# ...from the President of the United States: WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 23, 2020, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-president-of-the-united-states-we-cannot-let-the-cure-be-worse-than-the-problem-itself/850078 "2020-03-23T05:48:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-president-of-the-united-states-we-cannot-let-the-cure-be-worse-than-the-problem-itself/850078/101 "2020-03-24T03:08:39Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Donald Trump has no plan. All that matters to Trump is > > 1. Does it make money for me? > 2. Does it make people impressed with me? > > That’s it. This is what I’ve been saying over and over for the past three years, and it hasn’t changed with a pandemic. However, there is another matter for Trump that is tangential to #2: How can he keep the economy from tanking, and if he can’t, how can he spin it so that he can claim it’s not his fault? Because he knows his re-election depends on that. If the economy gets so bad that no one will believe his bullshit, then he’s doomed, so right now he’s freaking out. ---
**Author:** ![mistymage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mistymage/32/459_2.png) [@mistymage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mistymage)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-president-of-the-united-states-we-cannot-let-the-cure-be-worse-than-the-problem-itself/850078/102 "2020-03-24T03:21:18Z")
If Trump declares all is good in 7-8 days (or 15 days) I hope all Governors give him a hearty STFU! My Gov. (Iowa, Gov. Kim Reynolds, ®) probably won’t. We “only” have a population of 3 million and are spread out… other than our high density cities. And other than those of us who live in the sticks have to go into the cities to work or shop. Thankfully, the schools are closed. Bars, restaurants, gathering places. But that’s about as far as she has went. Money over people. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-president-of-the-united-states-we-cannot-let-the-cure-be-worse-than-the-problem-itself/850078/103 "2020-03-24T03:32:13Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > People are comparing this to the Spanish Flu > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Bullshit. No, that one’s spot on. Those people are idiots for making the comparison but they are making it. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-president-of-the-united-states-we-cannot-let-the-cure-be-worse-than-the-problem-itself/850078/104 "2020-03-24T03:43:37Z")
> [@mistymage](#): > > If Trump declares all is good in 7-8 days (or 15 days) I hope all Governors give him a hearty STFU! I expect Cuomo will. Probably also others. Trump can refuse to aid the governors. But I don’t think he can override them. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-president-of-the-united-states-we-cannot-let-the-cure-be-worse-than-the-problem-itself/850078/105 "2020-03-24T03:51:04Z")
From today’s transcript: “The whole concept is death is terrible!” Is this the first time someone actually explained death to him? ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-president-of-the-united-states-we-cannot-let-the-cure-be-worse-than-the-problem-itself/850078/106 "2020-03-24T04:32:20Z")
Washington State Jay Inslee will give trump the finger. One epidemiologist explained 2% death rate like the Spanish Flu in these terms: Everyone knew someone who died from the Spanish Flu. A co-worker, a neighbor or a grand parent. That’s how pervasive 2% death rate is. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-president-of-the-united-states-we-cannot-let-the-cure-be-worse-than-the-problem-itself/850078/107 "2020-03-24T04:35:10Z")
Don’t forget, all those criminal and legal actions against trump “because you can’t indict a sitting president” goes away the minute he loses the election. And not just trump but likely his family as well. I’m not sayin’ its a foregone conclusion, but I’ll eat my hat if forensic accountants are unable to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that trump and trump inc have been laundering serious money for the Russians for at least a decade. I look forward to seeing that day in court. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-president-of-the-united-states-we-cannot-let-the-cure-be-worse-than-the-problem-itself/850078/108 "2020-03-24T04:51:05Z")
