Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Trump Supporting University Reopens Amid Pandemic
Make sure you avoid them.
"..While schools and school systems across the U.S. shut down in an attempt to stem the spread of the Coronavirus, which has already claimed the lives of what’s fast approaching 700 Americans, one school is bringing students back to its campus in large numbers after spring break. Liberty University, which is in Lynchburg, Virginia, and is led by prominent Trump defender Jerry Falwell Jr., has already welcomed some 1,900 students back after a break, the school revealed, and they’re apparently preparing for as many as 5,000 students to flood back in. That’s around one-third of the school’s student body of around 14,000-15,000...."
A Democrat in the Wilderness
That is so stupid it boggles my mind.
PS- Please, help me build up our community. Visit A Democrat in the Wilderness and invite your friends to like it. Thank you.
The school-orchestrated return flies in the face of public health officials’ demands in Virginia and across the country. Just this week, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam (D) issued an order that “bans gatherings of more than 10 people and goes into effect just before midnight on Tuesday,” CNN explains, which joins a long list of similar actions by governors across the U.S., including plenty of Republicans. In Virginia, all K-12 schools will also be closed for the rest of the school year, as has also happened elsewhere. Do officials at Liberty University think public health demands don’t apply to them?
In a statement explaining their decision, the school said that extending students’ time away from campus could supposedly “risk students having a longer time to become exposed to the virus” — although bringing thousands back to all live on the same campus could spread the virus rapidly among the student population, if one of them happened to have contracted the virus already (and over 52,000 Americans already have). The school also cited a concern to let students “use the campus dining services that they paid for,” but suggesting that access to a cafeteria is worth risking safety and lives is questionable at best. Apparently, all classes will now be conducted online, but the dorms and other campus services will still be in use.
Lynchburg Mayor Treney Tweedy commented:
‘I was very surprised and disappointed to later learn of President Falwell’s most recent decision to allow students back on campus. We are in the midst of a public health crisis. I am concerned for the students, faculty and employees at Liberty University, and I am also very concerned for the residents of the Lynchburg community.’
Lynchburg city manager Bonnie Svrcek has revealed that Falwell failed to be “totally transparent” with her and Tweedy. He indicated that the majority of classes would move to online instruction — and he failed to mention that thousands of students would come back to campus anyway, apparently.
Although reports have often tied susceptibility to the Coronavirus to elderly populations, everyone is, essentially, at risk, and there have been plenty of circulated stories about people nowhere near elderly who’ve succumbed to the virus and died.
The Liberty University mess is unfolding as Trump himself clamors for the economy to re-open and people to get back to work, even if that means spreading the Coronavirus further than it would go if social distancing measures were left in place. If it does spread and large numbers of people get sick, the economy could largely grind to a halt anyway.
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FOCUS: Bess Levin | Trump Won't Order Vital Coronavirus Supplies Because Corporate CEOs Asked Him Not To
24 March 20
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24 March 20
FOCUS: Bess Levin | Trump Won't Order Vital Coronavirus Supplies Because Corporate CEOs Asked Him Not To
Bess Levin, Vanity Fair
Levin writes: "The president is more concerned with keeping big business happy than keeping Americans alive."
Bess Levin, Vanity Fair
Levin writes: "The president is more concerned with keeping big business happy than keeping Americans alive."
They’re worried it could be bad for business.
ne of the most mind-boggling aspects of the coronavirus crisis in America is the fact that one of the wealthiest countries in the world doesn’t have the basic medical supplies necessary to deal with the situation. In addition to a lack of beds, hospitals across the nation have nowhere near the number of ventilators and masks doctors require to both do their jobs and protect themselves. While governors have pleaded with Donald Trump to help them obtain such equipment, he’s literally told them they’re on their own, seemingly forgetting the fact that he’s the one with the power here. For instance, Andrew Cuomo can’t invoke the Defense Production Act, which allows the federal government to take some control of the private sector to ensure production of materials relevant to national defense, but Trump can. And yet he’s chosen not to. Why? Because corporate CEOs don’t like the idea, and the president is more concerned with keeping big business happy than keeping Americans alive.
Yes, according to the New York Times, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and heads of major corporations have “lobbied the administration against using the act,” arguing that it could impose “red tape” on companies at a time when they need the government out of their hair. Unsurprisingly, free market die-hard Larry Kudlow, i.e., Trump’s never-right National Economic Council director, was “persuaded” by such arguments, as was Trump’s not-very-bright son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Instead the Trump Brain Trust has insisted that it can just convince businesses to help bridge the shortfall of vital medical supplies without making a formal demand, an initiative that thus far has had predictable results:
TWITTER POST ON LINK
TWITTER POST ON LINK
The government has essentially thrown out its existing playbook for dealing with pandemics, seizing the issue from the Department of Health and Human Services and moving it to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. But it is far from clear that the effort to enlist companies like General Motors, Apple, and Hanes, just a few of the firms that have promised to free up existing supplies of masks or repurpose 3D printers to produce ventilator parts, constitutes an effective strategy.
In interviews with participants in the process, from business executives to government officials, there is still widespread confusion about how much and what exactly each firm is supposed to produce. Corporate executives say they face a bewildering number of requests from dozens of nations around the world, along with governors and mayors around the country, for scarce supplies. The White House has not said who will set the priority list for deliveries. And it is not clear that any of it will arrive in time for the cities and the states that are hit the hardest, including New York.
Administration officials, asked why they have been reluctant to use the full force of the Defense Production Act to press industry into action, say the country is not in such dire straits. There is plenty of volunteer cooperation, they say, and there is always the implicit threat of ordering mandatory measures if they do not. Mr. Trump, at the news briefing, suggested an ideological concern as well. “We’re a country not based on nationalizing our business,” he said.
