The COVID crisis is terrible and awful and frightening, and Donald Trump did not cause it.
A novel virus in China started it (as Trump likes to mention), and it spread from there. If Trump had handled the fight against the problem perfectly, it would very likely still have reached the United States as it has reached many other nations.
By acknowledging those obvious truths, I hope I have created space to also assert that Trump minimized the virus, and refused to take measures to reduce its U.S. impact early enough to have maximum effect. He said and did a number of things that were wrong and, with all due respect, stupid, including that he had it under control, and that it would likely just disappear on its own when the spring weather came.
It’s true that I’m no Trump admirer, but that doesn’t make anything I said above inaccurate. If you doubt it, I’ll embed again below a link to the regrettable things that Trump said and did that were wrong and that unarguably interfered with a best-case proactive effort by the United States to get ahead of the pandemic and reduce its impact and cost in American lives.
My mother, of blessed memory, raised me to believe that if and when you screw up, it’s vital to acknowledge that you screwed up, take responsibility for the screw-up, make what amends you can and, if people feel it necessary to confront you about your error, express your regrets and ask for forgiveness.
I’m not blaming Trump’s mother for how he rolls, but he is apparently incapable of even acknowledging errors, let alone taking responsibility for them, let alone trying to make amends. If Trump at any point takes responsibility and expresses regret for any of those missteps, I will apologize for some of what I said above.
But I laid all this out to make space to call attention to a ridiculous statement made by not-as-slick-as-she-thinks-she-is Trump apologist Kellyanne Conway who said yesterday (as quoted in this Washington Post piece):
“To criticize Trump now is to criticize public health officials, FEMA, first responders, private sector businesses that are all coming forward to help.”
Seriously?
If I want to express my appreciation to those who were sounding the alarm and urging the U.S. government to mobilize to defend Americans as much as possible from the virus and reduce or at least delay its spread, I can’t do that without ignoring the obvious truth that Trump, the nation’s putative leader, said and did countless things to squelch and delay an aggressive campaign of preparation of the virus to our shores?
Conway will have to explain that “logic” to me.
Until she does, I will express my gratitude that all who helped and are helping to minimize the harm, while reserving my constitutional First Amendment right to note that Trump did everything he could to minimize and dismiss the threat from mid-February to mid-March, which was roughly the opposite of what his experts were trying to get him to say and do.
Here, again, is that very short video, via “The Recount” of Trump blowing it in ways that in no way disparage any public health officials, FEMA, first responders or private sector businesses.
All I’m saying is that it is not only possible, but completely fair, responsible and factual, to criticize Trump, for the things he said (and didn’t say) and did (and, especially, didn’t do until much later than he should have). Leadership is about taking responsibility. Trumpiness, not so much.
Well, that’s an apology you’re never going to have to make!
Kellyanne enthusiastically serves both an American fascist and an American fascist regime; and she is simply uttering the logic of fascism. As Josef Goebbels always made clear, the Dear Leader IS the state. We can see this logic every day as the Trumpite courtiers assemble for the “daily briefing”, which mostly consists of TrumpPraise.
Orwell’s “1984” is not a dystopia for Kellyanne (or for Trumpists in general). The comedy, of course, is that American “conservatives” imagine they would have been the first ones on the tea ships in Boston harbor, dumping King George’s tea. The reality is that they would all have been appalled Tories, indignant at the affront to the monarch and horrified by the rebellion against God’s lawful master on Earth…
That Trump and his sycophants thinks he can (as the most extreme and divisive partisan president in history) now “unify” the nation in time of crisis demonstrates how oblivious he is. That the greatest presidential liar in history thinks he will be listened to by all Americans is equally delusional. Kellyanne is clueless, but these are the wages of rule by minority faction, a faction doing everything possible to subvert majority rule in a putative democracy.
You people that criticize our President with your unfounded remarks are not helping. All Americans should stand together in this critical time.
“All Americans should stand with your President”, …but at a distance no less than 6 feet.
Tony Fauci is pushed onto a tiny stage with at least 3 others who should just shut up, while the President and VP both have been exposed and still they treat our precious expert epidemiologist like he’s expendable.
Then you have the gall to tell us to support him and his awful communication skills and hunger for adulation and money.
