MELTDOWN — The Weekly Opine

As coronavirus spreads, stay at home mandates from the nation’s governors widen. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Willful negligence threatens U.S.

In his documentary “The Prosecution of an American President,” the late Vincent Bugliosi argues George W. Bush is guilty of murder. Bugliosi, famous for successfully convicting Charles Manson, lays out a circumspect case founded on a relatively unknown murder definition: If your false pretenses (Iraq has weapons of mass destruction) result in someone’s death (more than 4,500 U.S. troops killed in the war in Iraq) then you’ve committed murder, because your lie is directly responsible for someone’s death.

Bugliosi would be having a field day with Donald Trump right now.

Trump didn’t start the coronavirus, but he has done virtually nothing of consequence to thwart its spread in the U.S. And his lies surely are the cause of many preventable deaths. For example, an Arizona couple in their 60s ingested chloroquine phosphate. The man died. The woman is in critical condition and told NBC, “Trump kept saying it was basically pretty much a cure.”

This is the Trump we feared most, a man too incompetent to manage a crisis. He utilizes Fox News for guidance rather than relying on career experts armed with battle-tested experience. He is surrounded by bootlicking nincompoops who, like Trump, lack empathy. He is unquestionably the most dangerous man on the planet.

Trump foolishly eliminated the country’s epidemic response chain of command, cutting critical staff at the Centers for Disease Control and getting rid of the National Security Council director of pandemic response.

Trump pretends to know. Dr. Fauci does know. (Photo credit MSNBC screenshot)

Even the decision he brags about most, banning travel from China to the U.S., came after United, American and Delta airlines stopped flights from China. Trump’s ban was essentially meaningless. And Trump has failed miserably regarding testing and providing medical supplies.

Daily, Trump and his coronavirus task force, led by Vice President Mike Pence, engage in a game of false promises and lies that without doubt cause unnecessary deaths and jeopardize healthcare worker’s lives.

Trump’s refusal to activate the Defense Production Act is beyond negligent. His blatant lying, e.g. Google setting up a national website, is unprecedented. Trump’s at-that-time claim, that many companies outside healthcare had already stepped up to produce desperately needed personal protection equipment, was proven a lie when he could not name a single company.

A week ago, Trump was asked when he would invoke the Defense Production Act to force mass production of protective equipment. He was asked when he would accept Carnival Cruises’ offer to use their ships as “hospital” bed space. He was asked when he would direct shuttered auto factories to re-tool and produce ventilators. “When it’s needed,” Trump foolishly replied. Duh, when you’re in a pandemic, IT’S NEEDED!

VP Pence is a smooth talker who could make millions selling holy water to easily duped MAGA evangelicals. But he is a horrible task force leader, nothing more than a homespun liar.

Retired Lieutenant General Russel Honore, aghast at what Pence is doing, argues the military should play the lead role. He says we must have “defense logistics and supply discipline.” Honore, who oversaw the response to Hurricane Katrina, says “amateurs study tactics, professionals study logistics.” Honore worries “disaster capitalism,” will set in, whereby private companies gouge states fending for themselves. (Trump ignores governor’s pleas for the release of the government’s ventilator stockpile.)

Having learned more about China’s international aspirations at the recent Indiana University Hamilton Lugar School global conference, it won’t be surprising if China emerges as the world’s unrivaled top power whenever the pandemic ends.

Lawmaker’s economic relief package prioritizes corporations over laid off workers and low income folks. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Data is not lying

Far more global citizens have been infected by COVID-19 than SARS (2003), MERS (2012) or Ebola (2014).

The numbers are increasing – dramatically. On Wednesday, March 18 there were nearly 6,000 U.S. cases with around 100 deaths. A week later, on Wednesday, March 25 there were 65,000 U.S. cases with 900 deaths.

Worldwide, the pandemic has reached 460,000 cases, with 20,800 dead. Some experts say 60% of the world population will be infected by this virus, that is believed to have originated in bats. In just two months, after China reported its first death on January 11, the virus became a global pandemic.

On March 19, California announced a state-wide stay at home order. The next day New York and Illinois followed suit. Now, 191 million people in 19 states are under stay at home orders.

Trump’s madman declaration that on Easter the country will be “opened up” rings hollow. He did not impose stay at home at the state level and therefore cannot lift the order. Trump is clueless that if another wave of coronavirus spread occurs, the stock market will tank even further, possibly causing a financial depression.

In late-February, when the U.S. had only 15 cases, Trump famously assured us the number of cases would “quickly go down to zero.” Remember that the next time he boasts the stock market is going to rebound “very quickly” and “tremendously.” (Since Trump began offering stock tips the Dow has dropped as much as 30-percent.)

