Flatten The Curve is also Trump's intention for public knowledge of what's happening with covid-19.

[SuprstitionAintthWay]

You've learned about Flattening The Curve of covid-19 transmission by now.

The defense actually has more than one application in the U.S. currently: Politically for Trump's self-preservation purposes, in addition to epidemiologically for legitimate and positive purposes.

If even absolutely horrendous truths come out only slowly (Russia attacked our 2016 election for Trump; Trump sacrificed an ally's soldiers' lives extorting Ukraine to smear Biden; Russia is attacking our 2020 election for Trump) and their proofs are dispersed over enough time, their power gets dissipated. And by ranting 100 denials a day the whole time Trump believes he can survive them... that he can survive ANYthing.

Just flatten that bad news curve until the public wears out on it.

Now we can even graph the tactic. Starting with the viral transmission graph above:

* Re-label the Y (vertical) axis as

"American public's point of understanding of what we're in store for with covid-19". Including how we could and should have been better prepared.


* Re-label the area under the tall curve as

"with timely and truthful information from the Trump Admin."


* Re-label the area under the flattened curve as

"with constant deception, lies, distortions, and evasions from the Trump Admin. and its rightwing propaganda allies"


* Re-label the dashed horizontal line as

"public's capacity for tolerating a president's deadly incompetence, dishonesty, and ignorance"


Voila. Another flattening-the-curve effort currently underway. By slowing down and spreading out the public's realization of what's actually happening, Trump selfishly (what's new?) gives the higher priority to his own hopes to politically survive covid-19. Even though the stifling of the full truth has already cost some Americans their lives, and is going to cost a lot more.

This requires gall. But this is the Trump Administration. Sheri Fink's new story in the New York Times reports that VP Mike Pence's office, tasked with LEADING America's covid-19 response, is denying even KNOWING the CDC's now month-old projections of 4 possible covid-19 scenarios in America and their range of projected mortality.

SLOWING DOWN the speed of dissemination of covid-19 knowledge -- Flattening the American Public's Understanding Curve of where this is headed -- obviously is one of this administration's top goals in this crisis.

It is one of Trump's sociopathically irresponsible, and, he must desperately believe, ONLY hopes for getting re-electoralcolleged in December. (After, of course, losing the vote itself again in November.)

[keithbvadu2]

1. Govt's initial response to Spanish Flu in 1918 parallels Trump admin's response ??

Kurt Eichenwald: Govt's initial response to Spanish Flu in 1918 parallels Trump admin's response ??

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213030050

[Laelth]

2. It's called "The Spanish Flu" because of government censorship.

Reporters were heavily censored and were not allowed to report cases from the US, the UK, or France, so, instead, they reported on the cases from Spain (which remained neutral in WWI). That's how it got its deceptive name. Government "control" of the narrative was fierce during WWI.

-Laelth

[SuprstitionAintthWay]

3. Contrast our national "leadership" to Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany.

Knowledge is power, and she showed her respect for and trust in the German people by empowering them with the sobering truth of what might well be coming, as best epidemiologists can currently project it.

Her choice on Wednesday was to equip German citizens to prepare themselves as best they can, and hopefully save more lives that way.

Honesty from one's national leader, no bull-shit and no soft-peddling it... in 2020! Imagine.