When history is written , today will mark a Black Crepe Day in the saga of American public health, political governance, and Presidential (non)leadership.
Today is the day the US has burst its shackles and become Number 1 in all the world for its toll of COVID-19 distress. In the Triple Crown of Malachievements, the US is now a solid winner surpassing both China and Italy for the most cases infected, and the most active cases ill and needing treatment. We are second-rate only in the category of COVID-19 deaths, but we are rapidly making up ground.
Because of the lack of sufficient testing going back months despite clear warnings, experts have had to rely more than is wise on the crudest measure of effect: deaths instead of illnesses and hospitalization rates. A kind of public health triage when your information base has been compromised or sabotaged. Thank you, Mr.President. As a result, we don’t even know how much additional underground infection we have had, where to try and marshal resources not next week but for May and June. New York, California, Louisiana, Georgia, and Florida are already taking on water. What is the next decile going to look like? Trump.45 has no goddamn idea.
Another little information gem this evening was the news that his HHS Homeland Department’s COVID-19 pandemic modeling was shut down after it yielded unpleasant results the Boss didn’t want to hear. If you hear cockroaches running around in packs, just turn off the kitchen lights. That will make the problem go away. Or at least banish it from Fox News and collaborators.
As a national security matter, Trump.45 has failed immensely and is angling to make things worse by his pugnaciously ignorant whining about Beautiful Packed Churches for His Special Day on Easter.
In the space of 30 days he has tanked the economy to 1932 levels of pain, worry, and distress for ordinary Americans. He has presided over the worst Public Health Cock-Up in US History. And he is missing in action with respect to providing rational informed counsel to Americans so they can make difficult necessary adjustments until we can return to some semblance of our prior community interactions.
At this point with 100,000 cases staring us in the face tomorrow or the next day our entire acute care medical system is cracking. The nurses, doctors, techs, EMTs, aids, cleaning staff and food workers actually doing the work are at grave risk and becoming sick because of Trump’s deliberate rejection of sound public health medical advice. His hunches are so bad it is hard to even characterize them with a sufficient degree of gravity. Kill the nurses, the effects on everyone else are magnified 10 fold. There will be temporary tent morgues, and patients on stretchers in hallways with no one to look after them and no family members allowed.
The inevitable linked multiplier effects are such that as the acute care system struggles not to drown in COVID-19 cases, as those patients take over more and more beds, and staffing time, garden variety medical treatments for everything else will be neglected.
You know, Uncles Joe’s heart attack, Aunt Martha’s kidney failure, cousin Bill’s diabetic crisis. Forget about that elective hip replacement, or cosmetic surgical procedures. There is no magical reserve of normal routine hospital care in somebody’s back pocket to ease the pain.
As for the privileged and well-heeled, go ahead and offer the Virus a Benjamin. In fact offer him a pocket full of Benjamins. Watch him laugh. The COVID-19 Virus don’t need no stinkin’ Benjamins.
In these sorely trying times Trump.45’s only legitimate job is to command the entire productive Federal apparatus on an Emergency Wartime Footing and mandate critical production with guaranteed immediate orders funded by the Treasury. There is no market economy in a Pandemic Medical Crisis. Trump.45 might know that if had studied any serious history or economics.
Instead, he continues to fiddle and fantasize about a Big Beautiful Rally to Reopen the Country, with a Parade Down Wall Street, Jets Overhead, and a Massive Round of Leader Praise from His Most Excellent Team of Only the Very Best People, the very folks who have done essentially a Perfect Job managing our Borders, particularly to the South where so much trouble and grief to American pours in.
Given the undeniable and spectacular failures of leadership on display, of course Trump.45 is a soft target to point at. And yet…
Trump.45 has committed Dereliction of Duty as the Nation’s Chief Executive and Commander in Chief. He has proven himself incapable and unworthy to hold that High Office and weld its powers for all of America.
And we still need leaders to get through this. At least of portion of the 50 Governors know how to do their jobs. The country will reopen when they say so. Trump,45 has rendered himself increasing irrelevant and immaterial. When he is not actively blocking the Way Forward, that is.
Stay Home Stay Safe Look After Your Neighbors
Support and Pray for First Responders and Selfless Medical Providers
