corrections said: All because 1/3 of the country refuses to belive in science.
That's the big lie that the GOP hopes people are buying: that they don't believe in science. What they actually don't believe in is democracy. The last thing Republicans want is for the general population to think democratic governance is helping them. They've spent decades trying to convince the country that the private sector has the answers to everything and that democracy isn't really necessary. Every day that goes by in the pandemic proves otherwise, so they've got to rush to "reopen the economy" at the behest of private business in order to try and prop up the illusion that business owners are in control.
The US is not a democracy at the Federal government level. Why? Because it was designed that way from the beginning. The US is a republic, a coalition of States with representatives “hired” by each State to represent them in Washington. It is not a kingdom, not a direct democracy, not a dictatorship, not a Marxist panacea.
Nice spin!
But that story will change as soon as Republicans lose control of most states. Then on to the next story. And the next. And the....
Funny though how Trump wanted total, unchallenged control -- until faced with a pandemic he had no idea how to deal with. Then suddenly everything shifted to the states.
Some people are just bitter that they lost ground in a < 3% unemployment economy growing at 3-4%/year. And feel the need to yell into the wind on a message board in the middle of a work day
Let's hope the recovery is quick. My concern is several states (like mine) remaining on lockdown the both the curve has been crushed (not flattened) but the evidence is starting to show extended lockdown does more harm than good. We can't recover until business can open, even if that initially means no dine-in and pubic gathering initially, followed by distancing , followed by more normalcy through the summer. Hard to recover when you're still under stay-at-home orders like we are in PA, NJ, DE, MD, etc.
The point of stay at home orders was partly to "flatten the curve" of infections hitting overburdened ERs and ICUs, but was also suposed to allow time to establsh testing and contract tracing to identify anyone who needed to be isolated to prevent further infections. Other countries did this (Germany) while the USA did not. Instead, Congress spent trillons to socialize losses by banks and big companies without any oversight, and the White House put some donors in charge of organizing young Heritage conservatives to roll out a high school bake-sale scale, random drive-through testing program at 100 WalMarts, gathering worthless data that didn't solve anything. The USA will continue to have Vietnam-scale deaths all summer while the rest of the world continues to recover. The entire Cabinet doesn't care because they all expect to be Raptured soon. Other countries (again, Germany) have done quite a lot to support the self employed, artists, and others. That entire segment of America is going to be destitute reall soon now. It's awful. All because 1/3 of the country refuses to belive in science.
It didn’t take a genuine to know that the writing was on the wall before the bailout/relief legislation passed that this was going to result in the largest wealth transfer from the poor and middle classes to the wealthiest 1% in the history of this nation. Any yet most everyone was clamoring for it out of fear.
Not sure where you were going with the “1/3 of the country refuses to believe in science” thing though. Seems like a throwaway line more applicable to the tiresome climate war thing than COVID-19.
corrections said: All because 1/3 of the country refuses to belive in science.
That's the big lie that the GOP hopes people are buying: that they don't believe in science. What they actually don't believe in is democracy. The last thing Republicans want is for the general population to think democratic governance is helping them. They've spent decades trying to convince the country that the private sector has the answers to everything and that democracy isn't really necessary. Every day that goes by in the pandemic proves otherwise, so they've got to rush to "reopen the economy" at the behest of private business in order to try and prop up the illusion that business owners are in control.
The US is not a democracy at the Federal government level. Why? Because it was designed that way from the beginning. The US is a republic, a coalition of States with representatives “hired” by each State to represent them in Washington. It is not a kingdom, not a direct democracy, not a dictatorship, not a Marxist panacea.
Nice spin!
But that story will change as soon as Republicans lose control of most states. Then on to the next story. And the next. And the....
Funny though how Trump wanted total, unchallenged control -- until faced with a pandemic he had no idea how to deal with. Then suddenly everything shifted to the states.
Some people are just bitter that they lost ground in a < 3% unemployment economy growing at 3-4%/year. And feel the need to yell into the wind on a message board in the middle of a work day
Since you’re so qualified to make uninformed comments, maybe you’ll explain why you are doing the same?
corrections said: All because 1/3 of the country refuses to belive in science.
That's the big lie that the GOP hopes people are buying: that they don't believe in science. What they actually don't believe in is democracy. The last thing Republicans want is for the general population to think democratic governance is helping them. They've spent decades trying to convince the country that the private sector has the answers to everything and that democracy isn't really necessary. Every day that goes by in the pandemic proves otherwise, so they've got to rush to "reopen the economy" at the behest of private business in order to try and prop up the illusion that business owners are in control.
