We all downplayed this Virus

[AzogtheDefiler]

You will not that Leftists will avoid this like the plague. Truth hurts them deeply.

Both sides need to quit the blame until this is over. Then we can analyze. What could we have been done better? What can we improve on for next time? I have been thinking a good bit on this. The political blame game reminds me of Benghazi. Instead of focusing on preventing future situations like it, politicals focused on partisan blame.

And for every Leftist blaming Trump there are Rightists blaming Dems and even Obama.

I make no secret about disliking Trump and his policies, but this time, for the first time in his presidency, he is faced with a crisis not of his own making. I think it’s comparable to 9/11 and will be a defining moment for his presidency. The combination of a worldwide pandemic and a worldwide recession is not something we’ve experienced in living memory. And the world is vastly different now than the when the Spanish flu hit.

No one person or agency or country is responsible for this. It is not a red state or blue state issue. No one is wanting the economy to crash or people to die.

Today’s reality is that new contagious virus‘ usually have already traveled far and wide before anyone even realizes what has happened. I just saw an article that stated it might have been in California as early as December.

So...quit blaming Trump, the Dems, China, WHO etc. No one could have fully anticipated this reality.

I do think Trump is doing his best and now takes it seriously, but I think the tools he has - his personality and management style make it difficult, because almost all of this is out of his control.

So, I will support his efforts to bring us through this, and likewise that of Pelosi, to ensure no one is left out. Let there be no forgotten man.

As soon as Donald takes TESTING seriously and stops hyping unproven drugs. As soon as he listens to REAL doctors and scientists and stops listening to Giuliani, Ingraham, Navarro and Doctor "Quack" Oz instead of the experts. As soon as he stops blaming everybody in the universe for his lame initial response and takes a bit of personal responsibility and shows a little actual LEADERSHIP - - - THEN I'll believe he's taking the problem seriously.

I think he is out of his depth here and doing the best he can. Until this is over, I don’t think we can fairly analyze it (and no, I don’t like the constant need to cast blame as opposed to just carry on, but it is who he is). And keep in mind, he is getting blamed unfairly as well.

Why can’t we all blame China?

We can and we do blame China for failure to be forthcoming. Blame the entire thing on China? Please!

If they were forthcoming there would not be anything else to blame them for.

True. So you can blame them for their lack of transparency. Bit not the pandemic. I think doing that feeds into our need to find a scapegoat. Sometimes there just isn’t one. Just like Trump isn’t to blame for it. Crap happens.

And, other than winning or losing elections, what does blaming accomplish? Better to focus on individual acts, policies, procedures...learn what to do differently for the next time. We are all in this mess together.

That is what I blame them for. Lack of transparency or to simplify, blatant lies. They are lying about the deaths in China to this day.

China keeps bad things on the down low. Always have. Like mining deaths, earthquake deaths, etc. The Govt. does this to their own. Order and control of the people. Ring a bell?

That is true but when it impacts the rest of the world they are obliged to inform other countries. They didn’t and now people are dying. There will be hell to pay. I am never letting them off the hook.

Your Donald got the warning before he took office. Then he IGNORED his own intel, his own war games, dithered and downplayed for 70+ days. It would have gotten here anyway. We live on a planet, NOT in a vacuum. Blaming the whole thing on the Chinese is simplistic and you know better!

Hmmmm....saw many debates of the Democrats. Saw many investigations into Trump. Saw an impeachment. Not once did I see a Democrat run on a pandemic response. If anything they ran on more inclusion and the environment and globalism. Spare me that intel was ignored. If this were truly a threat then Democrats would have ran on it during the primaries. Yet not one did. How do you explain that?

Dems were not privy to the intel Donnie had in November.

So only one person had that intel? Would you mind sending that link please?

 

[Coyote]

NYT just posted an article that is very in depth, the timeline, what people knew, and what the tried to do and when. The effort was complicated by administrative infighting and Trumps own personality that runs on “gut instincts” and refuses to acknowledge what he doesn’t want to hear. But it is unlikely we could have avoided the shutdowns, not when you have asymptomatic carriers.

At this point we are in this together for the long haul. What I hope is that Trump is capable of learning from mistakes and moving forward. This is really one of those situations where every choice will have a downside.