A million Americans are going to die because the center of the country is too stupid to understand that right wing media is hyperbolic dipshittery. And after all this, with an extra five or six trillion dollars of debt, they’re going to blame the state of the economy on the Dem who has to put it back together. And the center of the country will hate that Dem. It’s downright bleak. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-president-of-the-united-states-we-cannot-let-the-cure-be-worse-than-the-problem-itself/850078/109 "2020-03-24T05:24:48Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > Fox News has the ability to manipulate the Republican base. I’m sure you’ve seen those interviews of people standing in line to get into Trump rallies: They get their news exclusively from Fox and say things similar to “thank goodness we have one news channel that tells it like it is and not that lame-stream media.” > > He knows he has to follow their lead because they are leading the voters that will keep him in power. Trump puts the “rob” in Ouroboros. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-president-of-the-united-states-we-cannot-let-the-cure-be-worse-than-the-problem-itself/850078/110 "2020-03-24T05:27:59Z")
> [@raventhief](#): > > From today’s transcript: > “The whole concept is death is terrible!” > Is this the first time someone actually explained death to him? Up to now, he believed his parents and brother moved to a nice farm upstate and developed it into condos. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-president-of-the-united-states-we-cannot-let-the-cure-be-worse-than-the-problem-itself/850078/111 "2020-03-24T06:27:32Z")
They probably did and just had their people tell Trump they were dead. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-president-of-the-united-states-we-cannot-let-the-cure-be-worse-than-the-problem-itself/850078/112 "2020-03-24T07:50:28Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > We’ve so politicized the response to COVID that we can no longer have a rational discussion. People are comparing this to the Spanish Flu and we already know that the mortality rate of COVID is not the same. How do you know that? Actual experts - people who have medical degrees and spent a lifetime working in public health and related fields - will not commit to a definitive mortality rate for covid. On what do YOU base your conclusion and what are your credentials for making that determination? Also, there’s a difference between the mortality rate for a disease when the healthcare system is intact and when it’s overwhelmed. First, we saw Italy’s hospitals overrun, with gurneys lining the hallways gasping desperately for breath, dying because there weren’t enough respirators to go around. Now [we have video of patients lying not in beds but on the floors of Spanish hospitals because _their_ system is overwhelmed.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0KC7HKpNZw) It’s not that it’s _possible_ for that to happen here, the way we are going it WILL happen here. > [@Deeg](#): > > My fear is that when when this finally dies down and we are able to examine the results it’ll end up being similar to a bad flu. Which is still bad–80k people have died in a year from the flu–but in the end Trump would look like the sane one who didn’t go into hysterics. Ha! I think it far more likely that even before this is over people will be whining “why weren’t we TOLD?!?” You were. But you didn’t believe the warnings and didn’t take it seriously. Again - actual experts - people who have medical degrees and spent a lifetime working in public health and related fields - are estimating this has 10 times the death rate of regular flu (or five times, or twenty times). On what do you base YOUR conclusions, and what are your credentials for saying so? ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-president-of-the-united-states-we-cannot-let-the-cure-be-worse-than-the-problem-itself/850078/113 "2020-03-24T08:00:46Z")
> [@Skypist](#): > > WTF is that even supposed to mean, “which way to go”? At the end of two weeks he’ll decide whether or not to make the cure worse than the disease? It means Trump considers this a trial period. After two weeks of kicking the tires and taking it for a spin the president will decide if we keep it or not. Personally I’m still torn between Covid-19 and the Marburg virus. But I think Donnie is leaning towards Covid. Partly because it sounds like Covfefe, but also because it’s the new thing. It’s fresh. It’s hot. Shiny. Sexy. I guess either one of those or even a boring old chestnut like smallpox will do the trick so… meh. ---
**Author:** ![Quint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/76d3ee/32.png) [@Quint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quint)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-president-of-the-united-states-we-cannot-let-the-cure-be-worse-than-the-problem-itself/850078/114 "2020-03-24T08:33:48Z")
How do you suppose Putin is feeling about Trump picking the economy over lives? I’m picturing Hannibal from the A-Team pulling the cigar from his mouth and saying “I love it when a plan comes together!” ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-president-of-the-united-states-we-cannot-let-the-cure-be-worse-than-the-problem-itself/850078/115 "2020-03-24T10:30:27Z")