The US is not a democracy at the Federal government level. Why? Because it was designed that way from the beginning. The US is a republic, a coalition of States with representatives “hired” by each State to represent them in Washington. It is not a kingdom, not a direct democracy, not a dictatorship, not a Marxist panacea.
Nice spin!
But that story will change as soon as Republicans lose control of most states. Then on to the next story. And the next. And the....
Funny though how Trump wanted total, unchallenged control -- until faced with a pandemic he had no idea how to deal with. Then suddenly everything shifted to the states.
That's not spin though. The US political system has been designed as a democratic republic.
So why did the Trump administration censor expert advice from scientists at the CDC on what people and businesses need to do in order to end social distancing and re-open without endangering lives (or at least minimizing risk)?
Is it because it did not comport with their idyllic picture of a perfect America making itself great again? Was it more convenient to simply double the predicted death count?
CDC compiles new guidelines to help organizations reopen
#45 needs to take credit for the good economy he inherited from #44, the GOP senate kept the "get out of jail free" cards coming until corvid19 came ashore as predicted yet was still ignored. he and his cronies should be gone by the end of Jan 2021 but his sham of a government will leave unimagined death and a hallowed out economy.
Hey Lkrupp, I almost entirely agree with you. People are fooling themselves if they think this pandemic is like a thunderstorm which darkens the sky, dumps some rain they the sun returns the next day and the birds are chirping. There will constant outbreaks and spikes for years to come. We are dealing with something the most brilliant medical minds are just starting to understand and they realize how little they really know about the effects and possible mutation of this virus. Our economy is based on consumer spending and people only spend money when they are somewhat optimistic about the present and near future. My neighbors are dying, I've been in shutdown since mid-march, I fear states who ignore safety to re-open will keep this virus spreading for another years at least.
Even the ‘great' Andrew Cuomo recently said that continued lockdown of the country is unsustainable. The population won’t stand for it much longer, people will start starving, there will be a rebellion, armed if necessary. As I have posted on other occasions, you as an individual are perfectly free to remain locked up in your bunker until you think it’s okay to venture out. No one will force you out of your bunker into the world. That will be up to you. So I don’t buy the “we have to stay locked up for years” mentality. That is a defeatist mentality. I’m in the highest risk category, 70 years old, a tad of COPD, heart disease, but I have no intention of staying locked up for years.
Things are actually looking promising for effective treatments soon, so you should try to put up with this a bit longer! Regardless of how soon the majority get out of lockdown, the most vulnerable should be paranoid until there are good treatments. The virus has taken hold in some senior facilities and just wiped them out. An older friend of mine checked into the hospital a couple of weeks ago with the virus and was dead in four days.
No one is arguing we can remain locked down for years. This was a last-ditch measure needed because we were so slow to tackle the problem: only 472 tests in the whole US by March 1, according to the CDC, and a travel ban that was much too late to help. We can try to do it right this time, once the thing isn't growing exponentially anymore. Much higher levels of testing would help tremendously at this point, with a million active cases in the US right now. For example, the Apple/Google exposure-notification stuff really needs at least an order of magnitude more testing of who has the virus. Other countries have avoided closing things down with faster action, strong public health systems, and younger and less sick populations. The economic toll here isn't due to over-reaction, but under-reaction.
corrections said: All because 1/3 of the country refuses to belive in science.
That's the big lie that the GOP hopes people are buying: that they don't believe in science. What they actually don't believe in is democracy. The last thing Republicans want is for the general population to think democratic governance is helping them. They've spent decades trying to convince the country that the private sector has the answers to everything and that democracy isn't really necessary. Every day that goes by in the pandemic proves otherwise, so they've got to rush to "reopen the economy" at the behest of private business in order to try and prop up the illusion that business owners are in control.
The US is not a democracy at the Federal government level. Why? Because it was designed that way from the beginning. The US is a republic, a coalition of States with representatives “hired” by each State to represent them in Washington. It is not a kingdom, not a direct democracy, not a dictatorship, not a Marxist panacea.
Nice spin!
But that story will change as soon as Republicans lose control of most states. Then on to the next story. And the next. And the....
Funny though how Trump wanted total, unchallenged control -- until faced with a pandemic he had no idea how to deal with. Then suddenly everything shifted to the states.
