I’m onboard with the OP’s premise.
Any way I can help?
OP, don’t you think this kind of bi-partisan leadership has to come from the very top? I know we’re all used to Trump’s daily rants against the press, the Democrats, and other perceived enemies of the state, but every other president, and I mean every other president would be expressing grief at the tremendous losses this pandemic has caused (life and economic), leading by example, and listening to the experts. A normal president would be posting those PSAs, reminding people to distance and wear masks, and so on.
With the president actively pushing people to protest their own governments over this very issue, your wish for a bi-partisan non-political campaign is a pipe dream.
There’s no one saying they can’t. It doesn’t have to come from the administration or a federal agency.
The message has to be more than just “wear masks”. Because if you look around at most of the people wearing masks, the masks are doing no good at all, and possibly making things worse. The message needs to include how to wear a mask. When you’ve got people who pull their mask down to their chin whenever they’re talking, and then pull it back up, they’re probably making things worse than if they weren’t wearing a mask at all. And when the social messaging is that those people are doing something good, that naturally leads to people thinking that it’s just theater.
That’s just it – in the past, it would have come from the administration or a federal agency because that’s whom Americans trusted. But that trust has been destroyed. So what organization should now assume the responsibility and cost of creating this message, especially when the current administration would shout it down the minute it was released?
The problem with the idea of having a bi-partisan non-political campaign, is that the leadership of one of the political parties has decided to make it a partisan issue. So even if an non-governmental, non-partisan independent group started sending out PCAs about how we should all wear masks it would be viewed as partisan by those of that party. You might as well ask that there be a non-partisan PCA ads about climate change, or the dangers of keeping guns in the home.
Yes, it shouldn’t be this way but its not something for which both sides are equally to blame.
Next up: Creating a coalition of game wardens and poachers to form a policy on conservation.
The US military has been the most trusted governmental institution for some years but they’re under Donny’s command. A site in 2017 listed the most trusted NGOs - with themselves on top, ha ha - but too many either aren’t household names or can be validly criticized IMHO. American Heart Association might come closest but anti-vaxxers won’t like it, ewww…
No, I guess Liberty First! activists will just have to watch their friends and families sicken and die before they take the hint.
The military would actually be a great option. I wonder … each branch has a marketing budget, which they currently use for recruitment. Suppose the Joint Chiefs could get together and reallocate the rest of that 2020 spend to a combined masks-and-distancing message – without Trump finding out?
When he tries to counter that message, he’ll probably end up accusing the US military of treason. That’ll go over real well.
Didn’t the President himself say he wasn’t going to wear one? At a press conference in front of the whole country?
Didn’t the VP refuse to wear a mask in a fricken’ hospital?
While I may agree with the OP, I think it’s pretty clear why it can’t happen at this point. A month ago? Sure. But this ship has sailed. It will become a “you’re wearing a mask - you must be a libtard” kind of situation.
The CDC drafted a large document with rules and guidelines for re-opening. States have been clamoring for this since it is one of the few US institutions with the clout to be respected by all of their citizens. The White House shut it down saying the reopening plans must come from the state governments.
My prediction is that the right wing will start pushing back against any sort of social distancing next week. I’m already seeing it start.
Last week the reopenings were going to be responsible. They swore they were all in behind distancing and masking. “We have learned how to be safe, we don’t need closures anymore“ seemed to be the party line.
They are already boycotting businesses that require masking and spreading the narrative that masks increase the risks . The pushback against distancing is next.
Now that the conservatives can go sit down inside the mall parking lot restaurants, they’re complaining that it’s no fun going out if the restaurant is half empty and the server is masked.
Besides the businesses can’t survive financially with distancing. And distancing isn’t fun, if we have to protect ourselves we might as well not go at all.
Anyway - this is the latest misinformation - we have lost all our natural immunity by staying home for six weeks and we must get it back. We need to run out and let people breathe on us NOW.
My mom has Parkinson’s and lives in a nursing home. I had an chat with her nurse yesterday. They are still COVID free but they are more concerned than ever, as other nursing homes in the area have just started to have outbreaks. Plus, they are starting to get pushback against the lockdown by families that are disagreeing that it’s necessary. They sound really stressed.
ETA- Forgot to mention that the government’s initial rejection of masks for the general public is part of the problem. According to Rick Bright’s whistleblower complaint, that misinformation was part of the strategy ( actually, their entire strategy ) for dealing the with mask shortages,