He gives no respect and is currently engaged in expanding oil and gas leases through the BLM, incarcerating people during a pandemic and then sending them to another country, and insisting on blaming the Chinese (who have sold Musk thousands of Ventilators), undercut the best advisers and continue death-causing sanctions on Iran and Venezuela while he cuts aid to Afghanistan by a billion.
You ask us to support a monster.
I have no king.
I find it interesting that the possessive pronoun “our” is so often used by Trump supporters in their efforts to goad, or force, or shame others into paying homage to him; although, personally, I find the pronoun “your,” in this context, downright offensive.
But to your point, you say that our criticism is “not helping.” Oh? Criticism does not help; do complements help? He’s made it clear that he wants more credit; And given the way the daily press briefings invariably feature lavish, flowery tributes, it’s perfectly clear that, in wanting more credit, what he really wants is more praise. To me, that is a bridge too far. I have seen nothing, on his part, that has been the least bit praiseworthy.
Insofar as other terms that carry a degree of positive regard for Trump, I fail to see how they are the least bit relevant. Is there some reason that I must like, love, admire, and/or care about Trump? What about respect? Trust? How do any of those either help, or not help, the situation?
For what it’s worth, my bottom line is this: I have no emotional sense of Donald Trump. I neither like nor dislike him; I’ve never met the man. Emotions – feelings – are subjective. Now, do I trust him? Absolutely not. Do I respect him? No, I do not. These are not emotions, but attitudes, which are objective. These are as a result of his abject and chronic dishonest. I do not trust him, because he is a liar. And I do not respect him, because I do not trust him.
Trump indeed treated this crisis like an adolescent who acts as though pretending a thing is not a problem, it will go away.
His apologists are secretly or not so secretly glad that so much social “overhead” will be removed. If a lot of people die, it is also time to cement the power of oligarchy, QE to infinity for the biggest players, austerity for the many. Never waste a crisis.
But this is definitely not just Trump. This is a terrible indictment of a supposedly state-of-the-art Health Care system that is more focused on profit, rife with racketeering, that seems incapable in the main of even seriously testing for this virus, not to mention staying ahead of it and giving the care everybody needs. That is a process that has been going on for 40 years, in every administration. Graft replacing care.
I know a woman who is a personal care attendant at a health care facility, 9 years, making $13/hr. When insurance executives make $60+ million in compensation a year. For shame. With predictable consequences.
you make a good point.
Too bad it takes tragedy laid bare to make people see it, when the experts have been saying it for a long time.
BUT
This IS the first administration that has actively sought cuts in medical preparedness and science.
AND the third in my long lifetime that has actively tried to squelch science.
The very same Kelly Ann Conway who less than 2 weeks ago told us:
“It’s contained”
“It’s contained”
“It’s contained”
“Do you think it’s not contained?”
Of course, she is shameless.
To move on to her latest drivel with no accountability for her previous drivel is the hallmark of the Trump administration…
Here it comes: Looking like Trump has had it with Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, time to get rid of that deep state player that is not paying proper homage or telling Trump only what he wants to hear! Suspect he can get some first year med student that will be loyal.
Trump probably got his vast medical insight and intuition, after getting his degree at “Trump University”. The science and medical pros just have no clue. Just ask Donny himself, or Pence….Who probably still believes you have to “pray everyday on the subject first”, like he did as Governor about the AIDS problem. I for one am just sick and tired of Trumps costant lies and alternative facts on EVERYTHING!
Actually, Pence is sounding like the grownup in the room — he may have learned something since he was governor.
everything is relative.
One need not learn anything new to see this travesty for what it is.
And of course:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-24/fauci-disappears-from-white-house-after-contradicting-trump
Offhand, I’d say we should not hold our collective breath waiting for an apology from a master of “alternative facts,” especially when she provides us with such a fine example in the quotation cited from the Washington Post. We’re not important enough to gain her attention as a member of the Imperial Inner Circle, and her role model – the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland – would have little patience with such a demand for accuracy. “A thing means what I say it means,” or something like that.
Great article! You are spot on! As someone said, as the pandemic started in January Trump was our Nero! As Nero fiddled while Rome burned, Trump denied, downplayed, and dragged his feet about the pandemic instead of playing the fiddle!