I’m wondering how many people out in “the sticks” think this is just a city problem, nothing they have to worry about. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-president-of-the-united-states-we-cannot-let-the-cure-be-worse-than-the-problem-itself/850078/116 "2020-03-24T11:39:53Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > It means that he has no idea what to do. He is just saying something to make it look like he is in charge. That’s pretty much been the situation since he took office. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-president-of-the-united-states-we-cannot-let-the-cure-be-worse-than-the-problem-itself/850078/117 "2020-03-24T11:47:37Z")
> [@mistymage](#): > > If Trump declares all is good in 7-8 days (or 15 days) I hope all Governors give him a hearty STFU! > > My Gov. (Iowa, Gov. Kim Reynolds, (R)) probably won’t. We “only” have a population of 3 million and are spread out… other than our high density cities. And other than those of us who live in the sticks have to go into the cities to work or shop. Thankfully, the schools are closed. Bars, restaurants, gathering places. But that’s about as far as she has went. Money over people. It seems that Democratic governors are in a position to do what Dems in Congress cannot, which is to show the country how to fucking lead and govern and provide comfort in times of crisis. The only thing better would be for people in Texas and Georgia and Florida and Alabama to be victimized by their own government’s stupidity. I know that’s callous, but that is the only way our stupider-than-pig shit society is going to get it. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-president-of-the-united-states-we-cannot-let-the-cure-be-worse-than-the-problem-itself/850078/118 "2020-03-24T11:52:44Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > A million Americans are going to die because the center of the country is too stupid to understand that right wing media is hyperbolic dipshittery. > > And after all this, with an extra five or six trillion dollars of debt, they’re going to blame the state of the economy on the Dem who has to put it back together. And the center of the country will hate that Dem. > > It’s downright bleak. I’m not going to apologize for what I’m about to say. I want people in ‘red’ states to suffer. I want them to see a convoy of military trucks hauling coffins out to the make-shift morgues. I’ve been saying it over and over and over again: extreme pain is the only way we’re going to fucking learn. And I say that knowing that even that might not be enough. And if it isn’t, well then we don’t deserve to have an America or an American dream. Our society would deserve to be tossed into the waste bin of history. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-president-of-the-united-states-we-cannot-let-the-cure-be-worse-than-the-problem-itself/850078/119 "2020-03-24T12:14:03Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I’m not going to apologize for what I’m about to say. > > I want people in ‘red’ states to suffer. I want them to see a convoy of military trucks hauling coffins out to the make-shift morgues. In the most general, abstract sense, I agree with what you’re saying. But: keep in mind, I’m as blue as they get, and I live in a red state. Nonpoliticial children live in red states. Most importantly, don’t forget that red states are full of Trump cultists who would love to take a road trip to your blue state to cough on your city’s metro to spread the pain. Like it or not, this isn’t a situation we can dismiss by saying “the hole isn’t in my side of the boat”. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-president-of-the-united-states-we-cannot-let-the-cure-be-worse-than-the-problem-itself/850078/120 "2020-03-24T12:16:07Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > In the most general, abstract sense, I agree with what you’re saying. But: keep in mind, I’m as blue as they get, and I live in a red state. Nonpoliticial children live in red states. Most importantly, don’t forget that red states are full of Trump cultists who would love to take a road trip to your blue state to cough on your city’s metro to spread the pain. > > Like it or not, this isn’t a situation we can dismiss by saying “the hole isn’t in my side of the boat”. I get what you’re saying. I live in a purple state, and I visit Trump country regularly as my family lives there. But pain is the only way we’re going to figure this out. I’m admittedly thinking in the abstract and in a very global sense. Elections have consequences. Ignorance has a price. The bill is due. And as I said, if we’re not willing to pay it, we don’t deserve to be thought of us much of a society at all, and it wouldn’t bother me a bit to see the United States crack up and become something else entirely. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-president-of-the-united-states-we-cannot-let-the-cure-be-worse-than-the-problem-itself/850078.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-president-of-the-united-states-we-cannot-let-the-cure-be-worse-than-the-problem-itself/850078.md?page=7)