Here is a set of ready made answers for dealing with all the lame excuses people give for Trump’s deadly incompetence
No state governor, member of Congress, or political candidate has authority or power to handle the response to a national emergency. So opinions on any of them is worthless
The impeachment proceedings would not affect the Administration’s handling of the epidemic had Trump relied on competence, expertise and experience from his staff.
The disease came to the East Coast and the majority of infections and deaths, by way of Europe. By the time we stopped travel there, there were already thousands of cases in the US
Any talk of “blue states”, “red states”… just means a speaker hates the people of this nation and want to see tens of thousands of them dead
No other nation is messing up the response to the pandemic to the degree the US is. No other national leader is actively undermining efforts to combat the epidemic like Trump is.
…
Rather than take Trumpie bullshit seriously, once can just say “refer to #__”
he removed us healthcare personnel from china when they could have learned more about the virus, he blocked universities like uw from developing their own tests, he stopped the cdc from using the who test kits , he (falsely) told people he was closing the borders resulting in a crush of americans packed into airports doubtless seeding the country with coronavirus, he stopped people on a cruise ship from getting medical care to protect “his” numbers… i’m sure there’s more.
on the job front, in a bunch of other countries there was no need to fire people to furlough them. that is just american capitalism showing through.
like on a lot of structural issues he’s not solely to blame. he just enjoys kicking out the remaining supports
Brazil has two endings: One that the moronic film producers inflicted on it (and rightfully enraged Terry Gilliam), i.e., an incredibly stupid and insulting happy ending that sabotaged the film’s message; and the other being Gilliam’s totally appropriate, on-the-nose dark ending. Trump is trying to force feed us something like the former.
Let’s be realistic here- entire industries were going to shut down no matter what. But there’s no way to suggest he’s done anything to make anything better, and done many things to make it worse.
I think that’s why normal people can’t quite get their head around how much Trump bullshits. But it’s pretty clear Trump isn’t capable of doing anything other than bullshitting. It’s like breathing to him.
That’s the death rate if we keep flattening the curve but otherwise do nothing to keep it from running through the population. Which is what seems to be happening - the lock-down was supposed to give breathing room to implement some policy, but Trump got bored and he gave up.
At this point, 1-2 million dead is optimistic, if Trump stays in power. Republicans will resist another shut-down, so when cases spike up again, nothing will be done to flatten the curve. All we need to exceed that is for the virus to run rampant enough that hospitals are overwhelmed. Then the people who could have survived, if they got ventilators or oxygen or dialysis, etc., will die because they won’t be able to get those things.
Just wait for the bump in two weeks, now that states have opened up again.
That’s on him, too, though. That’s exactly the kind of thing the state can control. Other countries crafted aid packages for their citizens to prevent job losses. The Republicans have been dead-set against such aid. Result: job losses. Since re-opening the states isn’t about preventing job losses so much as putting the responsibility for job losses and unemployment on businesses and individuals, so the states don’t have to give out aid monies. So the re-openings are being followed by even more job losses. On top of which the Trump administration is actively trying to make things worse - end Obamacare, cut back food stamps, etc.
You’re assuming social distancing to flatten the curve. Lethality rate will rise to at least 8-10% if the economy is forced to reopen and the hospitals are all full. I make it 25 million - best case - if all mitigations are discontinued the way Trump wants. And that’s without factoring in the additional deaths that will inevitably result from the failure of supply chains and the breakdown of the civil order.
And remember, that if America falls, it falls with its finger on the thermonuclear trigger. The worst case numbers in the biillions.
