Re: It's virus time, guyz. Welcome to Pandemic.
Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2020 8:37 pm
I'm in NYC and we were in total lockdown and then partial lockdown for months. Meanwhile, other states like Florida were wide open, and there is a big NY to FL pipeline of retirees, vacationers and relatives. Thousands of people go back and forth every week. The "every state decide for themselves" non-strategy at the federal level has been a disaster. It's "Whack-a-Mole" because the virus isn't influenced by state boundaries. If the entire US went on partial lockdown (or full lockdown in some places, partial lockdown in others) for one month, the virus would be virtually eliminated, in one month's time. The logical time to do that would have been during summer vacation when schools are closed. But Trump seems to be incapable of asking Americans to sacrifice, or do anything difficult or whatever. Trump can't force states to lock down (maybe he can, I don't think so) but he can publicly pressure states to cooperate, and the public pressure to play along would be intense.
If Biden wins, maybe he will do that - have a nationwide shut-down. February would be a good month to do that, since most of the nation slows down during that time, I think.
Imagine after Pearl Harbor if the president had said "This is really Hawaii's problem" or after Hurricane Katrina "every state is on their own". WTF is the point of having a United States if the president can't get states to act in unison.
Republicans wanted to elect an outsider with no government experience. Big surprise: Trump is worthless during a crisis. Less than worthless, Trump made things worse, by making states bid against each other for PPE, telling people the pandemic is a hoax, etc etc.
If Biden wins, maybe he will do that - have a nationwide shut-down. February would be a good month to do that, since most of the nation slows down during that time, I think.
Imagine after Pearl Harbor if the president had said "This is really Hawaii's problem" or after Hurricane Katrina "every state is on their own". WTF is the point of having a United States if the president can't get states to act in unison.
Republicans wanted to elect an outsider with no government experience. Big surprise: Trump is worthless during a crisis. Less than worthless, Trump made things worse, by making states bid against each other for PPE, telling people the pandemic is a hoax, etc etc.