During that briefing on Sunday, White House economic adviser Peter Navarro told reporters, “We’re getting what we need without putting the heavy hand of government down.” Navarro, you may recall, is the West Wing’s resident China crackpot whom Kushner hired after finding him on Amazon, and who attempts to sway government policy by issuing memos under a pen name. That’s the kind of expertise that’s led to, among other things, the production of basically worthless underwear masks:
Anderson Warlick, the chief executive of the textile company Parkdale Mills, said Mr. Navarro had called him early last week to ask what the company could make. By Saturday, Parkdale Mills joined Hanes, Fruit of the Loom, and other companies in announcing a coalition to produce masks. But they are not the kind hospitals most need. The new masks will be made of a three-ply underwear fabric, and do not provide the level of protection given by the N95 masks that health care workers need for intubation and other procedures.
While the corporate announcements, like Apple’s move to donate millions of masks, may have generated some positive headlines for the Trump administration, critics say the ad hoc approach is falling far short of the challenge. Industry executives say companies are reluctant to crank up production lines without purchasing guarantees from the government. With the economy in free-fall and factories shuttering around the country, few manufacturers are eager to invest in new machinery or venture into new products.
On Sunday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, among others, issued a public plea for Trump to invoke the Defense Production Act, saying, “We cannot wait until people start really dying in large numbers to start production, especially of more complicated equipment like ventilators and hospital beds.”
Of course it’s in no way surprising that Trump would prioritize the needs and desires of big business over matters of life and death, which would explain why he’s already ready to let people get out in the world and spread the virus further in an effort to shore up the economy:
INFORMATION ON LINK
INFORMATION ON LINK
Update: In a statement, Neil Bradley, Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said: “The Defense Production Act isn’t a magic wand to immediately solve medical supply shortages. It can’t produce highly specialized manufacturing equipment overnight. It can’t convert a refrigerator factory into a ventilator factory.
The proponents of invoking the Defense Production Act have not identified what problem exists that this law can solve. What is it that businesses are not already doing that the Defense Production Act would compel them to do? The fact is American companies are working around the clock to support our country’s response to the pandemic. Companies that have the necessary expertise and infrastructure are working closely with all levels of government to get the products to those who need them most. A variety of manufacturers have risen to the task and suggested that their equipment can be reconfigured to produce medical equipment. The real challenge is that we need to produce sophisticated products that can’t easily be made without the right specialty equipment, which may not be readily available.
The Defense Production Act was designed for defense industry products with a single supplier, often with purely domestic production chains. Invoking the law may do more harm than good in sectors such as pharmaceuticals and medical equipment because it creates uncertainty and confusion for the companies now working day and night to make these needed supplies.
It’s time to get back to work on fighting this global pandemic.”
TRUMP STUPIDITY
Differences between how the State of NY handles COVID-19 briefings compared to the Trump administration:
1) Has prepared remarks with powerpoint presentations.
2) Doesn't contradict experts.
3) Practices social distancing during press conference.
4) Tells the truth about what is happening, even if the truth is not good.
5) Is respectful of the press.
6) Urges for compliance of expert requests.
7) Offers encouragement for those on the front lines.
8) Doesn't give false hope for drugs that are not close to being ready.
9) Doesn't try to place blame on previous administrations or other countries, especially other countries whose supply chains we desperately need to ramp up to meet increased demands.
2) Doesn't contradict experts.
3) Practices social distancing during press conference.
4) Tells the truth about what is happening, even if the truth is not good.
5) Is respectful of the press.
6) Urges for compliance of expert requests.
7) Offers encouragement for those on the front lines.
8) Doesn't give false hope for drugs that are not close to being ready.
9) Doesn't try to place blame on previous administrations or other countries, especially other countries whose supply chains we desperately need to ramp up to meet increased demands.
“Anyone advising the end of social distancing now, needs to fully understand what the country will look like if we do that,” the health security director tweeted. “COVID would spread widely, rapidly, terribly, could kill potentially millions in the yr ahead with huge social and economic impact across the country.”
WORTH READING!
Many experts, some of whom are international civil servants, declined to speak on the record for fear of offending the president. But they were united in the opinion that politicians must step aside and let scientists both lead the effort to contain the virus and explain to Americans what must be done.
South Korea avoided locking down any city, but only by moving early and with extraordinary speed. In January, the country had four companies making tests, and as of March 9 had tested 210,000 citizens — the equivalent of testing 2.3 million Americans.
As of the same date, fewer than 9,000 Americans had been tested.
Everyone who is infected in South Korea goes into isolation in government shelters, and phones and credit card data are used to trace their prior movements and find their contacts. Where they walked before they fell ill is broadcast to the cellphones of everyone who was nearby.
We can stop this. But, clearly it's up to US.
Terrifying though the coronavirus may be, it can be turned back. China, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan have demonstrated that, with furious efforts, the contagion can be brought to heel.
Terrifying though the coronavirus may be, it can be turned back. China, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan have demonstrated that, with furious efforts, the contagion can be brought to heel.
Whether they can keep it suppressed remains to be seen. But for the United States to repeat their successes will take extraordinary levels of coordination and money from the country’s leaders, and extraordinary levels of trust and cooperation from citizens. It will also require international partnerships in an interconnected world.
Romper Room Don is a DOLT!
When Donnie spews horse manure that defies logic...?
If you missed the "presser" tonight (with Dr. Fauci conspicuously absent) this was the main takeaway.
Really.
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