Pence recently said, over and over, that 100 million masks are being manufactured. When asked when the masks will be delivered, Trump, Pence and FEMA hemmed and hawed. Dr. Esther Choo says we are not seeing the amount of protective equipment that the White House says is available. Translation: Trump and Pence are lying.

The airline industry is on the brink of collapse. On Monday, the Transportation Security Administration screened 331,000 passengers. Same date one year ago 2.4 million were screened. Airline officials say the situation is “dire.”

China clearly blew it, covering up the coronavirus when it appeared in Wuhan. However, their draconian efforts to slow the virus have begun to pay off.

A senior level Red Cross executive from China recently visited Italy and lambasted Italy’s casual approach. Apparently in Italy, citizens still gather in large groups at restaurants and hotel lobby bars, walk around without masks and take public transportation. Kinda like here, where some folks just can’t live without the beach. Italy recently recorded a staggering, single-day death count of 743.

A historic data point: The U.S. plans to hand out $2 trillion in economic aid to its citizens, small businesses and corporations. That says a lot about what we face in the coming months…

To make this mask took less than five minutes using a trash bag, shoe string, scissors and a small screw. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

A ground level view

Donald McNeil of the New York Times writes that global experts say halting the virus will take harsh steps; isolation and containment even beyond what vigilant states like California, New York and Illinois are already doing.

For example, after Illinois’ stay at home order went into effect, I was surprised to get an email from a local liquor store saying they’ve been deemed an essential business and can remain open. Dry cleaners are permitted to stay open. How about only hospitals, pharmacies, grocery stores and gas stations remaining open?

Despite Pence’s lies-based cheery optimism, heroes working 12-hour shifts at ‘ground zero’ tell a reality-based experience.

Speaking anonymously, a senior executive who runs a private hospital serving a “safety net community” explained to The Weekly Opine what she’s experiencing. Just days ago, she sent her millennial daughter away from home to be safe. “Usually, home is the safest place,” she lamented.

“We now have a dual priority,” the senior executive said. “To protect our patients and to reduce the risk to our healthcare workers.” She also said that “communities are resourceful” and won’t wait on Trump but “the reckoning for the federal government will come.”

The state-of-the-art facility now has four emergency tents set up outside the building. The lobby is empty. The cafeteria only makes food for essential on-site staff and patients. Security guards wear masks. Heroic doctors, nurses and all staff put themselves at risk everyday with no end in sight.

Dave, who lives on New York’s Upper East Side, says “the city that never sleeps is sleepwalking” as people avoid each other. His advice is that you are better off “staying home where you control the variables.”

A Republican, he gives Governor (D) Cuomo high praise for “doing a really good job communicating” and says Cuomo has a “presence about him and has it together.” Dave also says Trump is “doing a good job” and does not believe “anyone saw this coming.”

Two weeks ago, California shifted from a containment strategy to mitigation. This came just days after top U.S. health officials said we cannot contain the virus. A report from the Advisory Board says we must move from mitigation to suppression. (Suppression is the opposite of Trump’s Easter turn ‘em loose strategy.)

This is not working like he boasted it would. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Glimmer of hope

Stanford biophysicist Michael Levitt, speaking with the L.A. Times, believes we will get through this much sooner than later. Since January, Levitt has analyzed the situation in China and correctly predicted China would get a handle on the outbreak faster than most people thought possible.

Levitt believes social distancing measures play a key role in reducing the spread. He predicted China would have 80,000 cases and 3,200 deaths. The actual numbers in China are virtually exactly as Levitt forecast. It’s notable that China implemented severe suppression measures to prevent their population from freely moving about.

According to Levitt’s analysis, both South Korea and Iran appear to be past the halfway point, as new cases decelerate. Italy, still wildly out-of-control, has a unique circumstance. Italians are generally anti-vaccine, not getting flu vaccines. This makes for a sicker populace, which means fewer healthcare resources to fight COVID-19.

As the economy teeters, job loss and uncertainty affect all of us. Getting things back to “normal” will help in that regard. But as the number of cases rises dramatically, harsher isolation methods are needed to blunt transmission of the virus. New York Governor Cuomo says social distancing appears to be slowing the spread in New York, although New York City hospitals have seen a tenfold increase in patients.

China got on top of the coronavirus just in the nick of time. They built a 1,000-bed quarantine hospital in 10 days. Not to sound stereotypical, but the Chinese are more highly disciplined than Americans.

The U.S. waited too long to take the coronavirus seriously. We must test and isolate. That’s the only way to break the chain of transmission. Truth-speaker Dr. Anthony Fauci says our testing has unfortunately been a failure. South Korea tests at about double the rate of the U.S.

Despite attempts by Pence to downplay testing, Dr. David Ho, who led the discovery of drugs that successfully fought HIV, says, “without testing we are blind.”