Actually I believe it started in Nov. I, too, thought it was early Jan but deeper still reading now indicates Nov. But most of the world became aware in early Jan. Tho clearly the Trump admin/regime labeled it a ‘Democratic hoax’ and dismissed it…instead of acting decisively to get and stay ahead of it and keep Americans healthy and alive. Just as the REPs, since at least the early 1990s, have done everything they could think of to destroy any viable, affordable, accessible health plan in our country. This all should make it crystal clear to all now just how little our collective well-being is to them and their political agenda and their incessant efforts to have total authority, power and all of the money.
Pneumonia of an unknown cause was first reported in China the end of December — it’s likely that it may have been occurring a month earlier.
China reported its first death on Jan. 11.
S. Korea, the United States, and a few other (mostly Asian) countries reported confirmed cases on Jan. 20.
Courtesy of the NYR — https://www.nytimes.com/article/coronavirus-timeline.html
Sorry — NYT = New York Times.
I read a lengthy comprehensive medical article this morning (perhaps in the Guardian? I’ve been reading so much I really don’t recall) that stated that the first case of what is now being called Covid 19 was diagnosed Dec 1st, 2019, which means it started in Nov 2019. It was an article about trying to track back to the origin(s). Full detailed data on this new emerging novel coronavirus (which I believe is the 7th one) will be essential to understanding it, controlling it and hopefully one day eradicating it. But again: the world became much more aware in early Jan 2020. But Trump ended the position that would have informed the USA, and he also ended funding of critical teams & programs that he felt weren’t necessary and he also ignored the scientists and medical experts who tried and tried to alert. He didn’t take action–and limited, ineffective action at that–until many weeks later. This level of incompetence is unconscionable, particularly by someone in the highest position in the land. No one knows it all, but that is why one surrounds oneself with highly competent and well trained others. But this self-proclaimed ‘stable genius’ prefers sycophants and trusting ‘his gut’ in all matters. And Americans are paying a very high costs for this obfuscation and obstruction and ignorance now, in a wide variety of ways. Some with their lives. This should anger and outrage us all and drive strong remedial actions!
While the President was fiddling the House was voting to impeach in the middle of December and the Senate trial started January 16th bringing all other Senate business to a halt. Congress seems to have been busy at the time so they were as busy fiddling as the President, who might have been a little distracted as Congress was working to remove him from office. He should have been able to multi-task though unlike Congress.
1. He should trust hs medical experts of long standing – should have then. Should Now!
2. He either facilitated, dictated or allowed the hollowing out of all expertise in all scientific areas in his favor-trading w/ RW radicals as a baseline policy.
3. The congress is not, never has been, set up to deal with these epidemics etc. Any blame of them, beyond that for McConnell killing legislation, is just off base.
No blame to any party involved here, just pointing out the actions of the major players as the pandemic began.
I’m impressed. Every time I think she can’t come near her “alternative facts” comment in terms of stupidity, she proves me wrong.
This is the kind of comment you make when you don’t even have “alternative facts” to support you.
Whatever the flaws of Trumpism & the failure to acknowledge error or handle this crisis effectively, the critical mistakes happened far in advance of the first covid-19 case in a human.
What we’re experiencing now are the compound effects of the right’s mindset that smaller government is always better. The small government vision ignores the reality that free markets aren’t well suited to planning for the collective good, or in planning for unpredictable, infrequent, but catastrophic events. The free market doesn’t plan for pandemics, because the ROI isn’t apparent until the pandemic arrives & we need the PPE, the vaccines, the quarantine protocols. Small government conservatism doesn’t see the value in investing collective resources for the public good. Or in preparing for the long term, or for the unpredictable.
Trump is a blip. And while the ripple effects of his mismanagement will spread for a long time, the larger lesson is not about Trump & his shortcomings, but about the critical role government plays in promoting the public good.
Sure, Trump himself may be a blip (of sorts), but the rightwing ideology you identify has been a core tenet of the “conservative” religion since it was brought down from the mountain by St. Reagan in 1980. The “conservative” movement has been the critical national problem of the past 40 years, and will continue to be until the current iteration of the Repub party is (somehow) politically annihilated. And this after it quickly came back from the (apparent) dead after 2008.
Effective government and the “conservative” movement cannot co-exist.
The very idea that an incoming administration would disband (and not replace) the teams and task forces set up to deal with medical emergencies/pandemics after the Ebola crisis is basically unimaginable, and so beyond governmental malpractice as to be effectively criminal.
