Unfortunately, we're not all in this together!

The Trump Administration has quietly and effectively been shifting gears over the last few weeks. Trump continues to pay lip service to the medical experts and is even willing to occasionally acknowledge that social distancing has prevented a greater loss of life. Nevertheless, it appears that he has decided that he hasn't got a chance of being reelected if the pandemic induced economic downturn continues. Trump has concluded that the only viable option available to him is to reopen the economy as soon as possible and hope that it recovers sufficiently in time for the election in November.

Even as his administration was rolling out a reasonable outline for reopening the economy, Trump was tweeting support for protests against stay-at-home orders by many of the nation's governors. Since then, he has also given his support to governors (like Georgia Governor Kemp) who have announced plans to reopen their states - plans that do not follow the standard laid out in his own administration's guidelines! Moreover, his so called "Attorney General" William Barr has announced that the Justice Department will likely join challenges to stay-at-home orders in the courts.

At first, Trump claimed he had the authority to reopen the economy on his own. When that blew up, he acknowledged that the individual governors had the authority to reopen their states, and then he quietly set about the task of putting pressure on them to do just that. The strategy appears to be - shift the blame for the economic meltdown to these governors and their stay-at-home orders and force them to abandon the restrictions that they've put in place to protect their citizens.

How can he put people's lives at risk and open the country up to a second wave of the virus? By claiming that the damage to the economy has put more lives and livelihoods at risk than the virus itself! We begin to see the outlines of this hateful and cynical mantra taking shape: We must risk losing a few lives for the greater good! This is social Darwinism at its "finest" - the weak and vulnerable must give way to the strong and invincible! And, when the death toll climbs, they will dismiss it as the cost of survival.

It is my fervent hope that the majority of folks will not fall for this crap, but none of us should be under any illusion that we are all in this together. It is now clear that some of us have opted out of the crusade against Covid-19!

Don't Give These Folks A Pass!

I've heard it from family members and friends who are Trump supporters: "I'm tired of social distancing and sheltering in place!" and "Why ruin the economy for the sake of a virus with a two percent mortality rate?" and "This is just a plot to ruin Trump, the U.S. economy or both!" Apparently, my circle of Trumpists are not unique in this regard. The Daily Beast published an article entitled "Trumpists Urging People to Leave Their Homes to Own the Libs."

Will Sommer, Erin Banco and Sam Stein wrote: "A protest movement is taking hold targeting states that have extended social-distancing rules, closed schools and restricted access to large religious gatherings. And it’s being fed by loyalists and political allies of President Donald Trump." They continued: "The tension has prompted Republican lawmakers and supporters of the president to publicly call for Americans to defy their local orders, claiming they infringe on constitutional rights."

So much for community spirit and self-sacrifice for the sake of the weak and vulnerable! And make no mistake, this isn't about constitutional rights - what about the rights of the elderly and  immunocompromised folks who live among us? Isn't LIFE one of the fundamental rights referenced in our Declaration of Independence? Are we going to throw out the entire history of the Twentieth Century and say that our government doesn't have any interest in protecting the health of its citizens? Are we going to exalt economic prosperity over human life?

The popular CBS program Sunday Morning recently had a piece featuring Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks, both of whom lived through the Great Depression and served during World War II - members of the Greatest Generation. In addition to the comic relief they provided, their advice to all of us recalled their own lifetime experiences - If we keep our heads down and do what we're supposed to do, we'll get through this. Sounds like good advice from representatives of a generation that is universally respected.

My take away - we cannot let these rebels win! We must not allow those who would sabotage our collective efforts to halt the spread of this virus to succeed. Those of us who do still believe in community spirit and self-sacrifice must point out the selfish, careless and reckless actions and rhetoric of these mean-spirited people (especially the ones we love). Don't go along to get along and don't give them a pass on this one!   

Donald Trump on Coronavirus

I'm listening to Trump's daily briefing on the Coronavirus and am sick at my stomach. Virtually all of his comments are along the lines of look what we've done and look what we're doing. He simply cannot refrain from making this all about him. He predicted that looking back on this sometime in the future we'll be very proud of the job that we did.

And, although he managed to say nice things about the way that three Democratic governors have handled the crisis (New York, New Jersey and Washington), he couldn't help himself from taking a swipe at the Governor of Illinois. As a citizen of the state, I can say that we are very well satisfied with the response of Governor J.B. Pritzker. He took decisive action early and has worked tirelessly to contain the virus in our state.

With people beginning to talk about the Trump Administration's late start and the chaotic and decentralized way that things have been handled, he's working overtime to rewrite the story. The economic fallout from shutting down the economy has got him running scared - not because he cares about our nation, but because it could jeopardize his chances for reelection.

Hide and watch. I predict that Trump will crow from the White House rooftop about the success of his Administration's efforts if the death toll turns out to be anything less than 100,000. And it will make no difference to him or his supporters if our country's statistics are among the worst in the world, he will only be interested in the fact that he has beat the projections. Likewise, if the death toll falls anywhere within those projections, he will talk about the lives HE saved. He will declare success! In short, there is virtually no outcome possible where he will not say that he and his Administration have done anything less than a stellar job in their handling of this crisis. He will give himself the traditional A+ rating, and there won't be any admission that any mistakes were made.

I continue to applaud the efforts of our nation's health care workers and governors. Most of our people and businesses have rallied to contain this virus. There is much to swell our hearts and take pride in during these trying times - the performance of the current occupant of the Oval Office is NOT one of them!