Four years ago, as Donald Trump started to secure the GOP nomination. One of the things I said, and have said several times since, is that the nightmare of a Trump presidency is that in a crisis we can't trust the information coming from the executive branch of the government. Since the start of the Covid-19 crisis we have seen the President saying things that are almost immediately debunked by scientists, sometimes at the same table or podium. The President is calling the virus a hoax, or the reporting on the virus a hoax, or the numbers a hoax, but the message is out there and news agencies and individuals are saying that this is being over-hyped to hurt the President. Executive branch officials are going on news programs and are saying they don't know basic information that can mitigate the spread of the virus and members of Congress were making fun of the virus, one of whom is now in self-quarantine.
It is easy for us to lose our minds over this. I think there are people over reacting to the spread of the virus and I think the fear may be a little over-blown. However, this is when we need leadership and clear science-based information. But it seems like the information is being run through the political shop of the party and not the public health community. In fact the leadership seems to be clueless about the process of testing and tracking the virus. Maybe because the numbers will look bad for the President. A cruise ship with a number of staff testing positive was held off-shore because, as the President said, he didn't want the numbers of infections added to the national total because it wasn't his fault. His fault? Like he sees this as a mandate on his Presidency and since he can't control the spread he is trying to avoid the reporting of the facts. This could be devastating. He has already begun polluting the stream of information by calling the reporting of facts in the media all fake. So we are now in a place where we can't trust the government information and the government is telling us not to trust the media.
So I hope people will take simple precautions and think about how we move through life. Hand-washing, avoiding shaking hands, and thinking about large gatherings are all good moves to mitigate spread. Thinking about the how we interact with the elderly or those immuno-compromised could actually save lives. But again the President fails us. He is continuing his campaign rallies, which skew older and often have very close contact. Yesterday he got off Air Force One and went right to a rope line and shook hands with strangers. It would be helpful if he had used that as a teaching moment.
Fear and confusion is dangerous. It is also feeding the financial collapse that we are struggling with as well. We need a President that looks at this with a level-headed vision, not worry about his political future, and let the science run the policy. Too bad we don't have one.
It is easy for us to lose our minds over this. I think there are people over reacting to the spread of the virus and I think the fear may be a little over-blown. However, this is when we need leadership and clear science-based information. But it seems like the information is being run through the political shop of the party and not the public health community. In fact the leadership seems to be clueless about the process of testing and tracking the virus. Maybe because the numbers will look bad for the President. A cruise ship with a number of staff testing positive was held off-shore because, as the President said, he didn't want the numbers of infections added to the national total because it wasn't his fault. His fault? Like he sees this as a mandate on his Presidency and since he can't control the spread he is trying to avoid the reporting of the facts. This could be devastating. He has already begun polluting the stream of information by calling the reporting of facts in the media all fake. So we are now in a place where we can't trust the government information and the government is telling us not to trust the media.
So I hope people will take simple precautions and think about how we move through life. Hand-washing, avoiding shaking hands, and thinking about large gatherings are all good moves to mitigate spread. Thinking about the how we interact with the elderly or those immuno-compromised could actually save lives. But again the President fails us. He is continuing his campaign rallies, which skew older and often have very close contact. Yesterday he got off Air Force One and went right to a rope line and shook hands with strangers. It would be helpful if he had used that as a teaching moment.
Fear and confusion is dangerous. It is also feeding the financial collapse that we are struggling with as well. We need a President that looks at this with a level-headed vision, not worry about his political future, and let the science run the policy. Too bad we don't have one.
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