That's not spin though. The US political system has been designed as a democratic republic.
That real Americans call a "DEMOCRACY!". But, a few extremists like to spin it.
corrections said: All because 1/3 of the country refuses to belive in science.
That's the big lie that the GOP hopes people are buying: that they don't believe in science. What they actually don't believe in is democracy. The last thing Republicans want is for the general population to think democratic governance is helping them. They've spent decades trying to convince the country that the private sector has the answers to everything and that democracy isn't really necessary. Every day that goes by in the pandemic proves otherwise, so they've got to rush to "reopen the economy" at the behest of private business in order to try and prop up the illusion that business owners are in control.
The US is not a democracy at the Federal government level. Why? Because it was designed that way from the beginning. The US is a republic, a coalition of States with representatives “hired” by each State to represent them in Washington. It is not a kingdom, not a direct democracy, not a dictatorship, not a Marxist panacea.
Nice spin!
But that story will change as soon as Republicans lose control of most states. Then on to the next story. And the next. And the....
Funny though how Trump wanted total, unchallenged control -- until faced with a pandemic he had no idea how to deal with. Then suddenly everything shifted to the states.
Some people are just bitter that they lost ground in a < 3% unemployment economy growing at 3-4%/year. And feel the need to yell into the wind on a message board in the middle of a work day
So why did the Trump administration censor expert advice from scientists at the CDC on what people and businesses need to do in order to end social distancing and re-open without endangering lives (or at least minimizing risk)?
Is it because it did not comport with their idyllic picture of a perfect America making itself great again? Was it more convenient to simply double the predicted death count?
CDC compiles new guidelines to help organizations reopen
#45 needs to take credit for the good economy he inherited from #44, the GOP senate kept the "get out of jail free" cards coming until corvid19 came ashore as predicted yet was still ignored. he and his cronies should be gone by the end of Jan 2021 but his sham of a government will leave unimagined death and a hallowed out economy.
True! But the rotten core that made it happen will be alive and well -- still pumping out propaganda and stirring up fear, hatred and division among the disenfranchised and poorly informed to gain their support -- while they move on to the next chapter in their agenda. #45 was the unexpected result of 20+ years of propaganda financed by those with an agenda and was adopted as another tool in their arsenal to be used as long as it was useful to them and cast aside when it is no longer useful or productive. Like ISIS, that will keep on morphing to suit and take advantage of existing circumstances but will not be going away till it is challenged on every front.
Even the ‘great' Andrew Cuomo recently said that continued lockdown of the country is unsustainable. The population won’t stand for it much longer, people will start starving, there will be a rebellion, armed if necessary. As I have posted on other occasions, you as an individual are perfectly free to remain locked up in your bunker until you think it’s okay to venture out. No one will force you out of your bunker into the world. That will be up to you. So I don’t buy the “we have to stay locked up for years” mentality. That is a defeatist mentality. I’m in the highest risk category, 70 years old, a tad of COPD, heart disease, but I have no intention of staying locked up for years.
I think you're projecting just a little outsider, with starvation and armed revolt. No one ever said this was a permanent societal condition. Yeah, life is a little restrictive, but most of the population has never had to sacrifice *anything* so it's a big adjustment. Boo hoo, we're spoiled. Calm down, it ain't the end of the world. No one is coming to take your guns or sap your precious bodily fluids (movie reference for those old enough to get it).
There's food, there's gas, there are all the hard goods you want, the banks are open for business, you can schedule elective surgery, pick up your meds, etc. We have definite First World problems. Is it harder for some, absolutely, as always. It would be good to have a government that cares about more than unsupervised gifts to industries, but that's where we're at right now.
As for we targeted pops, keep your dauber up, wear a mask and perhaps gloves when you're outside, don't cluster. We're going to be fine.
corrections said: All because 1/3 of the country refuses to belive in science.
That's the big lie that the GOP hopes people are buying: that they don't believe in science. What they actually don't believe in is democracy. The last thing Republicans want is for the general population to think democratic governance is helping them. They've spent decades trying to convince the country that the private sector has the answers to everything and that democracy isn't really necessary. Every day that goes by in the pandemic proves otherwise, so they've got to rush to "reopen the economy" at the behest of private business in order to try and prop up the illusion that business owners are in control.
The US is not a democracy at the Federal government level. Why? Because it was designed that way from the beginning. The US is a republic, a coalition of States with representatives “hired” by each State to represent them in Washington. It is not a kingdom, not a direct democracy, not a dictatorship, not a Marxist panacea.
