This is true. However, a couple big things here are federal responsibilities. One is immigration. Trump announcing a travel ban without planning for the crush of people at international airports is on the feds. Also the CDC plays a big role in pandemic prep and response coordination, and without them the states are in the dark. And for better or worse, states have always looked to the feds for a lot of help responding to big crises. For example, a state can handle a natural disaster up to a certain level, but anything very large and they really need a federal disaster declaration.
I agree that states have dropped the ball too, but I still think the lion’s share of the blame goes to the weak and incoherent response from the feds.
I don’t know about specific states, but I know I heard one of the Trump kids and IIRC Fox and Friends saying literally that. The Trump kid (don’t recall which one) said that dems were hoping millions would die from this so they could blame it on him. F&F, or maybe it was Trump, said dems were using coronavirus fears as a political weapon.
That was a lot of time wasted trying to spin this into a political issue. Imagine if he had used that time to get money to whoever it needs to get to so instead of having a few thousand test kits, we’d have a few million distributed nation wide.
Think about how different things would be if, instead of a nationwide self-quarantine, people could find out if they were sick.
Those on the right (aside from far-right Freemen-style loons) advocate a non-intrusive government that keeps its nose out of most people’s affairs but still believes that the government should and must intervene in times of emergency. Even conservatives support strong responses to protect the populace. Hence their vocal and repeated praise for the military, first responders, and so on.
Yes there are those with a 100% distrust of the government who feel every emergency is manufactured and staged with crisis actors and so on, but those are Infowars-loving nut jobs. Most on the right are okay with emergency planning and response. Not just okay, they love it; look how the Patriot Act and Department of Homeland Defense were done so quickly after 9/11, and still looked at favorably by the right afterward.
You can argue that their overall dislike of strong government is at odds with their belief in the government’s role to defend and help in times of crisis and I’m sure there’s a lot of truth to that.
I’ve heard some of my right-wing friends complain about even smaller things, such as health inspections for restaurants. Not understanding that suggesting that un-sanitary businesses will end up closed doesn’t mean they’re physically dirty, it means that people get sick and/or die.
Just yesterday I was wondering whatever happened to our old Sheriff Davide Clarke. Not even 5 minutes ago I ran across an article that mentioned him, along with a few other people, that are ‘corona-truthers’, suggesting that this is all nothing more than media hype to strip away civilian rights and/or enact marshall law.
Mnuchin told Congressional Republicans today unemployment could hit 20%. Any number that approaches that will require massive government assistance (socialism) to a large part of the poor, middle class, blue collar workers and probably a good chunk of the upper middle class. Conservatives find any type of income relief to individuals anathema. People without work are simply lazy louts who don’t want to work. So what will happen to all these people without work? Theaters are closed, restaurants and bars are closed, concerts, any event or gathering with an audience or large crowd are not allowed. This will put a huge number of people out of work. The GOP controls the Senate and the WH. They will do as little as the can to help these people.
In a month most restaurants and bars in this country will be teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. Just as a huge number of people in these and other industries live paycheck to paycheck, so too do restaurants, bars, hair salons, barber shops and other independent businesses. At 6 weeks out small chains will begin to reach a critical point of collapse.
For a lot of people this won’t blow over, it won’t be okay and it isn’t possible to ride it out. And conservatives and the GOP will just blow them off and bail out huge corporations rather take decisive action that will help people.
The Great Depression-era history of Hoovervilles and the Bonus Army suggests we’ll see numerous TrampTown homeless encampments, and protests dispersed by troops. I fear widespread unrest, riots, shootings, the whole kazoo. Hope I’m wrong.