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Wednesday, March 18, 2020
Is This American Resilience?
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/03/coronavirus-crowds-dumb-not-brave.html
"After weeks insisting that COVID-19 was no worse than the flu and that the economy was fine, Trump himself has finally recommended that people not gather in groups larger than 10 people, and admitted that a recession is likely in the offing. These officials are hoping that Americans can see beyond their frontiersman fetish—where Saturday night outings have become the hedonic equivalent of defending the homestead—and commit to the actual greater good. Real sacrifices will be required in the coming weeks. Serious sacrifices—not just having to forgo a good time. Many Americans are prepared to make them and to act not for themselves but for others, at considerable cost and inconvenience to themselves. It won’t be easy. It will require that entire communities work together in fellowship by staying physically apart. We can hope that the defiant remainders will rise to the occasion, however belatedly. But if that doesn’t work, then the American holdouts need to take a minute to ponder who the enemy is they’re “resisting.” The virus isn’t sentient. It isn’t watching the bar-going hordes and thinking, Wow, I really misjudged these brave Americans; I’m not sure I’m up to this. But let’s say, for the sake of argument, that this is a war. (The Navy’s COVID-19 guidelines are illustrated by a submarine firing a torpedo at a giant coronavirus.) What the virus wants, to the extent that you can even project desire onto it, is to invade your body and then use it to invade your friends’ bodies too. You want to show the virus who’s boss? Want to do your part for the war effort and starve the invader into submission? Deny it the use of your body. Stay home."
"After weeks insisting that COVID-19 was no worse than the flu and that the economy was fine, Trump himself has finally recommended that people not gather in groups larger than 10 people, and admitted that a recession is likely in the offing. These officials are hoping that Americans can see beyond their frontiersman fetish—where Saturday night outings have become the hedonic equivalent of defending the homestead—and commit to the actual greater good. Real sacrifices will be required in the coming weeks. Serious sacrifices—not just having to forgo a good time. Many Americans are prepared to make them and to act not for themselves but for others, at considerable cost and inconvenience to themselves. It won’t be easy. It will require that entire communities work together in fellowship by staying physically apart. We can hope that the defiant remainders will rise to the occasion, however belatedly. But if that doesn’t work, then the American holdouts need to take a minute to ponder who the enemy is they’re “resisting.” The virus isn’t sentient. It isn’t watching the bar-going hordes and thinking, Wow, I really misjudged these brave Americans; I’m not sure I’m up to this. But let’s say, for the sake of argument, that this is a war. (The Navy’s COVID-19 guidelines are illustrated by a submarine firing a torpedo at a giant coronavirus.) What the virus wants, to the extent that you can even project desire onto it, is to invade your body and then use it to invade your friends’ bodies too. You want to show the virus who’s boss? Want to do your part for the war effort and starve the invader into submission? Deny it the use of your body. Stay home."
Former Rep. Duncan Hunter was sentenced to 11 months in prison for violating campaign laws
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/3/17/21183861/duncan-hunter-sentenced-prison-campaign-laws
"The Republican won’t have to turn himself into authorities until late May because of the coronavirus pandemic."
"The Republican won’t have to turn himself into authorities until late May because of the coronavirus pandemic."
How To Get More Ventilators And What To Do If We Can’t
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/coronavirus-ventilators-supply-manufacture_n_5e6dc4f7c5b6747ef11e8134
"The consequences of a shortage would be dire. Doctors would have to make harrowing decisions about who gets the ventilators and who doesn’t, decisions that doctors in coronavirus-ravaged China, Iran and Italy say they are making already."
"The consequences of a shortage would be dire. Doctors would have to make harrowing decisions about who gets the ventilators and who doesn’t, decisions that doctors in coronavirus-ravaged China, Iran and Italy say they are making already."
How To Support People In Health Care Working During Coronavirus
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-to-support-health-care-workers-coronavirus_l_5e6f840ac5b6747ef121c749
"Natasha Bhuyan, a practicing family physician in Phoenix, said you can help by heeding expert and government-issued advice. This includes washing your hands and practicing social distancing. “And don’t stockpile medical masks or hand sanitizer in mass amounts so front-line health care providers and patients in need are able to access them,” she said." People who work in medicine are being stretched beyond the limit in this COVID-19 outbreak. Take care of them."
