Thursday, April 02, 2020

The Red States Will Yet Drag Us Down to Their Level



via the NY Times. See also

"The Coronavirus’s Unique Threat to the South: More young people in the South seem to be dying from COVID-19. Why?," Vann R Newkirk II, The Atlantic. 

3 comments:

Ned said...

I have been critical of the Trump administration for their abysmally slow response and their prioritization of TV ratings over substance.

Examples are too numerous to list. But one thing that's particularly galling is the repeated pattern of a big announcement in the press briefings -- which all Trump's followers hail as proof that NOW things are moving -- but with no actual follow-through. Think "Defense Production Act" or "USNS Comfort" or "5 million tests by March 15" or whatever.

But now we see that the Administration can in fact act quickly to use its emergency powers, when it's truly important:

The Secret Service signed an 'emergency order' this week — for 30 golf carts

"The Secret Service signed an 'emergency order' this week to rent $45,000-worth of golf carts in the town of Sterling, Virginia, where President Trump has a golf course."

"The 30-cart fleet, which the Secret Service is renting through the end of September, was described as being necessary in order to protect a 'dignitary,' although the president was not explicitly referenced by name."

"Surprisingly, while many nonessential businesses around the country have closed to prevent the spread of disease, Virginia's Trump National Golf Club remains open...."

Layzej said...

Google has some data on mobility changes by country/province: https://www.google.com/covid19/mobility/

Ned said...

Today's (Friday's) press briefing from the White House was even more awful than normal. That man is so vastly unqualified to be in charge.

It's really quite a horrific coincidence: we happen to be hitting the fastest, broadest-scale, and potentially deepest national crisis in a century, exactly when we have the worst president in a century.