It was somewhat refreshing to see the president admit last night that Covid-19 is a real thing- and a real threat. I was finding it odd that the only lawmakers to publicly announce that they were self-quarantining were not just Republicans, but staunch Trump allies. I wonder if that has any part in forcing him to see that there might be a public health emergency brewing.
First we had Ted Cruz, Matt Gaetz, Doug Collins, Mark Meadows, and Paul Gosar self-quarantining after CPAC. Why were they not afraid to go against Herr Trump and his scoffing that the “Chinese Flu” was a big old Democratic scare scam designed to make him look bad, and it would just miraculously go away?
He was refusing to cancel rallies; he was mocking Democrats for cancelling their rallies just two days ago. He was showing zero concern about the Brazilian delegation he met with over the weekend that came down with Covid-19 after returning home. I wonder what changed to make him appear all somber and grave on TV last night, actually admitting that this is a public health emergency?
Today Rick Scott and Lindsey Graham went into self-quarantine due to interaction with the Brazilian delegation at Mar-a-Lago last weekend. Pretty soon his whole inner circle will be able to have a quarantine party together. How’s Nunes feeling?
I think part of it is that he is the President of the United States. Other politicians can go into self-quarantine, but that isn’t a realistic option for this or any president. If there is panic now, what will happen if the President is shown to be hiding in a bunker?
I understand that a reasonable response would be how bad would the panic be if the President got the virus and died, but I think that is where the line in the sand is drawn. Someone has to show leadership (and it doesn’t matter whether anyone thinks it is poor leadership) and the President must be that person, even at the risk to his own health.
According to the parasite stress hypothesis, when there are contagious diseases running around uncontrolled, people become more conformist and hostile to outsiders, which also makes them more supportive of authoritarian political movements.
So sadly despite trump being an imbecile and total fuck up, the virus may move politics to the right
But who knows if one year is enough time for society to change like that.
The Prime Minister of Canada is currently under self quarantine because his wife tested positive. I don’t think there have been riots in the streets or widespread panic. To the contrary, he’s being seen as proactive and responsible.
It’s not there worst thing in the world to acknowledge that this disease exists, there are ways to try to avoid it, people should be tested if they have reason to believe they have been exposed, and that responsible people self quarantine.
There is already widespread panic in the United States. Walk into any grocery store or pharmacy and try to buy any basic health items. There are none. I can’t explain there darth if toilet paper… Look at the stock market. Look at the widespread closures of public buildings, schools, businesses, and spring events. This is panic borne of lack of reliable information from a central, trusted source.
From an anecdotal perspective, my Republican friends think this is all overblown by the media and don’t plan to live their lives in any different manner whatsoever, based on what the President has been saying and what Fox News had been reporting. My Democratic friends are practicing social distancing, canceling anything that will bring then into contact with large groups of people, and watching the news obsessively to try to see what is happening. The local news is reporting several presumed cases of Covid-19 in town are unable to get tested despite their doctors orders, because no one has any tests or knows where to get them.
Plague? It’s China’s fault. It’s a Democrat hoax. It’s nothing, really. It’s all under control, better than anything has ever been controlled before. It’s a YUGE! boon for stock-market bargain hunters. It’s stark message from Jehovah / Satan / Bill Gates / Lady Gaga. It’s biowarfare production gone bad. It’s wild bats. It’s enough to cancel elections.
Rocky Rococo, crimelord: “You haven’t seen the last of me, Danger!”
Nick Danger, Third Eye: “No, but the first of you Turns My Stomach!”
It’s only the beginning.
The risk is not to his health, UV; he either contracted Covid-19 from meeting Bolsonaro’s aide or he did not but, either way, quarantining himself now will not change that. The point of quarantine now is to minimise the risk that, if infected himself, he will pass on the infection to others,
Ignoring the risk you present to other people is not “showing leadership”; it’s showing a monstrously selfish sense of entitlement.
The first paragraph is a Gish Gallop of stupidity with a small dollop of excluded middle, sorta.
The second paragraph seems to say that we should accept Trump’s actions as what he thinks a leader should be doing, even if we know it to be really stupid.
For a President whose hypocrisy knows no bounds, to have a germophobe keep telling America that everything is fine for weeks after it obviously wasn’t is just a jaw-dropping, galling event.
Trump’s approval for handling this crisis is now 46%. As things get worse, which they surely will before it gets better, and the economy starts reacting beyond the stock market — man, it’s pretty hard to see how this isn’t the biggest political disaster since like Watergate.
Two weeks ago, the Republicans were all saying that it was a hoax.
Yesterday, the Republican Governor of Ohio closed all schools for three weeks, against the recommendation of the CDC, because he thinks that it’s being underdiagnosed by a factor of 20,000.
Well, the one comforting thing is that apparently if Trump did try to use this to delay an election, Pelosi would become president on inauguration day (I thought this was an interesting tidbit anyway).
At least he’s transparently wrong, and everyone seems to know it, judging by the empty shelves at Walmart, devoid of bottled water, boxes of mac & cheese, and canned vegetables and tuna. Apparently there are no deep freezers nor power generators to be had anywhere either. People are panic-shopping like they did right before 1-1-2000. And you know a lot of them voted for Trump.
When Reagan told everyone they weren’t at risk for AIDS if they were among the “good” people, they listened, and no one took the threat seriously for more than a decade.