"You're damn right I'm taking hydroxychloroquine."
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And yet on January 30th he said:
"We only have five people. Hopefully, everything's going to be great. They (China) have somewhat of a problem, but hopefully, it's all going to be great."
And on March 9th he was not taking it seriously when he implied the season flu is far more deadly.
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And this shows the root of the problem. He would say one thing, then say the opposite later. Over and over. From "This will never be a pandemic" to "I always knew this would be a pandemic". From "people should stay home" to "fight stay at home orders". From "this will be over soon" to "this could last years". Having a coherent message erring on the side of caution, instead of contradictory one, would've helped lower the death count.
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Every decision he makes is prioritized:
- Will this help my reelection?
- Will this help my reelection?
- Will this help my reelection?
The reason he downplayed it in the beginning was because he knew the market would take a hit, this hurting his reelection chances. He doesn't give a crap about you and me. He cares for only himself, as a good narcissist should.
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@89th said in "You're damn right I'm taking hydroxychloroquine.":
And yet on January 30th he said:
"We only have five people. Hopefully, everything's going to be great. They (China) have somewhat of a problem, but hopefully, it's all going to be great."
And on March 9th he was not taking it seriously when he implied the season flu is far more deadly.
At those dates both statements were true.
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@89th said in "You're damn right I'm taking hydroxychloroquine.":
And this shows the root of the problem. He would say one thing, then say the opposite later. Over and over. From "This will never be a pandemic" to "I always knew this would be a pandemic". From "people should stay home" to "fight stay at home orders". From "this will be over soon" to "this could last years". Having a coherent message erring on the side of caution, instead of contradictory one, would've helped lower the death count.
Given that the smartest people in the world were at that time just barely learning how to collect data, and still today are having trouble collecting comprehensive data it is at best speculation to say that anything he might have done would help raise or lower the death count.
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@Copper yes those statements were true and EXACTLY the type of myopic message that delayed the seriously positive impact of social distancing that was only advocated for much later.
And yes, absolutely my position is speculation, although it's hard to think having a coherent message erring on the side of caution would've raised the death count.
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@89th said in "You're damn right I'm taking hydroxychloroquine.":
@Copper yes those statements were true and EXACTLY the type of myopic message that delayed the seriously positive impact of social distancing that was only advocated for much later.
And yes, absolutely my position is speculation, although it's hard to think having a coherent message erring on the side of caution would've raised the death count.
Caution does not have a universal definition.
Caution that favors saving lives over preserving the economy could be considered reckless behavior.
Even now, some lives could probably be preserved temporarily by shutting down all business for several more months. This would be reckless.
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@Jolly said in "You're damn right I'm taking hydroxychloroquine.":
If Pelosi believes the president should have done something at the beginning, when exactly does she think was the ‘beginning’?
Well, it certainly wasn't on Feb 24th, when she advised people to visit Chinatown, as it was perfectly safe.
I wonder how many lives were lost and how many more cases were positive as a result of this advice????
Link to videoIt also seems to me that around that timeframe, New York mayor, Big Bird was telling people to go out and eat and enjoy themselves.
But nobody listens to them, right? Cause they're not the President.
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@89th said in "You're damn right I'm taking hydroxychloroquine.":
And this shows the root of the problem. He would say one thing, then say the opposite later. Over and over. From "This will never be a pandemic" to "I always knew this would be a pandemic". From "people should stay home" to "fight stay at home orders". From "this will be over soon" to "this could last years". Having a coherent message erring on the side of caution, instead of contradictory one, would've helped lower the death count.
You keep repeating the same thing over. Repeating it doesn't make it relevant.
As the old saw goes, "Never pay attention to what a politician says; pay attention to what he does."
Or, in this case, what you claim he didn't do.
What specific action should Trump have taken?
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I'll chime in here with the preface that my key criticism of Trump is that he's just not intellectually up to the job of governing. I also often argue that the role of the President in governing the U.S. is much more limited than people act like it is.
It's interesting that the argument now is - "well, the President actually can't do much here." Convenient - but I don't disagree that much. Powers to carry out specific actions are limited, but there is massive opportunity and responsibility to rally the country.
Now, on what he could do. It's a litany of tactical things that point to the fact that the white house didn't take this serious enough until pretty late. Example - PPE:
https://apnews.com/090600c299a8cf07f5b44d92534856bcAfter the first alarms sounded in early January that an outbreak of a novel coronavirus in China might ignite a global pandemic, the Trump administration squandered nearly two months that could have been used to bolster the federal stockpile of critically needed medical supplies and equipment.
A review of federal purchasing contracts by The Associated Press shows federal agencies largely waited until mid-March to begin placing bulk orders of N95 respirator masks, mechanical ventilators and other equipment needed by front-line health care workers.
You can argue whose fault it was that the stockpile was low (a good case to be made for Trump, a reasonable one for Obama). But why wait until, I think it was March-21 to place orders for N-95 masks?
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@George-K said in "You're damn right I'm taking hydroxychloroquine.":
And how did that demand for ventilators work out? Was there a shortage?
George - is your implicit argument here that we didn't need as many ventilators as we thought - so what a waste of time and effort? Similarly PPE isn't that important, it was/is going to be a waste of time anyways?
I don't want to put words in your mouth, so help me unpack that.
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@George-K
Many times what the President says will have a greater impact than what he does. Words are actions, in that sense.Like it or not, he sets the tone for how many citizens will treat the seriousness of a potential pandemic threat as well as for how many state and local officials might respond with local orders.
So whether it be through a signed action (e.g., executive order) or through a coherent message of caution and communication of the short term pain but long term benefits of shutting things down sooner rather than later, there are many things Trump could've done (and said) that would've enabled citizens and local governments to take action sooner than they did...which would've helped prevent some of the deaths we have now seen.
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@xenon said in "You're damn right I'm taking hydroxychloroquine.":
I'll chime in here with the preface that my key criticism of Trump is that he's just not intellectually up to the job of governing.
Well... up to the point where China and WHO fucked us in the ass, he was doing a pretty damn good job in my book.
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@Improviso said in "You're damn right I'm taking hydroxychloroquine.":
@xenon said in "You're damn right I'm taking hydroxychloroquine.":
I'll chime in here with the preface that my key criticism of Trump is that he's just not intellectually up to the job of governing.
Well... up to the point where China and WHO fucked us in the ass, he was doing a pretty damn good job in my book.
It's curious - he was praising Xi pretty hard until the end of Feb. On transparency - lol. Raise your hands if you believed China was being transparent at any point.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/15/trump-china-coronavirus-188736