 

[Coyote]

Some comments from high profile Democrats about covid-19.
February 2 New York city health commissioner Oxiris barbot stating the risk to New Yorkers for coronavirus is low there is no reason not to take the subway not to take the bus not to go to your favorite resturant and certanily not to miss the parade next Sunday.
February 25 Nancy Pelosi saying you should come to Chinatown we think it's very safe.
March 2 New York Mayor Bill de Blasio stating since I am encouraging New Yorkers to gon with your lives and get out on the town despite coronavirus I thought I would offer some suggestions making recomendations and encouraging New Yorkers to go to the movies.
Lets be clear you can find examples of Republicans downplaying this as well so how about people stop with this typical my side did everything to stop it your side did nothing partisan horseshit.

yup.

 

[LoneLaugher]

Who is responsible for our response to this virus?

 

[Rocko]

Stop blaming only Trump. Look in the mirror and I got this damn virus (cured and immune now). It sucked but I have has worse. Especially you Leftists, watch and then shut your damn mouths. The NYC Health Commissioner on Feb 6th said the risk of the disease in NYC is low and preparedness is high. So you want Trump to play doctor here but not play doctor now? Which is it? You people are a damn scourge.

Glad ur okay

 

[AzogtheDefiler]

Stop blaming only Trump. Look in the mirror and I got this damn virus (cured and immune now). It sucked but I have has worse. Especially you Leftists, watch and then shut your damn mouths. The NYC Health Commissioner on Feb 6th said the risk of the disease in NYC is low and preparedness is high. So you want Trump to play doctor here but not play doctor now? Which is it? You people are a damn scourge.

Glad ur okay

Thank you. How did your mom do?

 

[Rocko]

Stop blaming only Trump. Look in the mirror and I got this damn virus (cured and immune now). It sucked but I have has worse. Especially you Leftists, watch and then shut your damn mouths. The NYC Health Commissioner on Feb 6th said the risk of the disease in NYC is low and preparedness is high. So you want Trump to play doctor here but not play doctor now? Which is it? You people are a damn scourge.

Glad ur okay

Thank you. How did your mom do?

My mom is home and doing well. She’s still hooked up to a oxygen contraption and doesn’t have as much energy as usual, but she’s getting better. We were lucky that her symptoms were mild compared to a lot of other people, but she’s 74 so her recovery is going to take a bit of time.

 

[Olde Europe]

True. So you can blame them for their lack of transparency. Bit not the pandemic. I think doing that feeds into our need to find a scapegoat. Sometimes there just isn’t one. Just like Trump isn’t to blame for it. Crap happens.

On Dec. 1, a doctor treated a patient with a pneumonia. Over time it turned out to be unusual. Shortly after Christmas, a lab had isolated the virus, and sequenced enough of the genome to warrant a suspicion they had something new on their hand. On Dec. 30, China warned the WHO of a new virus. A week later, they had the genome sequenced completely, and published it.

They had no test, no epidemiological profile, nothing. This thing was called "NOVEL coronavirus" for a reason - as you say.

During these days, with just a few confirmed cases at hand, they also realized how contagious this is, and Jan. 23 they imposed a lock-down on Wuhan.

On that day, the rest of the world could have counted the flights from Wuhan, and the passengers traveling in since, say, Dec. 1, trying to track them and their contacts down. With Wuhan in lock-down, they could have learned about the severity of the outbreak, and what it takes to contain the spread. Blaming China for their own doing next to nothing in February, and doing next to nothing during the first half of March (other than to completely botch the development and distribution of the test), is just Trump and his sycophants blaming others to distract from the Orange dunce's failures.

Local officials in Wuhan tried to prevent doctors from reporting the bad news to the central government. These local lackeys' malfeasance does not equate to Chinese "lack of transparency." Beijing was transparent and forthcoming as soon as they learned about the outbreak. Trump's efforts to smear the WHO for their acknowledgment of China's forthrightness and cooperation is just the icing on the slanderous cake.

 

[Rocko]

True. So you can blame them for their lack of transparency. Bit not the pandemic. I think doing that feeds into our need to find a scapegoat. Sometimes there just isn’t one. Just like Trump isn’t to blame for it. Crap happens.

On Dec. 1, a doctor treated a patient with a pneumonia. Over time it turned out to be unusual. Shortly after Christmas, a lab had isolated the virus, and sequenced enough of the genome to warrant a suspicion they had something new on their hand. On Dec. 30, China warned the WHO of a new virus. A week later, they had the genome sequenced completely, and published it.

They had no test, no epidemiological profile, nothing. This thing was called "NOVEL coronavirus" for a reason - as you say.

During these days, with just a few confirmed cases at hand, they also realized how contagious this is, and Jan. 23 they imposed a lock-down on Wuhan.

