This past weekend, my state of North Carolina began Phase 1 of pulling back on some of the lockdown orders from Gov. Cooper. Over all, I have had confidence in our governor and his team as they have guided North Carolina through this tense and uncertain time. As COVID-19 cases appeared and lives were lost, the efforts at containing the spread of the virus has been deliberate and methodical. Lockdown orders have gone into effect and have been expanded in response to factual data on the spread of the virus.
Likewise, efforts to roll back some those lockdown orders are being predicated on definable and measurable indicators. Phase 1 keeps restaurants closed for dine in service and restrictions on mass gatherings for sports, entertainment and worshio are also still in place. Also, if you need a haircut, your're still out of luck. But retail establishments are being allowed to reopen in compliance with CDC social distancing guidelines and other protective measures. Phase 2 is about 2 weeks away and will be implemented on conditions that certain benchmarks are being met such as coronavirus cases remaining level or going down.
It seems like a measured and reasonable approach to re-opening North Carolina's economy while also keeping a handle on making sure our state's citizens are as safe as possible from this pandemic.
Too bad there are people who think "measured and reasonable" is bullshit and everything should be open now.
These morons are getting their marching orders from the Moron In Chief who is chomping at the bit to restart the economy for no other reason that to get re-elected.
Yes, a bad economy is bad for the President or the party in charge come election time. While being relatively likeable, George H. W. Bush in 1992 had to misfortune to be running for re-election when a recession hit. John McCain and the Republican Party got their butts handed to them when the 2008 Great Recession hit.
But there are other factors beyond economy to take into account. In 1992, George H. W. Bush had to contend with a 3rd party opponent who siphoned off votes from the right wing of the GOP and his Democratic challenger, Bil Clinton, was better at connecting with people.
In 2008, McCain was inevitably going to have to deal with backlash to George W. Bush regardless of the economy, his choice of Sarah Palin as his VP was detrimental and, like Clinton in 1992, Barack Obama was really good at connecting with people, especially people frightened by the looming specter of economic collapse.
Donald Trump may have thought he could guarantee his re-election based on low unemployment numbers and a high stock market. But even before the pandemic hit, he had enough other negatives to drag him down. All the pandemic has done is highlighted those negatives in bold print. His general incompetence at basic governance, his inability to focus on any problem that didn't interest him personally, his lack of empathy.
Voters have shown time and time again that they want a candidate for President that actually gives a damn. In 2016, voters who felt betrayed and abandoned by their government turned to Donald Trump because he made the case he was fighting for them. While the base remains rabid in their defense of Trump, over four years in office, Trump has demonstrated repeatedly he is only interested in fighting for himself.
No matter Trump's delusions about getting the economy up and running in the wake of these pandemic quarantines and stay at home orders, the economy he inherited in 2016 will still be in tatters come November. A return to economic growth and stability with take more time than Li'l Donnie has patience for. A return to economic growth and stability with take more strategy, nuance and planning that is beyond Trump's very limited mental capacity.
His obsession with pitching conspiracy theories involving unspecified crimes committed by Pres. Obama takes precedence of the current real demands of this job. His obsessions with Obama, the Mueller report and his impeachment don't put one damn loaf of bread on a kitchen table, don't put one jobless American back to work and will not get any PPE to front line medical workers who are busting thier butts trying to save out lives. Trump's petulance at reporters asking questions he doesn't want to answer does help one sick person.
A working, strong economy is a good thing. But in a time of crisis as the one we are in, our country needs more from a President than Donald Trump is capable of giving.
And that's all assuming the underlying medical problem is under control.
Donald Trump likes to claim it is.
“If you think we have it completely under control, we don’t,” Dr. Anthony Fauci told the Senate on Tuesday.
God bless Tony Fauci. In times like this, we need the truth, even unpleasant truth. We don't need political spin which is all Donald Trump is interested in. Dr. Fauci has been the proverbial oasis of truth in a desert of lies.
Fauci concedes that "we’re going in the right direction, but the right direction does not mean we are in control."
Currently, the U.S. death toll stands at nearly 81,000 deaths so far, with more than 1.3 million infections.
It would be foolish to think those numbers are not going to get larger.
But the count of the sick and the dying are not necessarily a concern to all people.
Get a load of this from Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY): “We ought to consider mortality in children ― virtually zero. We should get our kids back in school. I also don’t think you need a gazillion tests. As much as I respect you, Dr. Fauci, I don’t think you’re the end-all."
Dr. Anthony Fauci offered this response: "I never made myself out to be the end-all and the only voice in this, I’m a scientist, a physician and a public health official. I don’t know everything about this disease, and that’s why I’m very reserved in making broad predictions.”
Want someone think of the children?
OK, what about the children?
While most cases of coronavirus in kids are mild, they can still share the virus with more vulnerable family members. Furthermore, the effect on children may not be as benign as Sen. Paul asserts. In recent weeks, rare and dangerous inflammatory symptoms linked to the virus have been seen in children ― some of whom have died. With that in mind, Dr. Fauci cautioned, "I think we’ve got to be careful if we are not cavalier in thinking that children are completely immune to the deleterious effects."
If at all possible, we need to get back to life as we knew it in the "before times", for the sake of people who need to earn a living and also for the sake of just living.
But we also have an obligation to each other to contain the spread of the coronavirus as much as possible as well.
The contradiction between addressing the medical problem and getting the economy back to work is a false one.
Yes, people being out of work is bad for the economy.
Business being shut down is bad for the economy.
You know what else is bad for the economy? Workers who are sick, workers who are dying.
Also bad for the economy? Customers who are sick, who are dying.
Our self interests and our shared interests should not be, can not be mutually exclusive.
No comments:
Post a Comment