an earth that was pristine for human life and has fouled it with ethnic and tribal-based hatred, senseless wars, endless massacres of human and animal life, unabated industrial pollution, widespread toxic poisoning of the earth's land, water supply, and air, famine and droughts, and narcissistic lifestyles of all sorts. Throughout history, there have been many among us who have taken the earth's natural resources by force and have hoarded them for personal enrichment. Eventually, our worship of the wealthy and mighty replaced our worship of God. Mankind developed the scientific ability to destroy God's earth with the atomic bomb. Only one nation -- the United States -- used the atomic bomb on a civilian population. America nuked two Japanese cities -- Hiroshima and Nagasaki -- near the end of World War II that killed and injured 226,000 people. Human beings developed religions within the cultures inhabiting the earth. These religions eventually birthed "prosperity-based ministries" that glorified popes, preachers, rabbis, supreme leaders, prophets, and other church heads. Religious houses became grandiose tabernacles, temples, mosques, cathedrals, and other houses of God. Along the way, various religions raped and pillaged the lands in order to satisfy and quench the church's thirst for world domination. When God sent his only son, Jesus Christ, to save mankind from its collective sins, he was admired by the masses but despised by the religious hierarchy of his day. Jesus was an earthly king whose kingdom was in Heaven. Unlike today’s religious leaders, Jesus had no earthly possessions. He traveled the lands by foot or by donkey. He did not own a home or have fine clothes and jewelry. Jesus never hated any human being for any reason, not even those who betrayed him and those who crucified him. He never sexually abused children or women. Jesus never looked the other way when he encountered the suffering or persecution of another human being. Instead, he stopped it. After Jesus' death, mankind transmogrified from the teachings of Christ and the ways of Mother Teresa to the glorification of modern-day religious leaders. With the passage of time, we began to confer God-like status upon ordinary human beings -- popes, monarchs, conquerors, presidents of nations, celebrities, athletes, millionaires, billionaires, and conquerors, in contravention of God's word in Isaiah 25:1. Eventually, modern man's casuistry elevated mankind's concern for stock markets and personal wealth above God's Biblical teachings. Because mankind developed incredible military might, the ability to send a small number of men to another celestial body, the ability to clone some forms of life, and the ability to automate routine functions in life, our belief in God became somewhat of an afterthought for many human beings. Just when mankind believed that money and military might make a nation invincible, God unleashed a novel corona virus (known as COVID 19) upon the earth. This divine act changed everything. Man's Response to God's Wrath America's first reaction to the coronavirus was to treat the disease like the flu. It quickly became clear from medical data gathered around the world that a "do nothing" and "ride it out" approach would produce about 4 million deaths in the United States and 90 million worldwide. America then developed a "mitigation" strategy in which patients with symptomatic cases of the coronavirus were placed in isolation and their families were quarantined for 14 days. "Social distancing" was also suggested (but not required) in an effort to "flatten the curve" from the virus. This approach would reduce the death rate to 2 million in the United States and 45 million worldwide. Based upon the COVID 19 report from the Imperial College in London for the World Health Organization dated March 16, 2020, America and the rest of the world then moved to an aggressive "suppression" strategy that includes all of the proactive steps in the "mitigation" strategy, plus the shutting down of public gatherings, most workplaces, bars, restaurants, schools, and universities. America hopes this strategy will reduce its death rate to several thousand before the virus potentially goes down. The "suppression" strategy must be practiced for 18 months, which is the time it takes to develop, field test, and deploy a new vaccine. The first "suppression" period would last until July, then these risk mitigation measures will be lifted for a month, followed by another "suppression" period of 2 months, in a repeating pattern without triggering a new outbreak or overwhelming the ventilator supply. God's Hand is Always Greater Than Man's Despite the world's collective scientific and medical genius, no man/woman or nation has been able to stop the coronavirus. Its deadly impact has spread around the world in record time. The virus respects no nation's borders and it is wrecking the global economy. It has killed citizens of nearly every country. No national leader or mighty army has stopped it. The coronavirus has shown us that the wrath of God is stronger than the hand of any nation's president, prime minister, Ayatollah, supreme leader, dictator, or monarch. Mankind has never been a match for God. Based upon the TV video and social media images of Spring Break partiers coming out of Florida this week, college-age Americans are engaged in close-contact, lascivious conduct. These partiers are obviously NOT taking the corona virus seriously. They are willfully