Everyone has to take responsibility to follow the rules if this is going to work. That’s everyone starting with you and me, our neighbors locally, countywide, regionwide, statewide and across the county. That includes all of our elected officials from the president, governors, our representatives in Congress and the U.S. Senate. We only have one shot to contain this because after a while people will get tired of following the rules if they don’t see any results. And results won’t come unless we take the most extreme measures now.
So it makes me mad when I read that testing of passengers of a stricken cruise ship off of our shores were told by federal authorities it’s voluntary to get tested, while some of those who have gotten tested have tested positive even though they have shown no signs of illness. It makes me furious when our president is not handling this crisis like a president should. He’s playing the role of Neville Chamberlain, not Winston Churchill. We need him to see the threat, accept it, and bring the full force of the federal government to fight it as if this were a world war. We have seen him on TV first denying the threat, saying it would be over in the spring, likening it to the flu, contradicting the experts and then blaming reporters for asking him nasty questions. And worse of all giving conflicting messages when his job is to calm the nation, make sure the full powers of the federal government are being used to combat it, and stop playing the blame game. He needs to keep the quote on his desk which President Harry Truman kept on his, “The buck stops here.” But now he has done the unthinkable.
***
There was an editorial in The Wall Street Journal last week suggesting a prolonged shutdown would hurt business and that was not a good idea. I couldn’t believe what I was reading, but now it’s clear. Trump and certain business leaders have decided the stock market is more important than lives. And a conservative economist writes that we don’t have enough data to know whether drastic lockdowns are worth the economic damage. However, we do know what happens in a country when people don’t follow the rules — Italy. Unbelievable but unfortunately too many will use this as an excuse to get out and go back to work or party. Meanwhile, health experts agree reducing these reductions could significantly increase the death toll from the virus. And many economists say, according to articles in both The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal (not the opinion page) that there is no good trade-off. Resuming normal activities too soon could strain hospitals and result in even more deaths while making the recession even worse. So we have one chance to do this right and the president isn’t helping. He’s saying what people want to hear but may be contributing to the death of a family member or themselves or making this crisis worse. It exemplifies what is so terrifying about having Trump at the helm. He does not know how to steer the ship through rough waters and is heading us right into a hurricane where we cannot escape the damage. Be glad you live in California and the Bay Area where the governor and county officials are helping to keep us safe.
***
I don’t intend for this column to be a Trump bashing column but to just plead with those who read these pages to stay at home. Don’t listen to those who say it will be OK to go back to work on Easter. For all we know the cases in the Bay Area may be very high by then because we have done so little testing. So it will be tempting to say, “see staying in and destroying the economy hasn’t helped. We need to get back to work no matter what.”
Please listen to the experts. And if you are one of those who cares more about the stock market than human lives then understand stopping the virus as soon as possible is the best thing for the stock market. Just ask the Italians. We need to hang in this together and tough it out as difficult as it may be. And let’s face it, we are all going a little bit crazy. But not crazy enough to think the virus is a cold or a flu and will soon be over. Please stay healthy. Take care of yourself and others. And wash those hands for at least 20 seconds several times a day.
Sue Lempert is the former mayor of San Mateo. Her column runs every Monday. She can be reached at sue@smdailyjournal.com.
Well Dorothy - your usual snarky comments about the President. He is torn between politics on the left, the physical health of our citizens, and the economic health of the nation. What you conveniently ignore, no surprise, are the other reports that deal with potential suicides and extreme stress levels that result from a caved-in economy. Those are also killers and that is what the President is also trying to mitigate. Perhaps you can write an article that explains the correlation between closing our borders, called racist by expert Pelosi, and the subsequent statements by Trump's scientific team that those actions likely resulted in saving tens of thousands of American lives. I won't hold my breath.
"I don’t intend for this column to be a Trump bashing column..." It's okay, Sue, we know you can't help yourself. Looking forward to 4+ more years of your columns.
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(4) comments
tRump is just the current leader and speaker forf one percenters' who worship money over humanity...
Well Dorothy - your usual snarky comments about the President. He is torn between politics on the left, the physical health of our citizens, and the economic health of the nation. What you conveniently ignore, no surprise, are the other reports that deal with potential suicides and extreme stress levels that result from a caved-in economy. Those are also killers and that is what the President is also trying to mitigate. Perhaps you can write an article that explains the correlation between closing our borders, called racist by expert Pelosi, and the subsequent statements by Trump's scientific team that those actions likely resulted in saving tens of thousands of American lives. I won't hold my breath.
His was a very late response after the first COV-19 death in Seattle
some ten weeks ago..
"I don’t intend for this column to be a Trump bashing column..." It's okay, Sue, we know you can't help yourself. Looking forward to 4+ more years of your columns.
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PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.