Nice spin!
But that story will change as soon as Republicans lose control of most states. Then on to the next story. And the next. And the....
Funny though how Trump wanted total, unchallenged control -- until faced with a pandemic he had no idea how to deal with. Then suddenly everything shifted to the states.
Some people are just bitter that they lost ground in a < 3% unemployment economy growing at 3-4%/year. And feel the need to yell into the wind on a message board in the middle of a work day
corrections said: All because 1/3 of the country refuses to belive in science.
That's the big lie that the GOP hopes people are buying: that they don't believe in science. What they actually don't believe in is democracy. The last thing Republicans want is for the general population to think democratic governance is helping them. They've spent decades trying to convince the country that the private sector has the answers to everything and that democracy isn't really necessary. Every day that goes by in the pandemic proves otherwise, so they've got to rush to "reopen the economy" at the behest of private business in order to try and prop up the illusion that business owners are in control.
If you believe that you are at risk, go and ask your doctor(s) if it’s true or not and then follow their advice. My advice will also be to err on the side of caution, but that’s a personal bias with health issues.
Hey Lkrupp, I almost entirely agree with you. People are fooling themselves if they think this pandemic is like a thunderstorm which darkens the sky, dumps some rain they the sun returns the next day and the birds are chirping. There will constant outbreaks and spikes for years to come. We are dealing with something the most brilliant medical minds are just starting to understand and they realize how little they really know about the effects and possible mutation of this virus. Our economy is based on consumer spending and people only spend money when they are somewhat optimistic about the present and near future. My neighbors are dying, I've been in shutdown since mid-march, I fear states who ignore safety to re-open will keep this virus spreading for another years at least.
Even the ‘great' Andrew Cuomo recently said that continued lockdown of the country is unsustainable. The population won’t stand for it much longer, people will start starving, there will be a rebellion, armed if necessary. As I have posted on other occasions, you as an individual are perfectly free to remain locked up in your bunker until you think it’s okay to venture out. No one will force you out of your bunker into the world. That will be up to you. So I don’t buy the “we have to stay locked up for years” mentality. That is a defeatist mentality. I’m in the highest risk category, 70 years old, a tad of COPD, heart disease, but I have no intention of staying locked up for years.
If you believe that you are at risk, go and ask your doctor(s) if it’s true or not and then follow their advice. My advice will also be to err on the side of caution, but that’s a personal bias with health issues.
Hey Lkrupp, I almost entirely agree with you. People are fooling themselves if they think this pandemic is like a thunderstorm which darkens the sky, dumps some rain they the sun returns the next day and the birds are chirping. There will constant outbreaks and spikes for years to come. We are dealing with something the most brilliant medical minds are just starting to understand and they realize how little they really know about the effects and possible mutation of this virus. Our economy is based on consumer spending and people only spend money when they are somewhat optimistic about the present and near future. My neighbors are dying, I've been in shutdown since mid-march, I fear states who ignore safety to re-open will keep this virus spreading for another years at least.
Even the ‘great' Andrew Cuomo recently said that continued lockdown of the country is unsustainable. The population won’t stand for it much longer, people will start starving, there will be a rebellion, armed if necessary. As I have posted on other occasions, you as an individual are perfectly free to remain locked up in your bunker until you think it’s okay to venture out. No one will force you out of your bunker into the world. That will be up to you. So I don’t buy the “we have to stay locked up for years” mentality. That is a defeatist mentality. I’m in the highest risk category, 70 years old, a tad of COPD, heart disease, but I have no intention of staying locked up for years.
Our federal government failed us in many ways -- one of which was educating the public to the science and the facts. That is one of the ways that those countries that succeeded in containing the virus excelled -- the populace knew what needed to be done and they did it. Here in the U.S. we not only ignored the science but suppressed it -- and continue to do so. Another failure of the richest, most powerful nation the earth has ever seen.
Ask, “Did an optimum strategy Exist to manage this pandemic, balancing public health and economics?” Answer? Absolutely! It required data, vision, public education and a dash of good old personal sacrifice. Now ask “How close has the US come to this optimum strategy?” 5%, 10%, 50%? Who is responsible? The reactions of elected leaders have been captured for all to see in 4K video! All we’ve seen is another 3 Trillion added to the national debt. Wait for October, when reality sets in. It won’t matter which ideology you’ve been defending.
