I say the Trump admin because the piece in the NY Times points NOT just to President Trump…
It points to politics, Dr. Deborah L. Birx,, Dr Fauci, White House political people…
But mostly to a President whose basic instincts are to counter ‘experts’….
And belief that the Covid-19 virus was just a passing fad….
They where ALL wrong….
Except for Fauci….
By early June, it was clear that the White House had gotten it wrong.
In task force meetings, officials discussed a spike in cases across the South and whether any bumps in caseloads were caused by crowded protests over the killing of George Floyd. They briefly considered if it was a fleeting side effect of Memorial Day gatherings.
They soon realized there was more at play.
Digging into new data from Dr. Birx, they concluded the virus was in fact spreading with invisible ferocity during the weeks in May when states were opening up with Mr. Trump’s encouragement and many were all but declaring victory.
With the benefit of hindsight, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Robert R. Redfield, acknowledged this week in a conversation with the Journal of the American Medical Association that administration officials — himself included — severely underestimated infections in April and May. He estimated they were missing as many as 10 cases each day for every one they were confirming.
The number of new cases has now surged far higher than the previous peak of more than 36,000 a day in mid-April. On Thursday, there were more than 75,000 confirmed new cases, a record.
Mr. Trump’s disdain for testing continues to affect the country. By the middle of June, lines stretched for blocks in Phoenix and in Austin, Texas. And getting results could take a week to 10 days, officials in Texas said — effectively inviting the virus to spread uncontrollably.
Dr. Mandy K. Cohen, the top health official in North Carolina, contacted the Trump administration after a surge in June, asking the government to quickly open 100 new testing sites in her state, in addition to the 13 it was then operating.
“We will keep those 13 open for another month — you are welcome,” Dr. Cohen said, mocking the response she received.
It was a devastating situation, said Mayor Steve Adler of Austin, who watched as the Covid-19 cases at intensive care units at area hospitals jumped from three in mid-May to 185 by early July. Mr. Adler had a simple plea for the White House.
“When we were trying to get people to wear masks, they would point to the president and say, well, not something that we need to do,” he said.
Mr. Suarez expressed similar frustrations with Mr. Trump’s dismissive approach to mask wearing. “People follow leaders,” he said, before rephrasing his remarks. “People follow the people who are supposed to be leaders.”…..
Note…
Donald Trump’s admin STILL isn’t serious about the huge increase’s in virus infections in the South and Sun Belt states….
The Trump administration has balked at providing billions of dollars to fund coronavirus testing and shore up federal health agencies as the virus surges across the country, complicating efforts to reach agreement on the next round of pandemic aid.
Senate Republicans had drafted a proposal that would allocate $25 billion in grants to states for conducting testing and contact tracing, as well as about $10 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and about $15 billion for the National Institutes of Health, according to a person familiar with the tentative plans, who cautioned that the final dollar figures remained in flux. They had also proposed providing $5.5 billion to the State Department and $20 billion to the Pentagon to help counter the virus outbreak and potentially distribute a vaccine at home and abroad.
But in talks over the weekend, administration officials instead pushed to zero out the funding for testing and for the nation’s top health agencies, and to cut the Pentagon funding to $5 billion, according to another person familiar with the discussions. The people asked for anonymity to disclose private details of the talks, which were first reported by The Washington Post.
The suggestions from the administration infuriated several Republicans on Capitol Hill, who saw them as tone deaf, given that more than 3.5 million people in the United States have been infected with the coronavirus and many states are experiencing spikes in cases….
image….newsday.com
Assuming for the moment that Trump had been a “normal” President, on this basis alone , by the information presented here,he should be defeated for re-election.
All other “issues” are irrelevant.
Any alleged “flaws” in Joe Biden are irrelevant.
The level of incompetence, stupidity, outlandish lies,false and misleading information ,in likely the defining moment in the lives of most of us and maybe our children, merits the defeat of Trump.
I would even go a step further .Any public official who refuses or fails to denounce this blazing incompetence should be defeated .Nothing else matters.I couldn’t care less about extraneous “issues.”
Finally, but perhaps most importantly,there is now no doubt.None.Donald Trump and his Administration are totally,Completely and absolutely Responsible for the severity and needless spread of the pandemic which now is gripping our country, causing death and suffering, ravishing our economy and making the United States look like that poor “pitiful helpless giant “Richard Nixon once described ,inaccurately ,fifty years ago.( in defending his invasion of Cambodia at the height of the Vietnam War)
And we can thank Donald Trump,those who support him ,and the craven , disgusting Republican officeholders, commentators, media personalities and political hangers on who support him .
And they should be remembered for years to come.I know I will.
Jack?
U have any problem with this comment being a post?
No.
100% agree.
Very well said. We will all remember Trump’s ship of doom and everyone aboard.
And what in the Hell does
“Freedom” have to do with not wearing a mask?
Radical Right Wing extremism apparently wrapped up in so called “freedom lovers” hatred of “libruls.”In this haunted alternate reality that these kooks have created,all scientists have joined all Democrats, almost all Minorities(except those few who call themselves “Republicans “) , some Republicans (see Mitt Romney,Larry Hogan, members of anti Trump groups ) in this amorphous grouping.
If yelling fire in a crowded theater because of the danger it may pose to life and limb be not a “freedom of speech?”Then certainly refusing to wear a mask in national health emergency doesn’t either.
Even analysts who compare the necessity of wearing a mask to seat belts get it wrong. Seat belts only protect your life. A mask also protest others – and not just the people who you might initially pass it to, but to the people they might pass it too also.
People who don’t wear masks should be fined. And the fines can play a secondary role in reducing the massive deficit we are going to have to deal with.
The 7-day weekly average of the number of Covid-19 deaths continues to increase, although at least there was good news in that it increased at a slower rate than last week.