“These are truly the times that try one’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”
Thomas Paine – 19 December 1776
These are truly the times that try one’s souls. The United States has been invaded by an invisible noxious force that has the capability to bring the country to its knees by destroying its economy and health care system.
This enemy lurks in every street and road in the country. It cannot be seen. I view it as a sniper hiding off at a distance waiting for a target to appear and then causing a deadly missile to strike it. Some of the hits may be deadly, others less so. But everyone who ventures out will be hit.
I think of it as a real invasion as if foreign troops had parachuted into all of our states and were moving through our villages and towns. What would we do if that happened? Would we not activate all our assets to combat it? Would we be taking half-hearted measures to deal with this enemy? Would we be debating in Congress what the correct response should be? Would we have downplayed the attack when we first learned of it?
When Thomas Paine wrote we fortunately had the right man in the right place to call upon to lead the nation’s forces. Today we are not so blessed. We have a person in charge who must accept responsibility for the massive failings by our government in preparing for this invasion despite knowing it was in the offing who continually lies to us about the enemy and the measures being taken to combat it. He rates his handling of this war as being perfect (10 out of 10) despite his Johnny-come-lately approach to the serious of it.
On February 26, 2020 “In a press conference in Washington, the US president said the danger to Americans “remains very low” and predicted that the number of cases diagnosed in the country, currently on 15, could fall to zero in a “few days”. Around the same time he said: “It’s going to disappear. One day it’s like a miracle, it will disappear. And from our shores, you know, it could get worse before it gets better.” Then he said during a rally in South Carolina, that the Democrats’ criticism of his administration’s response to the outbreak as “their new hoax”
Those were some of his opinions on the seriousness of the enemy that was gearing up to attack the country. Incredibly at a conference yesterday he said: “I’ve always known this is a, this is a real, this is a pandemic, I’ve felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic. . . . No I’ve always viewed it as very serious.”
From ignoring it, or at a minimum downplaying it, Trump now suggests he never did those things. He claims he viewed it as a pandemic for a long time. If that were true, (which is isn’t), then we have to ask why did he do nothing about it. If he knew the enemy was at our gates he sat back and did nothing so how would he justify that?
We really are in trouble. Trump is not a war-time leader. He thinks of himself and not the nation. A true leader would recognize this is a war and all our defenses would be called upon. It is not being done. The recognition of the dangers we face is being ignored, the Republican Senate dilly dallies. and the president is delusional.
When our government won’t protect us then we have to protect ourselves. Stay at home if you can for the enemy lurks outside your door. Stay safe and healthy.
Wa-llahi! A red star’s rising. The inevitable triumph of the future is transpiring before your eyes. Glorious Leader is publicly acting out all the contradictions of bourgeois society. The Greeks understood that moment of epiphany, so, crucial, to drama. Too bad, the ancients can’t be here. It’s going to be an apocalyptic moment (Sartre). The old system riddled with greed, dying of it’s own corruption, will provide the background for the unfolding drama. It’s gonna be wild in the streets. Read “The Plague” by Albert Camu and/or “Decameron.”
All praise to the governors, all censure to the despot. All power to the dialectic.
Boccaccio (d. 1375) wrote “Decameron.” It’s worth a google. Camu grew up in Oran during the pied noir era of modern Algerian History. Oran was subject to frequent pestilences that would take away a goodly percentage of colonists each time they’d strike.
What is to be done? Opportunity knocks. All power to the dialectic.
Khalid p, my well read friend. Glad to see you are still running around with the Red flag. Sometimes I see you walking the streets if Zurich with Lenin as he rants and raves heading for another day at the library. There, I see you on the train through Germany sitting with him as you planned what to do when you reached the Finland Station. Ah, but it was only a day dream. You were born too late to have helped with the revolution.
wa-llahi! Think about the Occupy Wall St. Movement (OWS). That spontaneous response to corporate greed was the dress rehearsal for what’s coming, next. All the wealth gouged out of the people in the last few decades will be coming back to it’s real creators, the proletariat. Most of the cadres in OWS were young, then. They’ve matured into fine Bolsheviks. The revolution will be televised, and, on the INTERNET. Events are moving swiftly, close to the speed of thought. We’re all careening toward a resolution of the contradiction of bourgeois existence. A material synthesis will sublate the old world. What will we keep of that fading world? It’s disappearing around a bend in time. Quick! Grab some memories. Soon, it will all be gone.
Our biggest threat is that the millennials will use this as an opportunity to kill all Boomers who have caused all these problems.
Seems to me Hutch that the millenniums are not going to be around much longer than the baby boomers. Latest report showed that they also do quite well and catching the virus. Maybe saying it only affected the older generation was to make the younger folk feel immune but was a ruse by the older generation to get rid of the younger whippersnappers.