It’s a bit ironic in that the way to address potential pandemics is pretty much the way you prepare from a military defense perspective.
You plan for “infrequent, but catastrophic events”. You study would could happen and how you’d react. You simulate your response and adjust accordingly. You create contingency plans. You stockpile necessary materials. You have a logistics plan for getting those materials from where they are to where they will be needed.
We know how to do this. Maybe some of this was done, but it sure doesn’t seem to have been.
“the right’s mindset that smaller government is always better” And why aren’t the Right Wing Nuts marching through the streets, blanketing the airwaves etc. etc. (at social distances) demanding that Mitch and Republican gang do nothing rather than bail out the economy? Let the free market fix itself! Crickets.
Because first and foremost thus is a public health crisis. Secondarily an economic one. And not a ‘war’, which is just yet another way for Trump et al to grab more power! And expecting ‘free trade’ and ‘the market’, which is extremely manipulated and rigged these days -hence the 1% having all of the $$$ and control, is myopic. A far better approach to the monetary aspects would be to establish a fair market, with a level playing field for all. And repeating Reagenomics for decades instead of adjusting to the current situation is another old, tired bad habit. These folks are stuck in that era, while Trump wants us all in the 1920s financially (the Great Depression was in 1929!) And in the 1950s socially (when women stayed home and white guys ruled). Add to that his clear penchant for chaos, dishonesty 24/7 and his strong bent towards utter destruction of our federal government and life as we have known it….and it all brings us to thus mess right now. So do your research and homework, America, and vote much more carefully and wisely in Nov! Because we simply cannot afford more of the same mentally, emotionally, physically or financially.
‘Blip’ is a new euphemism.
In Trump world it is not enough to simply avoid criticizing him. One must also constantly praise him. Failing to praise him results in you being labeled a hater or purveyor of fake news.
And if you would have asked Trump voters in November 2016 how they felt about brazen suck ups they would (and still) say they detest them. Yet virtually none can find fault with a leader that demands unrelenting sucking up at all times. I’m hard pressed to listen to Trump’s daily updates because the “and I would like to thank President Trump for his brilliant…” preface to every speaker getting to their actual points.
I can’t count the times I’ve read experts say that they didn’t or don’t know how this disease would progress. Experts are still guessing. And yet you criticize our president for not acting “early enough to have maximum effect.” That statement could be used in any discussion; it’s just too broad a brush. Another commented about “the right’s mindset that smaller government is always better” ignoring the 3T stimulus package “the right” is promoting and the comments our federal reserve chief made on 60-minutes promising unlimited support for economic recovery post pandemic. That isn’t “smaller government.” Seems like every other commentator offered their own form of bashing aimed at our current administration.
I receive emails from Minnpost asking for reader support. The latest used the subject line, “An essential service in Minnesota.” The problem I have is that I find this article and a few others like it in Minnpost a disservice and unwarranted criticism. I would love to support a news media that is politically neutral. And I would love to read Eric Black stories as comprehensive as the ones you wrote years ago; like the articles on Social Security that was the best education readers could get on an important social program.
Acceptance of countercyclical Keynesian macroeconomic policy in a crisis is not exactly acceptance of Big Government, sir, although I would note that for “conservatives” even that is highly dependent upon whether the deficit spending/tax cuts will aid a Dem administration or a Repub one. We can see the hypocritical difference quite clearly in the right’s categorical and universal opposition to Obama’s (so-called) “Porkulus” by the American right in 2009 vs. its hysterical 2020 demand that 2-3 times more[!] be spent immediately to save Trump (and McConnell) from presiding over a depression during what will be a Trumpian tsunami-of-lies “re-election” campaign…
While the “conservative” movement always makes annual deficits much worse when in power, it does not generally cut overall government spending (especially when one of its own is president), and it always seeks to cut actual (non-defense) government (such as employees, agencies, regulations, etc). It then has to lie up a storm about its actions when the (inevitable) national calamity occurs on its watch–such as now!
It’s interesting there are so many liberals that are much more worried about Trump’s statements than what it is going to take to get past this. This writer has so much zeal in his obvious hatred for this president. Fine that he hates him, but it is clear his hatred ‘trumps’ the priorities. Why not show such disdain in what Pelosi and the Dems want to add in the stimulus that has zero need to help our country?