On that day, the rest of the world could have counted the flights from Wuhan, and the passengers traveling in since, say, Dec. 1, trying to track them and their contacts down. With Wuhan in lock-down, they could have learned about the severity of the outbreak, and what it takes to contain the spread. Blaming China for their own doing next to nothing in February, and doing next to nothing during the first half of March (other than to completely botch the development and distribution of the test), is just Trump and his sycophants blaming others to distract from the Orange dunce's failures.

Local officials in Wuhan tried to prevent doctors from reporting the bad news to the central government. These local lackeys' malfeasance does not equate to Chinese "lack of transparency." Beijing was transparent and forthcoming as soon as they learned about the outbreak. Trump's efforts to smear the WHO for their acknowledgment of China's forthrightness and cooperation is just the icing on the slanderous cake.

the world owes that Chinese doctor sequenced the genome of the virus and published it online (without the Chinese government’s approval) a huge debt of gratitude

 

[Olde Europe]

the world owes that Chinese doctor sequenced the genome of the virus and published it online (without the Chinese government’s approval) a huge debt of gratitude

Link?

 

[Tom Paine 1949]

I have never heard that the publishing of the whole genetic sequence was done by a doctor on his own authority. That was a central government project, under the control of the Chinese government health authorities themselves. I believe Rocko’s charge is NOT correct.

I believe the timeline Old Europe outlines is essentially spot on. But I believe there WAS, or surely could have been, besides the unforgivable original local coverups, some (perhaps a week or two) central government delay, confusion, and probably even intentional lack of transparency. XiJinping himself was silent in this period. He and the Beijing authorities were probably weighing carefully what action was appropriate. But this was NOT a “conspiracy“ against the West!

It was rather a natural hesitation when confronting a brand new threat that they weren’t sure how to deal with. Was Covid-19 only just a little worse than H1N1, something that could be handled without major disruption, and would have only a low fatality rate? Of course the government did not want to panic everybody until they had decided on what action to take. They did not want to panic everyone in Wuhan, so they would leave the city. Once they decided to shut down Wuhan and much of Hubei and much of their entire economy — just before the Lunar New Year when travel would peak — they had their hands full just carrying out the immense and difficult mobilization they had decided upon. Those decisions were not simple, just as in the U.S. our decisions — even after we know much more than they did — are still not simple.

 

[okfine]

NYT just posted an article that is very in depth, the timeline, what people knew, and what the tried to do and when. The effort was complicated by administrative infighting and Trumps own personality that runs on “gut instincts” and refuses to acknowledge what he doesn’t want to hear. But it is unlikely we could have avoided the shutdowns, not when you have asymptomatic carriers.

At this point we are in this together for the long haul. What I hope is that Trump is capable of learning from mistakes and moving forward. This is really one of those situations where every choice will have a downside.

Keep hoping. This identity politic is so immature. Got an axe to grind? If you want to put blame where its deserved, look at who runs the joint.

 

[SweetSue92]

Stop blaming only Trump. Look in the mirror and I got this damn virus (cured and immune now). It sucked but I have has worse. Especially you Leftists, watch and then shut your damn mouths. The NYC Health Commissioner on Feb 6th said the risk of the disease in NYC is low and preparedness is high. So you want Trump to play doctor here but not play doctor now? Which is it? You people are a damn scourge.

This is a good point and if we're honest with ourselves, I think most of us did that. It's human nature in fact, at least in my experience. I distinctly remember hearing that Japan had closed schools for an entire month and thinking "wow, that's so extreme. How would I ever cope with that? That's terrible. I'm so glad that would never happen here."

Seriously.

Now here I sit, school has been closed for a month and will be closed through the beginning of June--the rest of the school year. I still tear up when I think of it. I'm tearing up NOW.

Dunderheaded liberals act like there's no digital trail of what everyone was saying in Jan/Feb. Well, there was.

 

[Sun Devil 92]

Stop blaming only Trump. Look in the mirror and I got this damn virus (cured and immune now). It sucked but I have has worse. Especially you Leftists, watch and then shut your damn mouths. The NYC Health Commissioner on Feb 6th said the risk of the disease in NYC is low and preparedness is high. So you want Trump to play doctor here but not play doctor now? Which is it? You people are a damn scourge.

What did we downplay ?

Seriously ?

We have 160,00 people a year die from lung cancer. Most of those related to smoking.

This virus will kill the very elderly and the very young.

The rest of us in between are not at risk (and spare me the bullshit one-off of someone who died....nothing is perfect).

But, I don't believe we downplayed it.

I believe we overreacted.

