Inside America's two-decade complete failure to prepare for the coronavirus that is ravaging us today. Yes everyone is to blame. Inside America’s 2-Decade Failure to Prepare for Coronavirus Top officials from three administrations describe how crucial lessons were learned and lost, programs launched and canceled, and budgets funded and defunded. https://www.politico.com/news/magaz...two-decade-failure-prepare-coronavirus-179574 The nation’s health secretary was warned about a possible pandemic — and, he admits now, he didn’t take that first warning seriously enough. But he studied with experts at the Centers of Disease Control. He read papers on virology. He took his concerns to the president. And months later, the administration unveiled a plan to tackle the virus emerging out of Asia, investing in therapies and warning Americans to stock up on canned goods. It’s a moment that feels ripped from the headlines about the current coronavirus crisis. But the year was 2005, not 2020. And for his troubles, that health secretary — Bush appointee Mike Leavitt — was mocked as an alarmist by political rivals and late-night comics, even as that year’s threat of avian flu petered out around the globe. “Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt recommended that Americans store canned tuna and powdered milk under their beds for when bird flu hits,” host Jay Leno said on the Tonight Show in 2006, a recurring bit where he ridiculed Leavitt’s warnings. “What? … Powdered milk and tuna? How many would rather have the bird flu?” Speaking to POLITICO this month, Leavitt described a trap that health and national security officials know too well: Prepare too early and you’re called Chicken Little. Act too late — and millions may die. “In advance of a pandemic, anything you say sounds alarmist,” Leavitt explained. “After a pandemic starts, everything you’ve done is inadequate.” The Trump administration has taken the brunt of the blame for America’s lack of preparedness for the Covid-19 pandemic, which has caught the world’s wealthiest nation embarrassingly off-guard and plunged it into an economic and health catastrophe. But the cycle of inattention has roots far deeper than that, according to interviews with top policymakers from three administrations covering 20 years. After each major health crisis of the last two decades, American health and political leaders have launched preparedness programs and issued blunt warnings to their successors — only to watch as those programs were defunded, staff was allowed to depart and Washington forgot the stark lessons it had just learned. (Much more at above url)
I do not think any administration could have adequately prepared for a black swan pandemic even if we have been though similar ones in the past because each time they are different. Blaming Trump, Obama, or Bush for not being prepared for a bat fucking sourced virus spreading around the world in 3 months is more of the political game. We can find fault in how something is handled from the moment it becomes an issue and that is the only real present thing that can be addressed to be honest. We can all Monday morning QB what Bush or Obama or Trump did in 2000 - November 2019. Who would think we should have 4 warehouses of masks just sitting idle doing nothing in the odd chance that this would happen? I think Trump does have issues with how he handled this once it become a situation and his medical team had enough time to review the facts available at the time and present advice and recommendations which he ignored for the most part. Creating a task force does not get you any credit when you ignore or gloss over anything they tell you. Just putting a bow on the pig.
I disagree, why couldn't we lock down Cali & WA as Taiwan & S. Korea did, as well as follow similar testing protocols?
We have a divided system of government with no centralized decision making capability. South Korea made a decision and it was implemented immediately by the entire country. Also culturally they are more likely to listen and follow the recommendations. You want to know why US has a problem? Look at the three to four weeks of disorganized response and half the country closing while fucktards were on the beach in FL and in GA.
Lefties would like to think that New York is the model....because........well...they need to have Andrew Cuomo lookin' good. But it is not. They are Exhibit A of slow and disorganized response. We watched the daily arm wrestling match between Cuomo and DeCrokio about whether NYC would go on lockdown, and now that we see the price that was paid for that, what do we get? Oh, I see. Another arm wrestling match between the lefty tag team members about whether schools are closed until the fall or not. They are.......no they are not............yes they are. No they are not.....and so it goes. A lot of lives were lost in that mess and a lot of panicking to make up for it too. Orange Man Bad for not sending help. Orange Man sends help. Then they don't need the ship, the Javitts Center or all the ventilators.
let's not point fingers at Cuomo like there were not some fucktarded Governors in Florida and Georgia acting fools and showing their asses as well as Trump's babbling bufuckary of a response. This is why we can't have nice things...
Other way around. You pointed fingers at the governors of Florida and Georgia and I stepped up to make the picture fair and balanced by pointing to New York which I know that you meant to include, but somehow neglected to do so. You are welcome.
Nah you said Lefties assume NY was the model and since I am neither a Lefty nor stated that Cuomo was the model your post was really irrelevant to me and maybe you meant to talk to someone else. Whatever criticism of Cuomo, and there is his share for sure, I still put the Governor of Florida, who mas maybe the most Senior Citizens of any state in the U.S. who are the most risk and decided it was not worth any quarantine or stay at home orders until his Daddy told him it was ok, shows he is a pussy who does not know how to lead. If he too Trump's dick out of his mouth he might have said, hey fucktards, stay off the beaches and go home. Who knows where those idiots took Corona to. Cuomo may be making mistakes and has long ass winded press conferences, but he is trying to lead by doing something and handle business. Slick Rick dispersed 10,000 Spring Breakers with Corona all over the U.S. Virginia and many states cancelled and shut down the week of March 9th. There are pictures of crowded beaches on march 20th I believe....