You’d have more people maybe take you more seriously if you actually were critical of things that are more important than the usual Trump bashing.
And I agree with you Douglas. This site would be more appealing to those who could donate to it if it wasn’t so slanted and just the same thing over and over again.
The single biggest sticking point that the Ds are holding out on the stimulus package is accountability for corporate bailouts. There seems to be universal agreement from all sides on support for working people like unemployment and small business assistance.
So you’re telling us that to really get our nation moving forward we need accountability free bailouts for the biggest corporations?
Really?
Not only that, but the Democrats want better benefits for individuals, something that four Republican Senators (Lindsey Graham being one of them), objected to on the grounds that they were too generous for poor people.
Meanwhile, no objection to bailing out corporations that wasted their tax cuts and previous bailouts on stock buy-backs and bonuses for executives.
Bob, people are concerned because statements from the POTUS are reflective of his policy.
Just this afternoon Trump said that governors ‘have to treat us well’ if they want assistance during coronavirus pandemic.
Such a statement seems to me to be problematic to say the least.
Along the same lines as the “treat us well” comment was the press conference where he wanted to show “open for business” during this time of trouble by having the CEOs of Walmart, Target, CVS and Walgreens all stand and deliver a few words about how they were going to help out.
Of course, the largest supplier of goods with maximum “social distancing” is Amazon. Of course no Jeff Bezos at the press conference because the child President has a personal dislike for him. Even in a time of crisis he is unable to set aside his petty little grievances for the benefit of the nation.
Wasn’t that the basis for his impeachment?
A clear ‘quid pro quo’.
Well Bob, you need to ask yourself the question, with a ~ 70% relative lie to truth ratio (70% BS, false facts or lies) for Trump and company, which of the 30/100 can I rely on? So to your point, if everything that doesn’t come from Trump and minions is fake news i.e. 100% false, so where should anyone be going for our “what it is going to take to get past this” , “alternative facts” seems you are caught in your own web of conspiracy theory vs reality. You know way back they had a TV show about that. “The Twilight Zone”
So let me see, you don’t think Trump is entitled to some criticism here. Too bad the people on both sides of the aisle have to workaround him to get anything meaingful accomplished. The guy’s basically a millstone around the neck of this government and you know it. If you personally like the guy that’s your deal but Trump never got anything from the public, media, liberals or for that matter anyone with sense of decency and fair play he didn’t ask for.
There are many right leaning fever swamps across the interwebs, one can feel free to disembark from this site that makes one feel so inadequate for more ideologically preferable environs whenever one chooses.
This has nothing to do with like or dislike, it has more to do with actual human survival, which Trump supporters conflate to believing his blathering. He is wrong and people will die because of it, no matter what Kellyanne thinks. And it is patriotic to state that.
Slanted towards truth, you mean?
Hmmm…
Seems that you are saying MINNPOST needs to put Katherine Kersten on the beat for editorial balance.
Offer the job: just require her to respond/defend her many Kelly Ann like comments/ideas.
Now that would make for explosive growth of the comment section.
Eric / Kathy CROSSFIRE!!!
Hey look, here’s your criticism posted for all to see. I wonder how that might go at a site that traffics in undying adulation for the new Caeser.
I think it’s called the Lake Wobegon Effect. The pioneers got lost looking for their new settlement home, but the leaders refused to admit it, and declared that they had reached the right place after all.
Never admit a mistake.
I liked the question about whether we needed an Inspector General to watch how the money got spent. Our leader answered, “No, we don’t need one. I’ll be responsible for that”.
And we’re heading for the Donner Pass.
My favorite was the news conference where he said we have a cure at this moment and the FDA is readying tens of thousands of doses!!! The next person who came up to the podium after him basically said that wasn’t true. What a dope. Yeah get everyone’s hopes up just to have them dashed to the ground. Can anyone actually believe anything that comes out of this guy’s mouth.I looked at his face after this person basically said the president was full sh*t and didn’t know what he was talking about. He didn’t have a clue. Clueless, man if I had a choice, I sure wouldn’t want someone like that running the country.