NOT engaged in any COVID 19 "suppression" strategy. Unlike Italians, Americans, for the most part, are NOT honoring state and local "shelter-in-place" directives or voluntary curfews. These measures inconvenience our freewheeling lifestyles. Regardless, we are in the midst of a divine cleansing around the globe. If man's efforts to slow down the coronavirus are unsuccessful, mankind will experience the worst death toll from a single cause since the Middle Ages. God's Cleansing I believe we are witnessing God's hand as he shows the world he is in charge of everything. God is humbling every "Pharaoh" on the globe in plain view of the world. "All nations before him are as nothing; and they counted to him less than nothing, and vanity." Isaiah 40:17. Only God will determine how many human beings will die from his coronavirus cleansing and who they will be. Among the millions who will die from the coronavirus will be many of those who neglected, scorned, and inflicted pain, suffering, and cruelty upon the "least of these my brethren" in the name of imperial campaigns of "greatness" and national dominance. Matthew 25:35-46. The children of "Pharaohs" will also be touched by the virus. Exodus 12:29. God will make us replace the worship of money, people and politics with the worship of him. He is making us realize that we are our "brother's keeper," as commanded in Genesis 4:8-15. God is also making us reject false prophets and idolatry. God will make sure those among us who have never prayed a prayer of "thanks" will pray one for the first time. During this cleansing, God will give all of us enough time to get our personal lives right with him, whether we are selected for life or death. Most people will accept God's offer of salvation and the forgiveness of our sins, but many will not. Despite our best efforts as human beings, the coronavirus will end only when God is ready for it to end, and not a day earlier. Whenever the virus ends, life as we know it will never be the same. We, as human beings, brought God's wrath upon mankind. This plague will be with us until we all acknowledge God's greatness and cease worshiping men, women, money, and power.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on March 22, 2020 Below is the latest COVID 19 update from a front-line anesthesiologist/critical care doctor working in Milan, Italy. As of Sunday, Italy has experienced 5,476 COVID 19-related deaths. Milan is the most adversely affected city in Italy. This COVID 19 information is being circulated with ER doctor groups in America. Here are the highlights from this doctor's report: 1. Hospital wards are being converted to "COVID wards" to better treat patients. The situation at this doctor's hospital is dramatic. They have created four new intensive care units to treat intubated patients. All patients in ICU are on CPAP machines from 8 to 12 hours a day. 2. ER and ICU doctors have noticed that patients 40-years-old or less are developing very bad pneumonia. The best treatment results come when COVID 19 patients are placed face down on their stomach while breathing with CPAP machines and/or mechanical ventilators. Each patient on a mechanical ventilator is ventilated for 18 hours a day. Mechanical ventilation is essential for all COVID 19 patients. 3. The typical COVID 19 patient arrives in the Emergency Room with mild dyspnea (i.e., labored breathing), coughing, and fever. "They need rapid intubation (i.e., a tube placed into the trachea for ventilation), or they will die from acute respiratory distress." 4. Of the COVID 19 patients hospitalized, 80-85% of the critical patients are men, including 30-year-olds with no linkage to smoking/vaping or other co-morbidities (i.e., potentially fatal diseases or underlying medical conditions). 5. Milan's "911" Emergency Services cannot take care of all respiratory patients. As such, infected individuals are dying in their homes with no medical care. Hospitals are treating only "young" COVID 19 patients (i.e., individuals less than 60-years-old) with "light" co-morbidities. 6. Active cancer patients are the most difficult to treat. The mortality rate for cancer patients is 3-6%. Additionally, patients taking ACE inhibitors and ARBs have the worse outcomes. 7. Intubated patients do not improve quickly. ICUs are filled with ventilated 40-year-old patients and they don't seem to be improving. 8. Italian hospitals have promulgated a "vademecum" (i.e., handbook or guide that is kept constantly at hand for consultations) for the benefit of ER and ICU doctors, nurses, and respiratory therapists. [DonaldWatkins.com will acquire an Italian vademecum, translate it into English, and post it on this website for the benefit of America healthcare providers and our readers.] 9. The coronavirus is mutating and doctors have not found a cure or vaccine for it. Giapreza (or angiotensin II), a biochemical protein whose presence in the bloodstream promotes aldostererone secretion and tends to raise blood pressure, seemed to improve vital signs and outcomes in about 50 cases. The doctors are also using choroquine, tocilizumab, antiretrovirals, and anakina, but no steroids at all. 10. Italian doctors who are treating COVID 19 patients wear a single-use cap, a single-use coat, shoe covers, double gloves and goggles or face shields with a N100 mask. Even with this personal protective equipment, a 36-year-old female anesthesiologist in Milan is now intubated and mechanically ventilated in ICU. America was 3 months late in properly responding to the COVID 19 healthcare crisis. Like Italy, America thought COVID 19 would be "nothing more than the common flu." ICUs in Italy are now full of COVID 19 patients. Conditions in American hospitals are expected to mirror the COVID 19 patient numbers, treatment protocols, and morbidity rates experienced in Italy. Because of America's population size and lack of a nationwide COVID testing program, the number of COVID-related deaths in America is expected to vastly exceed those reported for Italy.