How can we rally around a man who denies what he said as soon as it becomes inconvenient, eg. “hoax? I never said that” Or who blames the Democrats? Or anyone but himself or his admin.
I agree-Americans (and Italians, French and probably men from Mars) usually put aside their differences during national emergencies, but when the leader is such an obvious sleaze, it tests the limits of faith in the executive. His own Vice-President is made a fool of, in public, by praising the efforts of a Governor whose state was being assaulted by the virus, simply because Trumpty Dumpty didn’t like him. Now that is Leadership for you!
There was a speech given by President Carter in 1977 which became known as the MEOW address. Carter claimed that there was an energy crisis that was the moral equivalent of war. He stated based on an MIT study that the planet would run out of oil in twenty years. He was only off by a couple of centuries. The world has an abundance of oil, gas and coal. An almost inexhaustible supply. We could only drive 55 mph under Jimma’s great insight. We didn’t need a war then and we don’t need one now. This too shall pass.
Doctor Anthony Fauci (NIH Infectious Diseases; Holy Cross, Cornell Medical) says “We’ll be thankful we are overreacting.”
We’ll see. How do you measure the adverse public health impacts of a crashing economy, rising unemployment and social dislocation (no sports, no theaters, no plays, no classrooms, no dances, social isolation, instilling fear) as a result of the “overreaction”? We don’t know.
Remember, this too shall pass. And it will recur (that’s why we’ll develop a vaccine) or something like it will recur.
Pandemics (viral and bacterial) are part of human existence: The Justinian Plague, the Black Plague, Smallpox, Spanish Flu, Poliovirus, the Common Flu, Swine Flu, Russian Flu, AIDs, Sars, Mers, Ebola, and now Coronavirus, to mention a few.
The first vaccine was invented in 1798. (Jenner’s)
The first antibiotic in 1928. (Penicillin).
We will only know the extent of the coronavirus pandemic in retrospect. Will hundreds of thousands or millions die? Will it exceed the Common Flu’s annual death toll (20,000 to 70,000 annually in the U.S.)? Will those who die of Coronavirus mainly be those who would have died of the Flu? It seems so, as the average age is 81, and most have preexisting conditions.
Remember this: Stress itself causes illness, compromises the immune system, and can lead to death, especially in those with pre-existing conditions. So, don’t worry. Exercise daily. Jog, walk. Take it easy.
Remember this, too, the average life expectancy of a man born today is @78 years. The average life expectancy of a person 75 years old today is eleven more years, of a person 80 years old is 7 more years. So, roughly half of 75 year-olds will be dead by 86 and half of 80 year-olds will be dead by 87. Roughly 99.98% of Americans will not see 100. . . . even without coronavirus.
Only in retrospect will we know if the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic had a major or minor impact on public health mortality and morbidity statistics.
Finally, will Doctor Fauci’s “overreaction” also lessen the number of deaths from the common Flu?
Only time will tell.
P.S. BEFORE WE START THROWING POLITICAL STONES at each other, REMEMBER THE SWINE FLU (H1N1) EPIDEMIC (which occurred during the Obama/Biden Administration) KILLED OVER 12,000 IN THE UNITED STATES: President Barack Obama stated that “We are closely monitoring the emerging cases of swine flu”. He also noted, “This is obviously a cause for concern … but it is not a cause for alarm” April 27, 2009. First case in California in late March 2009. It wasn’t until October 24, 2009, President Barack Obama declared Swine Flu a national emergency in the United States. On November 12, 2009, the CDC reported an estimated 22 million Americans had been infected with 2009 A H1N1 and 4,000 Americans have died.
On February 12, 2010, the CDC released updated estimate figures for swine flu, reporting that, in total, 57 million Americans had been sickened, 257,000 had been hospitalised and 11,690 people had died (including 1,180 children) due to swine flu from April through to mid-January. Fiinal U.S. death toll over 12,000.
So, I agree with NC, don’t worry be happy, enjoy the great gift of life.
Why is it that people try to justify Trump’s actions by referring to something Obama may have done. Does one justify a murder by pointing to another person’s murder? Didn’t one learn about two wrongs not making a right.
The reason for political stones is we are left in the impossible position by Trump of not knowing the true facts. He lies all the time. He said anyone who wanted to be tested could be tested which was totally false weeks ago and still is false today. Do we ignore the lies? Do we believe from the beginning Trump knew this was a pandemic even though he downplayed it.
We should be on a war footing. Dr Fauci was asked what good is it to impose voluntary guidelines when many states just don’t follow them. Why not make them mandatory? He replied something to the effect that this attitude among the officials who don’t yet appreciate the seriousness of the case. I don’t think the draft board during my time would have acted so kindly if I told it they had no right to interfere with my freedom.
No one knows the future. We do know it will be dire unless we go on a war footing and fight back as if it is a real enemy.
