How much of this is Trump's fault?

[Cow Poke]

One of the interesting things (to me) about the conservative / Republican response to the pandemic is their analogies to the flu. I've never heard them adequately respond to the presence of cooler-trucks at hospitals. The dead literally piling up so fast, outside storage was needed to keep bodies intact (and further disease transmission down). This has never been seen with the flu in the US - and yet the analogies persist.

If COVID-19 is no deadlier than the flu, why are cooler trucks needed?

Citations, please.

[Hypatia_Alexandria]

I blame the virus.

As Sir Peter Medawar observed when asked about pathogenic viruses, he described them as, "Bad news wrapped in a protein".

[Mountain Man]

I've avoided responding to my own thread, because I wanted to see what other people think. The discussion has lasted long enough now that it feels like a good time to contribute:

It's clear that many people/entities are responsible for the state of the pandemic in the US. These people range from the mask-wearing public to healthcare workers to state governors to federal agencies to Trump himself. So, no matter how much blame Trump deserves, he doesn't deserve all of it.

With that said, I'm going to quote Trump himself, as an indication of how much he deserves:



US conservatives are loathe (at least in public) to hold him to his own standards. This is one of the reasons I'm not a conservative (even though I lean conservative on a few issues).

Sure... so can we give Trump credit for keeping the pandemic to a tiny fraction of what the models and predictions told us to expect?

[rogue06]

Sure... so can we give Trump credit for keeping the pandemic to a tiny fraction of what the models and predictions told us to expect?

You know darn well if it was the Obamessiah they would.

[JimL]

Sure... so can we give Trump credit for keeping the pandemic to a tiny fraction of what the models and predictions told us to expect?

Since the US response to the pandemic and it's effect is among the worst in the world, yes, Trump gets the credit.

[Whateverman]

You know darn well if it was the Obamessiah they would.

I can only speak for myself, but if Obama had reacted the same way, I would have called him unfit for office.

[little_monkey]

There are dozens of reports that little green men are in a mother ship behind the moon watching our every move.

Not funny, keep your day job. OTOH, the governor of Texas just ordered bars to be closed, and dinning has to be scaled down... because... because...

[Cow Poke]

Not funny, keep your day job. OTOH, the governor of Texas just ordered bars to be closed,

That's old news.

and dinning has to be scaled down... because... because...

Because it's responding to an actual problem.

[Starlight]

I really wish people wouldn't be so cavalier with the numbers.

You're whinging about exact precision in the death tallies? Really? And at a time when the number of new daily cases in multiple large states is the highest it's ever been? Whatever your precise death count is now, it won't stay at that for long.

It is also notable that this latest wave is nearly all happening in states that Trump pushed to end their lock-downs.

[Cow Poke]

You're whinging

Can you provide a definition of that, please?

[Whateverman]

You're whinging about exact precision in the death tallies? Really? And at a time when the number of new daily cases in multiple large states is the highest it's ever been?

Whatever your precise death count is now, it won't stay at that for long.

It is also notable that this latest wave is nearly all happening in states that Trump pushed to end their lock-downs.

Can you provide a definition of that, please?

Remove the first "g", and you'll have it.

GJ side-stepping the meat of his post, too.

edit: not gonna complain about the BBCode weirdness because, you know, competent IT staff are hard to come by.

[Cow Poke]

Remove the first "g", and you'll have it.

Ah, so in New Zealand, wanting actual numbers is... um... "whinging".

I didn't really imagine they were such a sissy lot.

[Whateverman]

Ah, so in New Zealand [...]

GJ side-stepping the meat of his post. One almost imagines it was intentional.

[Cow Poke]

GJ side-stepping the meat of his post. One almost imagines it was intentional.

You're gonna have to explain that "GJ" stuff.

[Zara]

GJ side-stepping the meat of his post. One almost imagines it was intentional.

He's hardly worth the time it takes to reply.

The only reason he cares about "the numbers" is to downplay the severity of the crisis. This is in the middle of the crisis, which is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better.

Just in case this isn't common knowledge. It is likely that the number of deaths are being undercounted - studies of deaths from all causes in NY showed a considerable spike even above that of reported covid-19 deaths over the period of acute crises in the region.

You people are so utterly screwed. Next time maybe don't spend decades undermining your government, pay more taxes and don't vote in an incompetent fool. If there is a next time, that is.