By: Donald V. Watkins © Copyrighted and Published on March 22, 2020 America -- the richest country in the world in the 21st century -- is woefully unprepared for the coronavirus pandemic. In the midst of a global public health crisis and declared national emergency, Americans are learning very disturbing facts from the doctors, respiratory therapists, and nurses who are working around the clock in hospital emergency rooms and front line clinics in a desperate effort to successfully battle this pandemic. Here are the truisms from our frontline responders: 1. Our Hospitals Lack an Adequate Supply of PPE Our hospitals and clinics do not have an adequate supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare professionals on the front lines in the COVID 19 crisis. They are lacking N95 masks, gowns, protective face shields, nitrile gloves, anti-viral soaps and detergents, anti-viral sanitary wipes, and other essential medical supplies for first responders. The U.S.-based companies that could prioritize the production of PPE are continuing to produce their regular portfolio of products as though there is no pandemic. Last week, the CDC gave doctors on the front line permission to use homemade bandannas until they can get an adequate supply of N95 masks. This puts doctors and their support staff at risk in the hospitals, clinics, and at home. American hospitals and doctors need more plastic PPE products and equipment, now. They need ventilators and plastic ventilation tubes for intubating crashing COVID 19 patients. Domestic PPE manufacturers need to ramp up their production of these items on an emergency basis. During a coronavirus pandemic, we do not need plastic manufacturers making silicon breast implants to satisfy America's insatiable demand for cosmetic surgery and vanity fulfillment. We need massive amounts of PPE. Also, Botox supplies aren't critical, but antibiotic and anti-viral supplies are. Furthermore, Amazon's guaranteed two-day delivery of reams of 24-roll packages of toilet paper to household hoarders is not an essential service at this time, but the delivery of urgently needed supplies of PPE at hospitals and clinics is. 2. Rich and Famous Get Taken Care of First It is an open secret in the healthcare industry that rich and famous Americans who are sick get taken care of first. During the COVID 19 crisis, Americans have seen where rich celebrities, national politicians, and sports figures have been able to get coronavirus testing before ordinary Americans could be tested. They are also getting priority access to the limited supply of ventilators and respiratory equipment. This preferential medical treatment is nothing new. It is a by-product of our capitalist society. Big money always speaks loud enough to be heard in a crisis. Rich and famous Americans have always been able to cut to the front of the line for VIP medical attention and procedures. They are able to get organ transplants, innovative medical devices, and critical surgeries long before ordinary Americans. I watched Johns Hopkins Medical Center engage in this practice in the early 1980s with respect to its preferential treatment for rich patients who needed the automatic implantable defibrillator, which prevented death from an irregular heartbeat, and with patients who wanted innovative prostate surgery that left male patients with the ability to achieve and maintain an penile erection after shaving their enlarged prostate. Hospitals, medical centers, and doctors justify this preferential treatment by saying it gives them a leg-up on soliciting major charitable donations from this class of VIP patients. Whether this preferential treatment is sustainable during the COVID 19 pandemic is an open question. 3. Administrators Make Decisions on the Quality of a Patient's Healthcare, Not Doctors Health administrators for insurance companies and hospitals are making medical decisions about patient care, not front-line doctors. Administrators are the ones in charge, and they are making decisions that doctors know are unethical and unsafe. Healthcare administrators sit in the safety of their offices and/or homes and tell frontline doctors and supporting hospital staff members that, even though they do not have an adequate supply of PPE like masks, gowns, face shields, and gloves, these first responders must "suck it up" and continue to work. First responders are told to reuse PPE when there is a shortage of PPE. Administrators at non-physician-led healthcare organizations are refusing to "allow" doctors to cancel non-urgent routine patient appointments and surgeries in order to protect patients from exposure to COVID 19 because they want to continue business as usual and collect co-pays. Administrators at non-physician led healthcare organizations are refusing to allow physicians to test patients they know should be tested. They are forbidding doctors from publicly posting on social media about the COVID 19 crisis under the pretense that they may be "inciting panic." These administrators are threatening the jobs of physicians who do not comply with these directives. Healthcare administrators with MBAs are forcing ER doctors to follow the mandates of individuals who have no medical training and who have not taken an oath to "do no harm" to patients. They are literally telling MDs or ODs what to do in the middle of the COVID 19 pandemic. The physicians and nurses who are treating patients without proper protection are at high risk of catching the infection. They will inevitably become super-spreaders of the coronavirus. They will end up passing the virus along to other patients during the asymptomatic period and bringing it home to their families before becoming infected patients themselves. 