A couple of Republican congressmen, Ken Buck of Colorado and Andy Biggs of Arizona, who is also chair of the House Freedom Caucus, write for the Washington Examiner that it’s a damn shame about all those deaths but — jeebus, people, the economy! After pointing out that not as many people have died as the administration’s artificially inflated estimates (that they falsely attribute to Dr. Fauci) said, the congressmen declare we must all go back to work.
It is tragic that thousands of people in the country have died or may yet succumb to the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. But we also must remember that millions of people have had their lives and livelihoods permanently altered because of the government response to this virus. While our government may make promises and help make things better once the hysteria subsides, there is nothing our leaders will be able to do to make everything completely right again….
… Birx also recently indicated that we should not open up the country yet because there might be a second time around for the virus. Has she considered the economic destruction she is content with wreaking on the nation? One wonders if she has thought about the emotional toll — the suicides, the increase in domestic and child abuse, drug and alcohol dependence, and a host of additional societal pathologies. Has she considered the loss of life-savings, businesses, and capital?
The headline of this, um, opinion — Is Dr. Fauci Helping or Hurting?– was already a rallying cry others on the right.
Biggs and Buck, both members of the conservative Freedom Caucus and staunch allies of President Trump, join others on the right in criticizing public health officials on the administration’s coronavirus task force. On Tuesday, Tucker Carlson, a conservative commentator on Fox News, said that Fauci “shouldn’t be making economic decisions.”
And, of course Fauci isn’t making economic decisions. He’s making scientific recommendations, which he is well qualified to make.
Along similar lines, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas has announced plans to allow businesses to reopen with an executive order that would lift the coronavirus lockdown.
Abbott said Texas, which would be the world’s 11th largest economy it were an independent country, could find a balance between personal safety and economic security.
“We will focus on protecting lives while restoring livelihoods,” Abbott said on Friday at a news conference.
“We can and we must do this. We can do both, expand and restore the livelihoods that Texans want to have by helping them return to work. One thing about Texans, they enjoy working and they want to get back into the workforce. We have to come up with strategies on how we can do this safely.”
Abbott said details of the executive order would be available next week and it is expected to provide businesses with a list of guidelines on how to safely reopen.
See also How many missed? Texas is second-worst in the nation for COVID-19 testing in the Houston Chronicle.
The economy may very well be screwed for years to come. But the economy can’t be re-started at a time when shopping can prove fatal, and businesses are being forced to close because the employees are dropping dead. It won’t work, righties. We’d all like it to be otherwise. But reality is what it is. As hard as you might try to override reality with ideology — and many of us get away with doing that most of the time — sometimes reality will push down all your beliefs and demand to be recognized.
Right now is one of those times.
I read in Vox that one of the strongest predictors of social distancing behavior is attitudes toward climate change. In other words, if you think climate change is a big hoax being perpetrated by pointy-headed liberal academic science types because they’ve figured out a way to monetize it, somehow, then you’re likely not going to voluntarily engage in social distancing until you’re hooked up to a ventilator. Of course, these are the same people who think Donald Trump is accomplishing great things.
I would personally be just fine with letting all the yahoos who think social distancing is for pansies to do as they please, as long as we can wall these people off from the rest of us. But righties don’t like that, either. See ‘Take a step back.’ Beshear’s plan to quarantine Easter churchgoers draws fire from GOP.
Of course, there is no one on the planet more averse to reality than Donald Trump. If you read nothing else today (after this blog post) do read He Could Have Seen What Was Coming: Behind Trump’s Failure on the Virus in the New York Times. It provides a lot more detail than I’ve seen before as to what’s been going on in the administration while it has bungled the pandemic response.
If our Reich-Wingers are under the impression that if this tRUMP Plague and the precautions taken were to end tomorrow, that on Monday, America's workers can go back as if nothing ever happened, then they are in for a major shock!
Any way you want to look at it, our economy is screwed for… Well, for at least a while. And other parts of it will never recover.
It will also be interesting to watch the coming of societal changes after this tRUMP Plague.
I believe it'll take a a bit of time before people crowd into sports and music venues – along with other crowd-based events. While being at a major game or concert live can be a great, if not even transcendent experience, watching on a TV, laptop, or other device has its own satisfactions: no need to dress-up or drive, stopping live action to go to the bathroom, or get a meal or snack, rewind, etc…
Why can't we, as people start to return to work, allow those people who can work, and work productively, from home, stay there? Less cars on the roads, with no or less parking needed, will be better for the mental well being of workers, AND great for the climate!
