4 ms·

I really appreciate your remembering and recounting this history. It's clear to me that I believed the "like the normal flu" concept at the time ... I even post

by schoen 6y ago

I really appreciate your remembering and recounting this history. It's clear to me that I believed the "like the normal flu" concept at the time ... I even posted here on HN about that. I agree with your take that the impact on America could have been much smaller in all sorts of scenarios, including just taking it more seriously sooner (like during the time frame that you're recounting). I'm not sure that the travel ban from China in particular would have significantly affected the course of the pandemic in the U.S. We now know that COVID is very often totally asymptomatic and that it had already spread to many countries (possibly including the U.S.) by January of last year. People arriving from countries other than China could easily have introduced it into the U.S., and very possibly did (and certainly have many times since then). The U.S. didn't have the testing or tracing or quarantine capabilities to control the transmission of the epidemic in the community. This skepticism is not meant to take away from your other points, which all seem right to me. I think many other kinds of responses (or awareness or understanding on the part of the American public) could have had a big effect last January or February. The responses, awareness, and understanding we actually got were terrible.

robomartin 6y ago
I think the greater point is that we all watched nearly all of US government and all of US media take the opposite side to the Trump administration on this purely on a political basis. At this time they were trying to eject him from office on the most ridiculous of basis. Nearly all of the media and all of government was focused on damaging him. Because of this they could not bring themselves to line up behind him and follow his lead. Think about that for a moment. Love or hate Trump, in that moment, early next year, the right move for the nation --not for politicians and the media-- would have been to say: "Mr. President, what do you want us to do. We are 100% with you." The media, in particular, could have been far more useful to the nation and the world. Instead of focusing on their usual nonsense and web of lies they could have engaged in real journalism and delivered actionable information. Instead of NY and San Francisco politicians saying things like "everything is OK, it's just the flu, go to festivals, get in the subway, etc." they should have contacted the White house for actionable intelligence on why they were sounding the alarm as they did. Remember that at the same time Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx where on TV telling us a tsunami was coming, New York officials (and our current President and VP) were saying this was racist, xenophobic and nothing to worry about. Like I said, I hope historians paint the entire picture and do so with the truth.
- greedo 6y ago
  I think you're dramatically underestimating the role of the Trump administration in diminishing the seriousness of the pandemic.
  - robomartin 6y ago
    How so? I have repeatedly said his public manner and communications skills were atrocious and likely responsible for a good deal of deaths.
    - greedo 6y ago
      "I think the greater point is that we all watched nearly all of US government and all of US media take the opposite side to the Trump administration on this purely on a political basis." The Trump administration IS the US government; he staffed the CDC, he controlled the messaging, he denied repeatedly that COVID was serious. It's not his public manner or communication skills that did the damage, it's his outright lying and deception that he and his administration did on a daily basis. Just because he was right about imposing a travel ban doesn't make up for the complete failure of his administration.
      - robomartin 6y ago
        "nearly" I was trying to be kind and not say all of the Democratic party and all of the left media. Which is the truth. How could it be a failure if millions of people per day are being vaccinated today because of what his administration did while the entire Democratic party and news media were focusing on trying to destroy the man, his family and his business. C'mon. Biden is trying to take credit for this. He didn't do shit. Manufacturing and distributing a complex at this scale isn't something you turn on in a week or two months. It takes a VERY long time. Having done it in almost exactly a year is an absolutely incredible accomplishment and the only one who can take credit for it is Trump. We can be critical of what he did wrong --and there's a long list-- but we also have to be honest and truthful about everything else.

by schoen 6y ago

robomartin 6y ago

I think the greater point is that we all watched nearly all of US government and all of US media take the opposite side to the Trump administration on this purely on a political basis. At this time they were trying to eject him from office on the most ridiculous of basis. Nearly all of the media and all of government was focused on damaging him. Because of this they could not bring themselves to line up behind him and follow his lead. Think about that for a moment. Love or hate Trump, in that moment, early next year, the right move for the nation --not for politicians and the media-- would have been to say: "Mr. President, what do you want us to do. We are 100% with you." The media, in particular, could have been far more useful to the nation and the world. Instead of focusing on their usual nonsense and web of lies they could have engaged in real journalism and delivered actionable information. Instead of NY and San Francisco politicians saying things like "everything is OK, it's just the flu, go to festivals, get in the subway, etc." they should have contacted the White house for actionable intelligence on why they were sounding the alarm as they did. Remember that at the same time Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx where on TV telling us a tsunami was coming, New York officials (and our current President and VP) were saying this was racist, xenophobic and nothing to worry about. Like I said, I hope historians paint the entire picture and do so with the truth.

greedo 6y ago
I think you're dramatically underestimating the role of the Trump administration in diminishing the seriousness of the pandemic.
- robomartin 6y ago
  How so? I have repeatedly said his public manner and communications skills were atrocious and likely responsible for a good deal of deaths.
  - greedo 6y ago
    "I think the greater point is that we all watched nearly all of US government and all of US media take the opposite side to the Trump administration on this purely on a political basis." The Trump administration IS the US government; he staffed the CDC, he controlled the messaging, he denied repeatedly that COVID was serious. It's not his public manner or communication skills that did the damage, it's his outright lying and deception that he and his administration did on a daily basis. Just because he was right about imposing a travel ban doesn't make up for the complete failure of his administration.
    - robomartin 6y ago
      "nearly" I was trying to be kind and not say all of the Democratic party and all of the left media. Which is the truth. How could it be a failure if millions of people per day are being vaccinated today because of what his administration did while the entire Democratic party and news media were focusing on trying to destroy the man, his family and his business. C'mon. Biden is trying to take credit for this. He didn't do shit. Manufacturing and distributing a complex at this scale isn't something you turn on in a week or two months. It takes a VERY long time. Having done it in almost exactly a year is an absolutely incredible accomplishment and the only one who can take credit for it is Trump. We can be critical of what he did wrong --and there's a long list-- but we also have to be honest and truthful about everything else.