4. Obamacare Provided 20 Million Uninsured Americans With Access to Healthcare Unfortunately for patients, America's current healthcare system has built-in structural barriers that prevent it from responding appropriately to a public health crisis of this magnitude, especially on a nationwide ramped up basis. Four years ago, Republican candidates for national office ran on a platform of repealing Obamacare, which expanded private health insurance to nearly 20 million previously uninsured Americans. Today, these newly insured Americans are covered for medical conditions arising from the coronavirus. Ironically, the federal government is now on the verge of providing free healthcare for every American infected by the virus. The government has also announced that Americans will be tested for the virus for free. Whether those who are uninsured and who test positive for the virus will receive free medical care is an open question. 5. America Outsources Critical PPE Supplies to Other Countries America's COVID problem is further compounded by the fact that we outsourced the production of our critical supplies of pills, medicines, and vital PPE to places like China, India, Thailand, and Haiti. For the most part, the primary producers of PPE are located beyond our borders. America -- the greatest nation on the planet -- is now dependent on critical medical supplies from other nations to save its citizens from the wrath of the COVID 19 pandemic. As we have already seen with COVID 19, global supply chains, dependent on just-in-time delivery of medicines and essential PPE, are vulnerable to disruption in a global pandemic. The face-off between the factors that reduce our vulnerability and those that increase it leave Americans at considerable risk. This is why the American public needs accurate information about COVID 19 in order to build community trust. This is particularly true since America's voting population has split into two political tribes -- Democrats and Republicans -- that are constantly fighting each other in very nasty ways during this 2020 election year. 6. Continuing Unfiltered Updates At donaldwatkins.com, we ask the difficult questions about how the pandemic is being handled in America and around the world. We also present the best available answers to our readers regarding these questions, without fear or favor. In the face of varying and mutating responses from public officials, donaldwatkins.com serves as an essential ally of the public health community in fighting the pandemic. We are also dedicated to providing the American public with spin-free medical updates on the COVID 19 pandemic. Donaldwatkins.com also has unfiltered access to front line COVID 19 information from a network of highly qualified medical providers in over 40 countries by virtue of the Watkins family's recognized history as pioneers in cutting edge medical research, surgical techniques, and medical devices. This information was initially gathered for extended members of the Watkins family, our close personal and professional friends, and our domestic and international business partners, but we are now sharing it with the public on my donaldwatkins.com website and Facebook pages as a public service message. Practice social distancing and stay safe. God bless.

By: Donald V. Watkins © Copyrighted and Published on March 18, 2020 Dear President Trump, Last Sunday, you issued this tweet regarding a pardon for former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn: "I am strongly considering a Full Pardon [for Flynn]." In your tweet, you acknowledged the misconduct committed by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and Department of Justice (DOJ) in Flynn's case. As you stated, these law enforcement agencies somehow "lost" records in Mr. Flynn's case and "destroyed" his life. For the reasons outlined in this letter, you should pardon Mr. Flynn, without hesitation or reservation. As you know, the FBI and DOJ engaged in a reign of lawlessness during the tenure of James Comey (who was fired by you for his incompetence), Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and Special Counsel Robert Mueller (who was the designated "hitman" to take you out as president). This takedown attempt was made possible when Jeff Sessions, your appointed Attorney General, deserted you on the battlefield in Washington as soon as he learned that these DOJ renegades were plotting to remove you from office. Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to a single charge of lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak after Mueller's prosecutors threatened to indict his son and "destroy" his life, too. Flynn later asked the judge in his case to withdraw his guilty plea after Mueller's prosecutors breached their plea agreement with him. This request is pending in court. In order to take you down, Robert Mueller and his band of "rogue" prosecutors manufactured "process-related crimes" against Flynn and several of your other close friends and associates. This is why Mueller and his prosecutors accused Flynn, Paul Manafort, George Papadopoulos, Michael Cohen, Roger Stone and your other associates of (a) lying to the FBI, (b) lying to Congress, (c) tampering with witnesses, and (d) obstruction of justice. These individuals were viewed as collateral damage in the first coup d'etat to take you down. In contrast to the mistreatment of your friends, Andrew McCabe was investigated for lying to the FBI and leaking confidential information. Yet, he was not charged with a crime. Jeff Sessions apparently lied to Congress about his involvement with Russia in 2016. Yet, he, too, has not been charged with a crime to date. What is more, when U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Porteous (Eastern District of Louisiana) was impeached for lying to Congress in 2009, President Barack Obama's DOJ never charged him with lying to Congress. Also, when Chief U.S. District Court Judge Mark E. Fuller (Middle District of Alabama) was caught lying to judicial investigators in 2016 about beating his wife and having sexual relations with courthouse personnel, Obama's DOJ never brought criminal charges against Fuller. Most Americans now realize that the Mueller investigation was a politically motivated "witch-hunt" that cost taxpayers $25 million. It failed in the mission to take you down. However, the vestiges of the Comey-McCabe-Rosenstein-Mueller coup d'etat linger in the ongoing and costly cases brought by Mueller's team of "rogue" federal prosecutors. The money being spent on these continuing cases could be redirected toward the national effort to eradicate the new and extremely dangerous coronavirus that is sweeping the nation. The Pardon Power The U.S. Constitution gives you the power to issue pardons to deserving criminal defendants and inmates. This power is absolute. There is no requirement in the Constitution that you must first secure the approval of the DOJ to issue a pardon. The Founders gave you the pardon power to correct manifest injustices in the federal criminal justice system. All of the presidents who preceded you in office were too weak, timid and/or scared to use this power the way it was meant to be used. When prior presidents did use the pardon power, they generally waited until the end of their term in office to avoid any potential blowback and political criticism. It is universally recognized among Americans that you are NOT a weak, timid, or politically scared president. President Bill Clinton pardoned fugitive Marc Rich while he was on the run in Europe. He issued the pardon while Rich's voluptuous wife was visiting Clinton in the White House. The fast-tracked pardon was issued based upon Clinton's lust for Rich's wife and did not require any DOJ review of Rich's criminal case. In addition to surviving the Comey-McCabe-Rosenstein-Mueller coup d'etat, you also thwarted an effort in 2018 to remove you from office under the disability clause of the 25th Amendment. "Anonymous" described this second coup d'etat plot in his September 5, 2018 Op-Ed article in the New York Times. Then, you also survived a third coup d'etat when you defeated the Democratic effort to remove you from office in February's Senate impeachment trial. No president in U.S. history has endured and defeated three successive coup d'etat attempts during his first three years in office. You did. Seeking Justice for Army Private LaVena Johnson. My critics and detractors will tell you I am seeking a pardon for my son and myself in the criminal case that landed us in a federal prison camp. This is not true. Instead, I am seeking justice for the murder of 19-year-old Army Private LaVena Johnson, who was brutally killed on a military base in Balad, Iraq in July 2005. The Army quickly labeled Private Johnson's murder as a "suicide." In truth, Private Johnson was murdered by retired four-star general Kevin P. Byrnes after she inadvertently stumbled upon Byrnes and a female civilian employee on the base while they were engaged in the heat of passion. Gen. Byrnes, who was married at the time, had been previously ordered to end his extramarital affair by Peter J. Schoomaker, the then-Army Chief of Staff. Byrnes ignored this direct order. Shortly after Private Johnson's murder, the top Commander for Iraqi Operations briefed President George W. Bush on Private Johnson's "suicide" (which was one of 85 suicides involving military personnel in 2005) during a classified briefing he gave to Bush in Washington that also included an update on the hunt for Osama Bin Laden. Following this briefing, Gen. Byrnes was promptly fired as a four-star general and was immediately expelled from the Army. Private Johnson's "suicide" file was then classified as a "national security" matter and sealed from public view. Private Johnson's file remains sealed 15 years after her death. It requires the signature of the Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff before this file is released to the media or public. You have the power to unseal this classified file and pursue justice in Private Johnson's case. Gen. Byrnes is a friend of longtime Alabama Senator Richard Shelby, who was instrumental