"Ignorance doesn't kill viruses"
...From the day Donald Trump was elected, some of us worried how his administration would deal with a crisis not of its own making. Remarkably, we’ve gone three years without finding out: Until now, every serious problem facing the Trump administration, from trade wars to confrontation with Iran, has been self-created.
But the coronavirus is looking as if it might be the test we’ve been fearing.
But the coronavirus is looking as if it might be the test we’ve been fearing.
And the results aren’t looking good.
The story of the Trump pandemic response actually began several years ago. Almost as soon as he took office, Trump began cutting funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, leading in turn to an 80 percent cut in the resources the agency devotes to global disease outbreaks.
Trump also shut down the entire global-health-security unit of the National Security Council.
Experts warned that these moves were exposing America to severe risks. “We’ll leave the field open to microbes,” declared Tom Frieden, a much-admired former head of the C.D.C., more than two years ago.
But the Trump administration has a preconceived notion about where national security threats come from — basically, scary brown people — and is hostile to science in general. So we entered the current crisis in an already weakened condition...
Kevin Drum: "On the bright side, at least he hasn’t yet appointed Jared Kushner as our new coronavirus czar."
But the Trump administration has a preconceived notion about where national security threats come from — basically, scary brown people — and is hostile to science in general. So we entered the current crisis in an already weakened condition...
Kevin Drum: "On the bright side, at least he hasn’t yet appointed Jared Kushner as our new coronavirus czar."
Labels: China, Foreign Affairs, Racism, Science, The Repugnant Party, Trump
posted by Rob Anderson @ 11:47 AM
8 comments
8 Comments:
Trump deserves much credit for putting high tariffs on Chinese goods so that US consumers and companies would be less dependent on China for production and goods, thus making us all more resilient to problems there. It's much the same strategy for being a stronger country and not a slave to middle east oil, Chinese and African rare earth elements, and cheap Chinese labor.
Big pharma in particular has made itself so vulnerable by putting almost all production in China and India. They can't even pretend American drugs are better and safer than the same thing bought elsewhere for a fraction of what the FDA enforces on American consumers! Trump talks about reducing drug prices, but needs to actually do it. Not easy as Bill and Hilary failed before.
I tend to agree, i think perhaps more important is china's rip off of intellectual property. Not sure what can be done.
Not clear how these two comments are relevant to Trump's typically moronic response to the corona virus epidemic. Hyped up nationalism and tariffs seem irrelevant to the reality of an increasingly globalized economy. Nationalists and racists---a lot of overlap there---need to face this reality: we're all in this together, which means everyone in the world. National borders are becoming irrelevant.
Companies managing risk is always important. Google, Amazon, Microsoft, IBM etc. don't just have one datacenter - they are spread around the world to lower risk and better serve locally. Sadly, too many companies have put all their eggs in just one basket, China. Their plummeting stock prices is what they deserve for doing it.
BTW, the CDC Director who helped trigger trillions of dollars more losses for people's retirement funds, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, is the sister of former AG Rod Rosenstein! The swamp is a small world! The Administration was right to clamp down on Democrats trying to hurt the public financially and increase fear all for attempted political gain.
Let's hope Nancy Pelosi stops holding virus funding hostage and gets a bill to the Senate and then the president.
Right. Companies should have avoided marketing in China because, after all, they don't have many potential customers...
CDC's Dr. Messonnier is part of some kind of "swamp"? Right. Best to let Vice President Pence, who, as a religious crackpot, botched the AIDS issue as Governor of Indiana, take control of the administration's public statements on the epidemic.
See also When an Epidemic Looms, Gagging Scientists Is a Terrible Idea
Yeah, for a few weeks Pence failed his government responsibility to hand out free hypodermic needles to junkies. He should have instead given them bus tickets to S.F, Seattle, or Portland to live and poop on your streets and get even more free shit.
The needle program is about saving lives and money, things conservatives should support. That it's about "free shit" misses the mark by a long shot.
On the other hand, I support busting people for shooting up on city streets. Let them kick in the city jail, where, interestingly, they have a drug program. The needle program is designed to prevent shooting up on the street while giving druggies a chance at rehab.
Well now that we are talking about street prople into street drugs, heck in my soma neighborhood there are no few than 4 detox and rehab centers with a 5 square block area. Unfortunately you can lead a horse to water but.... so in the meam time pushers rule soma. Today no fewer than 5 openingly dealing at 8th and Minna. I mean even if busted the DA does not prosecute!!!
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