 

[Sun Devil 92]

NYT just posted an article that is very in depth, the timeline, what people knew, and what the tried to do and when. The effort was complicated by administrative infighting and Trumps own personality that runs on “gut instincts” and refuses to acknowledge what he doesn’t want to hear. But it is unlikely we could have avoided the shutdowns, not when you have asymptomatic carriers.

At this point we are in this together for the long haul. What I hope is that Trump is capable of learning from mistakes and moving forward. This is really one of those situations where every choice will have a downside.

Keep hoping. This identity politic is so immature. Got an axe to grind? If you want to put blame where its deserved, look at who runs the joint.

You two Monday Morning Quarterbacks show just what you are made of.

Bullshit.

 

[Sun Devil 92]

This virus has brought out the stupid in people that is for sure.
BOTH SIDES.
Right now there are people still trying to say it is no worse than a regular flu. Regardless that it has killed more people than H1N1 in one month. One damn month.
Trump has done a great job with the tools he had. Thank God we didn't have some ninny string puppet in charge that would have resulted in a massive-massive death count.

For what 1 month and 1/2 he told the US citizens nothing to worry about. Jesus he didn't stop EU countries from travel to the US till 3-11 and then didn't stop the UK.

Did you click the links I posted, you evil witch? First death in the US was Feb 28th. But we should have closed the country in January? Idiot.

First, I believe the virus was already well established here at that time.

Second, when he TRIED to do something within his Constiturional powers, he was attacked relentlessly by those who now say he didnt act fast enough. I have no use for these people!

All Monday Morning Quarterbacks. The left wing world is full of them.

 

[Olde Europe]

But I believe there WAS, or surely could have been, besides the unforgivable original local coverups, some (perhaps a week or two) central government delay, confusion, and probably even intentional lack of transparency. XiJinping himself was silent in this period. He and the Beijing authorities were probably weighing carefully what action was appropriate. But this was NOT a “conspiracy“ against the West!

It was rather a natural hesitation when confronting a brand new threat that they weren’t sure how to deal with.

Just imagine - government sitting down, gathering and checking information, listening to experts, testing the ways to proceed, and then, when that process is concluded, moving resolutely to a well-sourced, well-planned, and reasonably well-organized action curtailing the spread, mobilizing an army to track and trace contacts. As opposed to governance based on hunches, ignoring the experts, and by tweet and disinformation, leaving the states and hospitals out there to fend on their own, and spreading blame all around.

What a concept...

 

[Rocko]

the world owes that Chinese doctor sequenced the genome of the virus and published it online (without the Chinese government’s approval) a huge debt of gratitude

Link?

Lab that first shared coronavirus sequence closed for ‘rectification’

No reason was given for the closure of the Shanghai facility, which released information about the virus ahead of authorities. One source at the laboratory said the closure has hampered scientists’ research when they should be ‘racing against the clock’.

www.google.com

 

[Carl in Michigan]

But I believe there WAS, or surely could have been, besides the unforgivable original local coverups, some (perhaps a week or two) central government delay, confusion, and probably even intentional lack of transparency. XiJinping himself was silent in this period. He and the Beijing authorities were probably weighing carefully what action was appropriate. But this was NOT a “conspiracy“ against the West!

It was rather a natural hesitation when confronting a brand new threat that they weren’t sure how to deal with.

Just imagine - government sitting down, gathering and checking information, listening to experts, testing the ways to proceed, and then, when that process is concluded, moving resolutely to a well-sourced, well-planned, and reasonably well-organized action curtailing the spread, mobilizing an army to track and trace contacts. As opposed to governance based on hunches, ignoring the experts, and by tweet and disinformation, leaving the states and hospitals out there to fend on their own, and spreading blame all around.

What a concept...

So you're praising Trump. Got it.

 

[joaquinmiller]

Stop blaming only Trump. Look in the mirror and I got this damn virus (cured and immune now). It sucked but I have has worse. Especially you Leftists, watch and then shut your damn mouths. The NYC Health Commissioner on Feb 6th said the risk of the disease in NYC is low and preparedness is high. So you want Trump to play doctor here but not play doctor now? Which is it? You people are a damn scourge.

No way. Is this Trump supporters next desperate attempt to deflect blame for their savior's inaction? If so, this is a new low and that makes me think that the average Trump supporter is beyond any reason.

The efforts of Trump, Mulvaney, McCarthy, and the rightwing message machine to blame the media for stoking panic didn't weather well. Now they're picking cherries to provide cover for Trump downplaying the virus.