"Natasha Bhuyan, a practicing family physician in Phoenix, said you can help by heeding expert and government-issued advice. This includes washing your hands and practicing social distancing. “And don’t stockpile medical masks or hand sanitizer in mass amounts so front-line health care providers and patients in need are able to access them,” she said." People who work in medicine are being stretched beyond the limit in this COVID-19 outbreak. Take care of them."
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
Trump’s damage is already done
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/17/trumps-damage-is-already-done/
"President Trump’s delay in preparing for the coronavirus might be the costliest presidential bungle in history, one that will likely increase the number of deaths and damage the long-term well-being of Americans. (The pathetic attempt to rewrite history to keep the Trumpian myth intact will not protect his reputation nor that of his enablers, including those who voted for acquittal in his Senate impeachment trial.) He has also poisoned the well of public opinion."
"President Trump’s delay in preparing for the coronavirus might be the costliest presidential bungle in history, one that will likely increase the number of deaths and damage the long-term well-being of Americans. (The pathetic attempt to rewrite history to keep the Trumpian myth intact will not protect his reputation nor that of his enablers, including those who voted for acquittal in his Senate impeachment trial.) He has also poisoned the well of public opinion."
The conservative movement is a public health hazard
https://theweek.com/articles/902018/conservative-movement-public-health-hazard
"It has been clear since 1980 that under Republican rule, the federal government decays. But under Trump, it has gotten full-blown administrative gangrene. Compared to what is needed to combat the crisis, Trump has done basically nothing. Meanwhile, he and his allies in conservative media have pushed an avalanche of misinformation that will only accelerate the spread of the disease. This is what the conservative movement has become: a gigantic public health hazard for America and the world. There are two main ways in which conservatives have dissolved the bones of American government. The first is ideological. For decades, Republicans have been pushing a libertarian economic vision that can be summarized as "Government Bad." By this view, the government is a largely-pointless hindrance to private enterprise, and basically all regulations and social welfare programs should be done away with. (Prisons and the military can stay, of course.) But there are many, many things, like public health emergencies, in which private businesses simply cannot handle things on their own. Nothing but the federal government can carry out the rapid and extensive actions needed to coordinate a response to a galloping nationwide viral pandemic, and the federal government is by far best able to finance one. As The New Republic's Alex Pareene writes, the right-wing extremists in the Trump administration have reacted with a sort of slack-jawed disbelief at the private sector completely failing to rise to the coronavirus challenge. Second and more importantly, there is the conservative propaganda machine. The American right-wing media is without question the most unhinged, hysterical, irresponsible, and conspiracy-addled major press complex in the world. The right-wing media in the U.K. and Australia come close (probably because of shared language and ownership), but nobody beats Fox News in their combination of wide reach and utterly shameless propaganda."
"It has been clear since 1980 that under Republican rule, the federal government decays. But under Trump, it has gotten full-blown administrative gangrene. Compared to what is needed to combat the crisis, Trump has done basically nothing. Meanwhile, he and his allies in conservative media have pushed an avalanche of misinformation that will only accelerate the spread of the disease. This is what the conservative movement has become: a gigantic public health hazard for America and the world. There are two main ways in which conservatives have dissolved the bones of American government. The first is ideological. For decades, Republicans have been pushing a libertarian economic vision that can be summarized as "Government Bad." By this view, the government is a largely-pointless hindrance to private enterprise, and basically all regulations and social welfare programs should be done away with. (Prisons and the military can stay, of course.) But there are many, many things, like public health emergencies, in which private businesses simply cannot handle things on their own. Nothing but the federal government can carry out the rapid and extensive actions needed to coordinate a response to a galloping nationwide viral pandemic, and the federal government is by far best able to finance one. As The New Republic's Alex Pareene writes, the right-wing extremists in the Trump administration have reacted with a sort of slack-jawed disbelief at the private sector completely failing to rise to the coronavirus challenge. Second and more importantly, there is the conservative propaganda machine. The American right-wing media is without question the most unhinged, hysterical, irresponsible, and conspiracy-addled major press complex in the world. The right-wing media in the U.K. and Australia come close (probably because of shared language and ownership), but nobody beats Fox News in their combination of wide reach and utterly shameless propaganda."
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