Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/03/07/smallpox-deadwood.html
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So, a fictional bunch of amoral murderous cocksuckers in a world without mass media, medical science, or governmental organization were better prepared than the current administration?
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“Peaches and pears on the bar.”
What a great detail. I often struggle to remember that the “Wild West” was High Victorian.
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In this fictionalized version, there was constructive action to take, something to be done - at least for the players in this scene. Waiting around for a vaccine to be tested and distributed in this current season, while trying not to catch it in the meantime… that’s going to be something.
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They developed a sound media strategy. They looked to quarantine arrangements. They focused on palliative care for those in quarantine.
In the current situation, Trump could do those things. He doesn’t seem too fussed about them.
He coud go further and admit that not replacing the people responsible for handling pandemics was a mistake. (He didn’t actually defund the CDC, but he wanted to and Congress ignored him.)
He could be realistic about the timescales for vaccine development, and push a strong message about the mortality rates - and about how the spread of this disease is an opportunity to understand why vaccination protects the vulnerable in our society. That small modifications in our behaviour can help those same vulnerable people until a vaccine is available.
Instead we’ve had him play Junior Scientist, and only seem to care about the impact on his precious stock market.
Another instance of Trump covering himself with glory, then…
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Sounds about right.
The “peaches” thing was a running joke in the show. Swearengen (Ian McShane) sort of reluctantly grows from a pure mob-boss figure into a quasi-democratic leader, and the first time he needs the camp to clean up its act, he calls a meeting and canned peaches are served to entice the others. Then at subsequent meetings there’s always some talk of peaches, suggesting that’s the main thing most people cared about.
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security officials handling pandemics left abruptly
which can be either:
Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, resigned on Wednesday following a report that she had invested in tobacco and pharmaceutical company stocks while overseeing an agency tasked with promoting public health.
Or
CDC director Thomas Frieden has announced his resignationfrom his position at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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