in getting the Pentagon files in Private Johnson's case sealed and in getting Byrnes an executive position with Raytheon after he was fired from the Army. In 2016, I published a series of articles titled, "The Murder of Private LaVena Johnson." The articles detail Private Johnson's murder and the Army's cover-up of her murder. After my articles were published, Sen. Shelby used his considerable influence as a chairman and member of various Senate oversight committees to encourage the SEC, FBI, IRS, FDIC, and DOJ to conduct a coordinated Blitzkrieg investigation into every aspect of my life. This effort was aimed at undermining my credibility. Shelby also encouraged Jay Town (the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama) to prosecute me on wire fraud and mail fraud charges after a federal grand jury in New Jersey cleared me on the same charges in early 2016 based upon the same evidence. Mr. Town was recommended to you for his position as U.S. Attorney because he openly campaigned in TV ads for Sen. Shelby. Jeff Sessions, who betrayed you, cleared Town on his background check. Town forum-shopped my criminal case to a federal judge in Birmingham, Alabama who was heavily influenced by Shelby and who was seeking redemption in the Birmingham community for her anti-prosecution handling of a very controversial high-profile criminal case in 2005. Sen. Shelby is the chief protector of Private Johnson's murderer. Privately, he despises you. He thinks you are "scum" for the way you publicly humiliated Jeff Sessions. You should ignore Sen. Shelby on this matter. As the architect of the kind of deregulation in the airline manufacturing industry that allowed Boeing to certify the flight safety of its own aircraft, Shelby's hands are still dripping with the blood of the 346 victims from the Boeing 737 MAX crashes in October of 2018 and March of 2019. I respectfully request that you take the following executive actions as president: First, order the DOJ to (a) investigate the murder of Army Private LaVena Johnson, (b) charge Kevin Byrnes with her murder, and (c) prosecute Byrnes to the fullest extent of the law. Second, you should call Private Johnson's parents and tell them their daughter did not commit suicide, as the Army falsely claimed. You should let Private Johnson's parents know that their daughter died at the hands of a rogue commander and that you will make sure criminal justice is served upon her murderer. Only you can give Private Johnson's parents and her military family members the peace of mind and closure they deserve. President Barack Obama was not strong enough to pursue justice in Private Johnson's murder case. He was too busy seeking private bathroom rights in public schools for transgender Americans. You are uniquely suited for pursuing justice in Private Johnson's case. Please do it. Sincerely, Donald V. Watkins Reg. No. 36223-001 Talladega, Alabama Federal prison Camp

By: Donald V. Watkins © Copyrighted and Published on March 16, 2020 As most readers know, several of my family members and closest friends are pioneers in medicine. My brother Levi Watkins, Jr., co-developed the Automatic Implantable Defibrillator and successfully implanted the first device in a human being at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center in 1980. My brother James is a wound care doctor and former surgeon. My niece and nephew are renowned cancer doctors and leading biomedical researchers who hold simultaneously conferred MD and PhD degrees. My circle of friends includes distinguished surgeons, Emergency Room (ER) and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) physicians, epidemiologists, frontline medical responders, and other healthcare professionals. One of my closest physician friends provided me with urgent information regarding COVID 19. This information was written by an ICU doctor and an ER physician, both of whom practice medicine at prestigious hospitals in Atlanta. My friend sent the COVID 19 information to me on March 15, 2020 and described it as "the best synopsis [she has] seen about the virus thus far." This doctor fact-checked this critical COVID 19 information for accuracy. It is totally devoid of political spin. I am sharing the information with my family members, friends, and readers, exactly as it was shared with me. The information set forth below constitutes direct quotes excerpted from emails the ICU and ER doctors sent to their family members and friends. Key Medical Observations from the ICU Doctor: 1. "COVID 19 is here. In America. NOW. Circulating in communities, both detected and undetected. There is no stopping it. COVID 19 is a respiratory illness caused by SARS-CoV2, a new strain of coronavirus that has emerged in humans since December 2019. It is related to the SARS virus that circulated in 2002-03." 2. "It is not the flu. It doesn't feel like the flu. And, it is deadlier than the flu by every measure we have undertaken in the affected countries. It will make the rounds and many of us [medical professionals] will catch it .... [A] significant number of us will get fairly sick and may need hospitalization ... of those about half of those hospitalized will likely end up in the ICU and possibly on breathing machines ... and of those sickest, there will be deaths. COVID 19 at its best is showing a 0.8% mortality rate, which is 3x worse than the flu." 3. "Symptoms of the flu involve your body feeling like everything hurts, and you got run over by a Mack truck and you just feel awful ... in addition to upper respiratory symptoms. COVID 19 is different. You may or may not have a runny nose and fever. A sore throat becomes a major common finding... then it gets into the lungs. A dry, nonproductive cough is common, followed or accompanied by shortness of breathe. The shortness of breathe is what is triggering hospital visits, and the folks presenting to hospitals show low oxygen levels (oxygen saturations) and chest imaging typically shows a bilateral diffuse pneumonia (double pneumonia for the laypeople)." 