The comparisons with prior presidencies and prior epidemics is necessary to show the hypocrisy of those seething with Trump Derangement Syndrome. No one suggested Obama may be tried for negligent homicide for his handling of swine flu, when he waited six months to declare a national emergency, but today’s news tells us a former federal prosecutor and MSNBC legal adviser suggests Trump may be tried for negligent homicide because of his administration’s comparatively quicker response. Hypocrisy.
As to Trump “lying” about the availability of tests, what if his public health experts told him tests were available? Or what if he simply misconstrued what they were telling him? Many people are denied tests because they don’t have the symptoms. Or they’re tested first for Common Flu and found positive, so additional testing is not deemed warranted.
How does it help this epidemic or pandemic to excoriate the president? In wars we usually rally round the president, unless it considered an unjust war like Vietnam. This is a just war, you say, so join the war effort, Matt, and rally around the current administration.
You do have to read beyond the propaganda. Here: “The excerpt also claims that Obama “declared a public health emergency on what was already a pandemic” in October 2009. But this is also wrong. Obama declared a national emergency, not a public health emergency, in October 2009. The Obama administration declared a public health emergency in April, months before swine flu was declared a pandemic. At the time that the Obama administration declared a public health emergency, only 20 confirmed cases (not over a million) of H1N1 existed in the United States”
Why do you always excusing his lies? Do you believe him when he says he knew it was a pandemic long before others? Do you believe him that he has always taken it seriously? How do you account for his statement saying otherwise? If he knew it was a pandemic long ago why did he do nothing about it? The plain facts are the tests were not available which his administration admitted yet you want to cover for him. I don’t get it.
It helps the fight against the pandemic to criticize a president who thinks he is doing a banged up job by telling the truth that he isn’t and maybe if the people push back against his lies something right might be done. You don’t rally around a guy who is taking you over a cliff, you tell him he is doing it and ask him to recognize what he is doing. If he’d stop lying and tell the truth we’d all be better off. We can see the effects of his lies on the stock market that is plunging. Yet, he tells us he is doing a wonderful job.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day. FDR said all you have to fear is fear itself. Scientists at NASA and Cal Tech claimed the Sun as it grows old could expand and burn much hotter thus making the earth uninhabitable in a billion years or so. That would contradict the hype over Climate Change being an existential threat as Bernie and Biden assert. 50 years ago was the first Earth Day where Barry Commoner and Paul Erlich said hundreds of millions would starve every year because the world was over populated and not enough food could be produced. Is the Covid 19 just another Scare campaign or is it real? Only 100 have died of it since it came to the U S in January. Almost all have been elderly with compromised health conditions. As the song says don’t worry be happy.
There was a teacher at a college located on the Boston – Newton line who was teaching a science course to entering freshmen. He explained as you noted that the earth would be uninhabitable in a billion years.
One student got up all excited and said: “that can’t be true. It just can’t.” He turned to his classmates in a panic saying “did you hear what she said about the earth ending?” He then turned to the teacher and said, “would you repeat it.”
She repeated the earth would end in a billion years.
The student immediately changed. He calmed down saying: “Oh, I was upset. I though you said the earth would end in one million years.”
NC – the news conference today by the president indicated that new statistics out of Italy indicated that the suggestion the elderly are the only ones at great risk may be wrong. It seems the younger may have a similar risk.
FDR did not make that statement and do nothing. He started to bring about legislation to help the economy. As you know that Supreme Court did its best to block his attempts to help the people.
Fortunately Trump has belatedly accepted – unlike some – that the VIRUS is all too real. His actions though still slow and hesitating show his recognition of its seriousness. Yes a little over 100 people have died to date but we’ve only just begun. Worrying accomplishes nothing. Neither does being blissful. It is serious. Protect yourself at stores. Today at the press conference the government told how unlike previous coronavirus outbreaks this virus is also spread by touching contaminated door knobs or counters. We should act wisely.
Perhaps now is the time for ALL good men to stop their political nonsense and rally to the aid of our nation in a UNITED way?
Agree 100%. The pandemic of common sense can win this war. It’s a great time for all humankind to act as one. This virus can save us or destroy us.
I don’t think it is political to have the president recognize the truth. He is trying to act presidential over the last few days which is good. But he still cannot level with the people that his response to this crises was slow and wrong. His lack of credibility is shown by the plunging markets.
Even today at his conference he tells us he may sign the war powers act later today. Why wasn’t it done weeks ago? This is the disconnect between his words and actions. He is still reluctant to impose mandatory restrictions on the people. Spring break is in full flourish on Florida beaches. Are we at war or not.
I agree we should all pull together and unite to fight this enemy. That doesn’t mean we close our eyes to what is happening and pretend the things are being done right when they aren’t. It doesn’t mean being quiet when someone is trying to rewrite history. Only the truth can help us win this war. I hope that Trump will someday recognize that.