I don’t disagree with anything Eric has stated regarding Trump, who in my opinion has handled this crisis very poorly and continues to do so. Still, as we receive regular columns critical of Trump we get no coverage of the likely Democratic nominee who has only been visible in tweets and staged productions in which he mumbles and inspires very few. Compare this to 2008 when candidate Obama commanded attention and had live comments daily about the banking crisis.
“One must remember that the President is about four.”
Attributed to the British Ambassador to the United States in 1901
(Julian Pauncefort?) writing to Queen Victoria about Theodore Roosevelt.
‘All I’m saying is that it is not only possible, but completely fair, responsible and factual, to criticize Trump…’
I could not agree more!
However, when all one does is criticize Trump and the GOP – and fail to exercise the same standard of criticism that is applied to Trump to others ( Biden – Hilary and a multitude of other dems) is not really criticism – but a rant.
These “rants” are helpful. I am sure they provide great therapeutic value to the “resistance” and those infected with TDS.
However, when the putative leader of real journalism on MinnPost becomes so predictable and redundant and refuses to apply the same standard applied to obvious failings of others who share his similar political philosophy – I do not call it “real Journalism” but tired, worn out reporting designed to increase donations and keep those tax-deductible gifts coming.
1. Joe Biden is not President. He holds no official position.
2. What the **** does Senator Clinton (the proper way to refer to her, even if she is a woman) have to do with anything now?
None of the folks you mention outside of Trump are President! Nor do I recall any of them getting ~ a 70%, BS, lie, false fact fact ratio, nor do I recall any of them suggesting there is a deep state, or denying science when they don’t like the result etc. etc. etc. etc. or is the suggestion that Trump is not in a league all to himself with a cult following including his own propaganda network Fox News. .Perhaps you can explain Fox’s 30 year campaign against the Clinton’s, or Brietbart or Red state or Rush Limbaugh’s life long tirades, do you think any of those folks ever, ever said one good thing about anyone left of far right wing?
Aha!
One more call for the Katherine Kersten column!
Careful what you ask for, you will soon be trying to defend the indefensible in the comments section.
I think it would be great for MINNPOST to have a regular right side opinion generator because they would not have the PowerLine like right wing shield where the 3 stage in tolerance process is rampant:
Stage 1. Mass attack any disobedience to the leader
Stage 2. Use the convenient “block all posts from” button.
Stage 3. And finally the administrative “ban this commenter for life”
For having what the right sees as a proud set of defensible principles they sure don’t like what happens here: a prolonged debate from all sides in the comments section.
A little accuracy would be good too. President Trump did not call the Coronavirus a hoax, he called the Democrats and media’s coverage of the disease a hoax. All you have to do is look at when President Trump banned flights from China (saving countless lives) the MSM and Lefties called him a xenophobe and claimed Coronavirus wasn’t an issue. Funny how that narrative changed. The Trump administration did not cut any spending from CDC, not a penny.
Getting the private sector involved in this Coronavirus battle on a ground level was genius by President Trump. Watch how quickly tests, masks and supplies are available. Having the FDA overseeing the CDC as to what company can make the masks and run the testing labs (CDC had 1 lab available at the start of this mess), is pure DC pay to play. The right lobbyist, talked to the right folks, money exchanged hands, 1 or 2 companies got exclusive rights and there is your delay in tests, testing kits and medical supplies.. Private sector is so much more nimble.
The CDC should not have been an issue–
European designed masks could have been purchased two months ago.
2 months ago the Democrats were calling Trump a xenophobe for curtailing travel to China because this Coronavirus was nothing to worry about. Other than the fact that thru terrible trade deals, we outsourced 95% of our medical devices to China, why in the world are there only a company or 2 allowed to build masks here in the USA? This virus shows us the need to decouple from China in many manufacturing areas. Why would we have to buy European masks instead of manufacturing them here?
Seems some facts are twisted, There was no comment that the C-Virus was nothing to worry about, you made that up. Terrible trade deals, you also made that up. Where is your proof other than your opinion they are terrible trade deals? “Free Market” companies should be able to produce where they choose or are you no longer a “free market” supporter and want to “socially engineer it”? Why only 2 companies? Perhaps you should ask the “free market”, or perhaps there are things called patents, or maybe its not a highly profitable business? Are you suggesting that we “socially engineer” our “free market”?
As far as I know there are no legal limits on the domestic manufacture of various types of face masks. Simply business decisions based on costs and profits.