Ask, “Did an optimum strategy Exist to manage this pandemic, balancing public health and economics?” Answer? Absolutely! It required data, vision, public education and a dash of good old personal sacrifice. Now ask “How close has the US come to this optimum strategy?” 5%, 10%, 50%? Who is responsible? The reactions of elected leaders have been captured for all to see in 4K video! All we’ve seen is another 3 Trillion added to the national debt. Wait for October, when reality sets in. It won’t matter which ideology you’ve been defending.
How close to optimum? That depends on what you call an "optimum strategy". All Trump cares about is re-election and he figures his key to that is a healthy stock market -- which multiple trillions of dollars have propped up quite well. As for the 75,000 dead? Well, they've been selling the "every man for himself" philosophy for decades so he figured his base wouldn't care -- and he was right.
So, from his perspective, his strategy (if one could call it that) was 100% optimal.
But, from the perspective of the 1 1/4 million sick & 75,000 dead it was less than optimal. One would think that the 30 million unemployed would agree with them. But for many of them, Trump successfully passed blame for his incompetence off onto the state and local governments -- so they're out storming state capitals with their MAGA hats and AR15's.
But, at it its core, Trump's strategy demonstrates just why the U.S. has been falling and failing on the international stage: He sacrificed the core and long term health of the organization he leads for his own, short term personal gain. More specifically: he did nothing to stop the real problem, the virus, from rampaging through the nation (much like Sherman rampaged through the south unopposed burning it to the ground) while applying a bandaid to his precious stock market. Essentially Trump & his Wall Street buddies mortgaged our country's future to insure his own re-election. Yep! 100% optimal!
Comments
No one is arguing we can remain locked down for years. This was a last-ditch measure needed because we were so slow to tackle the problem: only 472 tests in the whole US by March 1, according to the CDC, and a travel ban that was much too late to help. We can try to do it right this time, once the thing isn't growing exponentially anymore. Much higher levels of testing would help tremendously at this point, with a million active cases in the US right now. For example, the Apple/Google exposure-notification stuff really needs at least an order of magnitude more testing of who has the virus. Other countries have avoided closing things down with faster action, strong public health systems, and younger and less sick populations. The economic toll here isn't due to over-reaction, but under-reaction.
That real Americans call a "DEMOCRACY!". But, a few extremists like to spin it.
And some people just make stuff up.
True! But the rotten core that made it happen will be alive and well -- still pumping out propaganda and stirring up fear, hatred and division among the disenfranchised and poorly informed to gain their support -- while they move on to the next chapter in their agenda. #45 was the unexpected result of 20+ years of propaganda financed by those with an agenda and was adopted as another tool in their arsenal to be used as long as it was useful to them and cast aside when it is no longer useful or productive. Like ISIS, that will keep on morphing to suit and take advantage of existing circumstances but will not be going away till it is challenged on every front.
There's food, there's gas, there are all the hard goods you want, the banks are open for business, you can schedule elective surgery, pick up your meds, etc. We have definite First World problems. Is it harder for some, absolutely, as always. It would be good to have a government that cares about more than unsupervised gifts to industries, but that's where we're at right now.
As for we targeted pops, keep your dauber up, wear a mask and perhaps gloves when you're outside, don't cluster. We're going to be fine.
Our federal government failed us in many ways -- one of which was educating the public to the science and the facts. That is one of the ways that those countries that succeeded in containing the virus excelled -- the populace knew what needed to be done and they did it. Here in the U.S. we not only ignored the science but suppressed it -- and continue to do so. Another failure of the richest, most powerful nation the earth has ever seen.
How close to optimum? That depends on what you call an "optimum strategy". All Trump cares about is re-election and he figures his key to that is a healthy stock market -- which multiple trillions of dollars have propped up quite well. As for the 75,000 dead? Well, they've been selling the "every man for himself" philosophy for decades so he figured his base wouldn't care -- and he was right.
But, at it its core, Trump's strategy demonstrates just why the U.S. has been falling and failing on the international stage: He sacrificed the core and long term health of the organization he leads for his own, short term personal gain. More specifically: he did nothing to stop the real problem, the virus, from rampaging through the nation (much like Sherman rampaged through the south unopposed burning it to the ground) while applying a bandaid to his precious stock market. Essentially Trump & his Wall Street buddies mortgaged our country's future to insure his own re-election. Yep! 100% optimal!