4. "The only proven effective therapies are supportive-Oxygen and positive pressure ventilation ... either with cpap/bipap machine or with a mechanical ventilator attached to a breathing tube. There is no cure. Your body has to fight it off and it has to run its course. There is no Tamiflu equivalent that works for this. There are smart medical folks out there spitballing ideas, but nothing is proven to work." 5. "Babies and children are making out Ok ... even if they test positive, they haven't been dying of it in China, in Italy ... however, healthy young adults, even athletic types in their 30s-50s are coming in very sick and some are dying. From there, the older one is, the higher the hospitalization rates and the mortality rates." 6. "The biggest danger right now, and the reason why I am writing this ... is that this will "explode" here [in the U.S.] like it has in Italy, Iran and how it did in China." 7. "We only have so many hospital beds. We only have so many ICU beds. We only have so many ventilators ... we only have so many trained staff who can care for patients. If this [virus] blows up massively beyond the ability of the healthcare system to treat and rescue patients, people who COULD have lived will simply die." 8. "COVID 19 is here ... it will sweep the nation. There was never anything we could have done to stop it because of the way we live and conduct business. BUT, what we have to do is SLOW IT DOWN." 9. "If we SLOW IT DOWN so that the number of unwell and critically ill don't explode and overwhelm the system, then everyone has a fighting chance. Give time for the flu season to end and get flu patients out of the hospital. Give time for the first wave of COVID patients to get well enough to get out of the hospital." 10. "So ... to SLOW IT DOWN ... practice frequent handwashing. Don't touch your face, nose or eyes without washing your hands first. Frequently disinfect common surfaces." 11. "PRACTICE SOCIAL DISTANCING. COVID LOVES A CROWD. If you are gonna spread disease around, lets spread it to only one or two people, not 100 people at a time. Stay away from large groups... or stay home. If you go out and touch common surfaces, clean your hands before touching your face. If you are sick, stay home. Don't visit vulnerable folks. If it gets in your household, accept that its there and try not to give it to your aunts, uncles and grandparents. Stay home, don't go to school." 12. "For the elders reading this: I need you to stay home as if your life depends on it. Because it very well does. Your age group is the one having the worst time with this. And it gets bad, all I can say is that in Italy [last] week, if you were crashing and over 60, they didn't even consider offering a vent to them." Key Observations from the ER Doctor: 1. "The positive results are starting to pile in. I'm contacting patients today [March 15, 2020] who we swabbed on 3/11 and discharged. They're positive. We are hoping they truly self-quarantined and haven't been out and about like half of Atlanta was on the beltline yesterday." 2. "[T]rust me when I say that our curve has followed Italy's nearly exactly and it is terrifying. The hospitals aren't going to save us guys ... we will have to drive this ourselves and force then to give us what we need." Key Observations from My Doctor Friend (Who Fact-Checked the COVID 19 Information Above): 1. "We don't have N95 respirator masks [at the Atlanta hospital where she works] to protect us [frontline medical responders] from getting the virus." 2. "The virus keeps mutating ... it can actually last up to 45 days in your system. And, we don't know the longterm effects after the initial illness." 3. "The virus is airborne. Can last in the air after a person coughs for a few hours. Super contagious." Key Observations from Me: 1. Stop worrying about your 401K and the stock markets. The economy is going to tank and it will come back in a year or two. The airlines, banks, life insurance companies, large publicly traded corporations, and cruise lines will get a government bailout, as they did during the Great Recession of 2008. The government always finds a way to take care of large corporations and the super-rich. Last week, the Federal Reserve Bank, alone, injected $1.5 trillion of liquidity into the ailing national economy. The decision Americans have to make as a society right today is whether we want a tanked economy with a low body count or a high body count. 2. Stay safe and follow the COVID 19 medical advice listed above. It comes from the "best of the best" frontline medical providers. What is more, this advice is well-researched and free of political spin.