It may be Mother Nature, not Trump, that we have to rely on

[applegrove]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/it-may-be-mother-nature-not-trump-that-we-have-to-rely-on/2020/03/13/f64e7b3c-6566-11ea-acca-80c22bbee96f_story.html?utm_source=reddit.com

It may be Mother Nature, not Trump, that we have to rely on

By David Von Drehle Columnist, The Washington Post

March 13, 2020 at 6:23 p.m. EDT

"SNIP......

I had hoped analysis of President Trump’s Oval Office address on coronavirus would show that — like the heroic U.S. naval officer Jeremiah Denton while a prisoner of war in North Vietnam — Trump was blinking a message in Morse code more urgent and inspiring than what otherwise felt like a hostage video. Alas, Trump’s depleted tone cloaked no profile in courage. He sounded like a man who awakened to learn that his lifelong calling, his reason for being, has vanished overnight. He was a carnival barker outside a blazing circus tent.

Only after markets dropped through the floor in reaction did Trump come back on Friday with the plan his administration should have prepared months earlier. Anyone with open eyes could see that the United States has not been testing for covid-19 at effective levels. South Korea, arguably the gold standard for response to the pandemic, was testing as many people per day as the United States has tested in total. You fight an epidemic by discovering cases of the disease, isolating the carriers and their contacts, and repeating — over and over until the rate of new exposures drops. Everything rests on discovery, and discovery means testing.

For weeks, the barker demanded of us: Will you believe me or your own eyes? “The testing has been going very smooth,” and “anyone who wants” a test “can get one.”

Sometimes a coincidence speaks volumes. As Trump’s bluster was collapsing like the stock market, the mayor of Atlantic City announced a lawsuit to force demolition of the former Trump Plaza casino. I can remember when the young Donald Trump swept into that forlorn shore town promising a renaissance built from gold-painted plastic and cheap ceiling mirrors. For years, though people with open eyes noticed that Atlantic City tourism was mostly day-trippers playing quarter slots and eating free buffets, Trump continued to boast of nonexistent glamour, all the way to bankruptcy. Now the long-abandoned Plaza is raining debris as it crumbles.

.....SNIP"

[MyOwnPeace]

1. "Now the long-abandoned Plaza is raining debris as it crumbles."

Much like his mis-administration. If only we weren't being hit by the debris.....

[applegrove]

2. Yes. Good paragraph.