And we should have bought masks where they wwere available, which was Europe.
Domestically manufactured masks are still not available in quantity yet.
He has made more than a few comments trying to minimize the problem.
Remember how it was going to go away when the weather got warmer? Or how stopping foreigners from coming in was going to do the trick all by itself?
“The Trump administration did not cut any spending from CDC, not a penny.”
It wasn’t for a lack of trying. The President’s budgets tried to cut funding, but even a Republican-dominated Congress could see the folly of doing that. So you’re talking up his failure to do what he wanted to do.
“Having the FDA overseeing the CDC as to what company can make the masks and run the testing labs (CDC had 1 lab available at the start of this mess), is pure DC pay to play.”
You do know that the FDA is charged by law with approving and overseeing the production of medical devices, right? Sure, you knew that.
“The right lobbyist, talked to the right folks, money exchanged hands, 1 or 2 companies got exclusive rights and there is your delay in tests, testing kits and medical supplies.”
Proof of that? Other than it must happen because it happens all the time (cliches are not proof)?
“Private sector is so much more nimble.”
That’s pretty silly. What would be the best thing to do is for Trump to use his emergency powers to direct manufacturers to make the supplies. Yes, he has that authority, and yes, the private companies may still profit from it, and no, it isn’t nationalizing factories.
Face it: a very stupid man got elected President, and now anyone with any sense at all can see just how far out of his depth he is. There is no amount of spin, and no number of times talking points can be repeated, that will make up for that.
You mean like Ford, 3M and GE making ventilators with 2 days notice. ? It took months and then a Presidential order to get the CDC expand from 1 testing center, not too nimble. So you’re saying that having 2 companies approved by FDA to make medical masks is not crony capitalism? Ok, I guess incompetence is next in line.
“So you’re saying that having 2 companies approved by FDA to make medical masks is not crony capitalism?”
I call it a public health regulation. You can’t just have a guy set up a workbench in his garage and start turning out effective medical equipment.
“Ok, I guess incompetence is next in line.”
Incompetence is in the White House.
Incidentally, the GM/Ventec joint venture to produce more ventilators is on hold. It seems that obvious merit hire Jared Kushner thinks the cost ($1 billion) might be too much, and there are also concerns that we might end up with too many ventilators during a respiratory disease pandemic.
One billion is a lot of money, but it is less than 1% of the cost of a tax break for real estate investors that was slipped into the stimulus bill
Joe, the “ban” didn’t do much of anything. It wasn’t even a ban but a series of restrictions. Also, 300,000 people came to the U.S. from China in the previous weeks. With the “ban”, Americans could still go back and forth. But, by the time restrictions were put in place the virus was already here.
So, how many lives were saved?
And you say, “watch how quickly tests, masks and supplies are available.” The question I have for you Joe is: why wasn’t this happening in January?
Here is a history of Trump’s statements. I await your explanation of each once:
Jan. 22: “We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China. We have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.”
Jan. 30: “But we’re working very closely with China and other countries, and we think it’s going to have a very good ending for us … that I can assure you.”
Feb. 10: “Now, the virus that we’re talking about having to do — you know, a lot of people think that goes away in April with the heat — as the heat comes in. Typically, that will go away in April. We’re in great shape though.”
Feb. 14: “There’s a theory that, in April, when it gets warm — historically, that has been able to kill the virus. So we don’t know yet; we’re not sure yet. But that’s around the corner.”
Feb. 23: “We have it very much under control in this country.”
Feb. 24: “The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. ”
Feb. 26: “So we’re at the low level. As they get better, we take them off the list, so that we’re going to be pretty soon at only five people.”
Feb. 26: “And again, when you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that’s a pretty good job we’ve done.”
Feb. 27: “It’s going to disappear. One day — it’s like a miracle — it will disappear.”
And in further support of Brian Nelson’s comment above, specifically refuting the misleading claims made by Trump and his supporters regarding the Jan 31 China travel “ban”, see the following fact check article. One of many key points is that zero Democrat leaders declared any opposition to the announcement. That has become just another Trump and Fox News lie. https://www.factcheck.org/2020/03/the-facts-on-trumps-travel-restrictions/
From where I sit, America is coming together. It’s the Current Occupant and his flock of KellyAnnes that refuse to come with us.
Thank you, Mr. Black. You nailed it.