Less driving will mean less need for carbon-based fuels. Less crowded office space will also lessen our country's carbon footprint.
And that means less jobs in fracking, drilling, and mining. Losing those jobs will be a boon for the climate, and the workers in those industries, who can be trained for "green jobs!"
Other jobs will disappear, or be less necessary: retail workers, among them.
I won't go into the societal changes, except to mention this one example: More men may decide to work from home instead of traveling to and from work (women too, obviously – but for those staying at home now, having more men at home may free women up to pursue their own interests).
There are many, many more societal changes possibly coming down the pike. And political one, too!
So, if I'm correct, any Reich-wingers who, after this pandemic is tamed, expect to wind back the click to back early January, 2020, are in for a very very, rude awakening! And about time!!!
Oh those right wingers, as Saint Ronald Reagan once said, Those young pup right wingers are not part of the solution they are one of, if not our biggest problem. (I am not sure if that is an exact quote, as I have tried to repress most of what Reagan said) But Boy if he did say that, he hit the nail on the head with that one too.
I have been reading what the German's and other European Countries are doing. It has a calming effect which is quite needed at this point in time. Angela Merkel is quite the pleasant contrast to what we have and quite a competent leader. It is more her ability to assemble a competent team (No Aurthur Laffers need apply) that makes me think they are on a good track.
I am impressed by articles with content like this:
Credit goes to the staff at Der Speigel staff, from an article entitled When will Germany Begin Loosening Coronavirus Restrictions.
To me this is great text. This is the kind of text and sensible reasoning that gives me confidence someone it thinking well and probably going to get the problem dealt with competently. In the same article they talk about one leader using the word reentry rather than other words used by our politicians. For sure what we are doing now is not sustainable, but what is our plan for the future or reentry plan. What the right wingers are saying is not a plan, it is a rant and I would claim a demented one.
My guess is that right wingers would scoff at the quote from Der Spiegel and mock Merkel. I wonder who taught them to do that? Gone are the days of the thinking conservative who could be a productive problem solver and deal with data from a scientific institute. Now, they are a big problem and perhaps a bigger problem than the pandemic itself. In this time of crisis everyone has a job to do and must perform it with due diligence. For right wingers, Trumpanistas, and many others their job is essential. Their job is to Shut Up and Stay the Hell out of the Way. They need to get hard at it IMO.
Oh and Der Spiegel's new article entitled How Trump is Fueling the Corona Disaster is a great one too. You may need to hit the right button to get the English version if your German is a bit weak.
https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/the-american-patient-how-trump-is-fueling-a-corona-disaster-a-024a5cc9-2c07-419
I remember back in the summer of 1976 when Son of Sam was blowing people away. He was primarily shooting people in the Bronx and in Brooklyn, but he issued a statement saying the he was planning to head out to Long Island to shoot up a discoteque or some night club.
My thought at the time was to maybe put a hold on the partying scene in any clubs on Long Island at the time. The probability of falling victim to one of the Son of Sam's killing episodes was extremely slim, but just the fact that a killer was out there that was invisible until he struck, much like the coronavirus, make you give some serious thought about weighing the risk in modifying your social interactions.
Given my assessment of my overall health condition and my age, my belief is that if I were to contract the coronavirus I wouldn't survive it. It would be one thing if I decided to increase my exposure by ignoring safety protocols, but it would be an entirely different situation for the government to increase my exposure by recommending abandoning those safety protocols. Maybe if I were 40 years younger I might be a proponent of culling the herd and let the virus run it's course unchecked.
As things stand for me now, I'm not ready to run that risk. And it's not like I'm some selfish old codger not wanting to part with life. I still have a family structure where I play a critical role in the economic well being of the family. The day of my departure will come soon enough, but I don't need to have it moved up just to increase Trump's chances of reelections.
My son is in the natl guard. His unit is working with a private company that makes masks. Consultants engineers etc have come from gm boeing dell to advise this small company in ramping up production. Makes you wonder how much the big corporations are getting paid.
And lord knows who is going to get those masks.
Is that before the oil crash price?