The reason that I posted this article is that it makes clear that, as is usual, there are multiple reasons why the testing got delayed to the point that it hurt this country's response to the virus in a major way. Some of it was Trump. His ego, concerns about how it would impact his re-election campaign, and his incessant need to use every opportunity to jab political opponents, especially at a time when we need to come together against a common threat, were disruptive to the response and set the wrong tone. No leader gets everything right in a time of a major national challenge, but Trump certainly got more wrong than right, IMO. That said, there were the usual built-in bureaucratic problems, combined with simple mistakes, at CDC and FDA that fouled up the development and distribution of tests. CDC, as is their usual mode of operation, decided to develop their own test rather than use ones developed elsewhere. Things went wrong with the one that they developed. FDA was at its usual bureaucratic best in refusing to approve the use of private sector tests due to concerns about inaccurate or fraudulent testing. If you don't like Trump, and count me among those who don't, you get a chance next fall to make a change. At some point, there needs to be a look at all of the things that went wrong here. CDC and FDA need some changes to their policies. We need to develop national or state caches of medical supplies and ventilators. We need plans in place to convert buildings to emergency hospital use quickly. One thing that I think we will learn from this is that pandemics are likely to become more common in our modern world where people are constantly traveling. Mutations happen all the time in nature, but prior to the modern era, many times their impacts were more local. Now, an outbreak in one part of the world is carried around the globe in weeks. We need to plan better how we can deal with them. Quicker means of developing and distributing vaccines need to be found. We need better anti-viral medicines. Things like sheltering in place and self-isolation are sledgehammer techniques that can slow, but not eliminate viral illnesses. In the meantime, they destroy economies and damage the ability of the poorest among us to remain fed, housed, and able to be cared for. We've got some work to do when this is finally over.
I agree, but the job of a leader is to protect his people. The leader of our state is trying to protect his people by keeping a more infected area out, and keeping as many hospital beds open for Texans. Also, there is precedent of sorts at work also. During Katrina, Houston opened up the Astrodome to LA victims. All that did was lead to a crime rate explosion.
I totally get all that. Again, my original point is that a state like LA doesn't have the budget or resources to compete with a state like Texas. That could have unexpected consequences for states like Texas. Seems like instead of making LA and Texas compete for resources the feds should be helping them to secure what they need without outbidding each other for them.
It's not him. He doesn't usually drop it but it is clearly the other guy. The non Blazer fan....that guy. I know you guys skim 3000 posts a day for infractions but come on. Anyone who reads the threads for content knows how this has gone.
Oh, then I missed your point. I completely agree. Asinine to have not only states bidding against each other, but the federal government bidding against those states as well
But seems perfect for Trump. Then he can shift blame to individual states. Most likely blue states. And will say hey, people too stupid to understand the truth and hang on my nuts, your family members are dying because of the bad people of California and NY hoarding all the masks.
You had multiple posts removed in that thread for personal insults by myself and other staff members. So asking me to review the posts of yours that are still remaining is not the best argument for you to be making. The groundable statement that you now want to debate was meant to add some levity. I'm asking both you and yankee to stop with the endless arguing in multiple threads. I'm not going to pick a side. It takes two to argue. I can ask this in a fun way or I can start the long and tedious process of notifying you in private, requesting staff to keep an eye on things and notify me when they have to step in and take action. If you want to really jump into your abortion thread it was a clickbait title that you had to know was going to upset some. To act all shocked that some didn't like it is disingenuous. You're too smart to not realize that when you look to provoke a reaction you can't get upset over the reaction you've provoked. I changed the original title of your thread to try and steer things to a more productive discussion and debate. Myself and others deleted personal insults that were posted by you and directed at you.
Is there a talking points memo that gets emailed to all Republicans? It's amazing, frightening, but amazing how quick most are to take up the same defenses. Being embroiled in impeachment means he can't do his job? Right now, he's embroiled in a pandemic, but still has the time to talk about the royal family and about his television ratings.
First of all, I don't think it was in that thread that you deleted my post(s). But, whatever. Secondly, and I'll ask you again, rather than just delete a post I've made, please give me the courtesy to correct it. If that's not possible, then please do a quick copy/paste and forward to me in a PM so at least I can see what my deleted content looks like. Thanks in advance.
I only recall you insulting one member of the forum, instead of asking to let you know when we catch you how about you just stop arguing with him. You don't have a problem with personal insults, you have a problem with one person. The insults are symptom of the problem. I'm asking you politely in every way I can think of to stop getting into it with that person. I have also asked him to stop getting into it with you. And for the record, the posts I deleted were brought to my attention by other members of the forum. This isn't me or other staff members picking on you. This is members of the forum, both conservative and liberal asking us to ask you two to stop your ongoing feud from derailing multiple threads.
Well, much of Congress was too busy impeaching the President, rather than working with him to discover/act on the issue. Not everything falls solely on the President's lap. Every country is dealing with the same issue at large. Who are the shining stars out there, and why?