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on March 13, 2020 Commentary Last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping shepherded changes to his country's constitution that effectively made him president-for-life. Yesterday, President Vladimir Putin won the backing of Russia's parliament for a constitutional amendment that would prolong his two-decade grip on power until 2036. The change would allow Putin to serve another two six-year terms in office. Until the recent outbreak of a new coronavirus in the United States, President Donald J. Trump was on track to win a second four-year term in office in 2020. Like Xi and Putin, Trump was exploring a proposal to extend his term in office by repealing the Twenty-Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which limits a president to two terms in office. Franklin D. Roosevelt, who served as president from 1933 to 1945, was the only president to be elected for a 3rd and 4th term in office. Until recently, Donald Trump believed he had the political juice to repeal this constitutional prohibition during his anticipated second term in office because he was seemingly invincible from a political standpoint. Then came the coronavirus. It has changed everything in America. The virus is Donald Trump's real opponent in the 2020 presidential race, not Democratic front-runner Joe Biden. The virus is ten times more lethal than the flu. The outbreak has plunged America into a public health crisis of epic proportions. As a result of the fast-growing crisis, Americans are learning, first-hand, how ill-prepared the nation is when responding to a surging pandemic. We now understand why healthcare should be made available to all Americans and not just to the members of Congress, the White House staff, cabinet members, federal judges, federal, state, and local government employees, and those Americans who are lucky enough to have private insurance through their employers. The coronavirus infects and kills individuals whether they are Democrat or Republican, rich or poor, black or white, gay or straight, urban dwellers or rural Americans, Christian or Muslim, citizens or undocumented migrants, and Americans or foreigners. The virus is a plague upon the land. We don't even know how bad it is, as America does not have the public health infrastructure in place to conduct widespread testing of its population of 330 million. Smaller countries like South Korea, Iran, Italy, France, Canada, Spain, Germany, Great Britain, and Japan have tested far more citizens than America has. President Trump, who was in direct contact last weekend with a Brazilian official who tested positive for the virus, says the pandemic will go away on its own and that Americans just need to remain calm. Of course, respected research scientists and infectious disease doctors who work alongside our national public health agencies strongly disagree with this presidential assessment. Authoritarian leaders, from the Pharaohs of Egypt to modern-day Presidents like Xi and Putin, have never been able to conquer plagues, especially when these outbreaks represent God's way of holding them accountable for the oppression of the people they have demonized. The Bible, in Exodus 12:23-33, describes what happens to authoritarian leaders in these situations. In addition to the Bible, world history has shown how deadly pandemics can be. The "Spanish flu," which did not originate in Spain, was one of the deadliest pandemics in human history. In a matter of months, one-third of the world's population was infected, 50 to 100 million people died (including 675,000 Americans), and the global economy shrank by 5%. The key to America's survival of the coronavirus pandemic is to have a strong, effective president who will tell the American people the truth about the virus and its implications. Right now, President Trump is failing to deliver on this front. He is still in denial about the public health impact of the virus and he can't seem to break himself away from his characteristic political spin mode. Simply bashing China as the so-called "country of origin" of this virus is no solution at all. Also, there is no "Wall" that America can build to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. China built the greatest wall in human history and it did not help in containing the coronavirus in that country. Persecuting men, women, and children who are undocumented migrants will not help either. The coronavirus came to America in the bodies of U.S. citizens and others who entered the country legally in January and February. Furthermore, blaming everybody else for the virus is no solution to the crisis. Also, America cannot buy its way out of a deadly pandemic by injecting liquidity into the financial markets through an economic stimulus plan. This is a public health crisis, not a failed business plan. In America, the stock markets are crashing. Schools are closing. Companies are emptying their offices. Sports teams are suspending and cancelling their events. Entertainment venues are closed. Public gatherings with over 100 people are being banned. Access to America by foreign nationals is being curtailed. What is more, the information coming out of the White House is incomplete and inaccurate. In some cases, it is simply false. This is a period of reckoning in America. Is Donald Trump just a high-profile "bullshit artist" and reality TV showman with great political instincts and remarkable luck as a president, or is he a steady leader with the credibility America needs to get through this public health crisis? The coronavirus crisis will make or break Donald Trump's chances for re-election in 2020. The nation will find out the answer to this burning question over the next few months.